Please: Ask Your Member of Congress to Join the GA Caucus
By GregI have said this before and I am saying it again simply because it is so important. We need as many members of the Congress and Senate to join the General Aviaiton Caucus as possible.
On February 15, in Washington, DC there is going to be a reception to host present and potential Members of the GA Caucus. We need to get your representatives to that reception.
So, get on your e-mail (or call them up). This communiqué from the AOPA will be helpful:
The Co-Chairs of the U.S. House of Representatives General Aviation Caucus (GA Caucus), Congressmen Sam Graves (R-MO) and John Barrow (D-GA), both AOPA members, need your help. They are required to re-establish the Caucus in the new Congress and in so doing, they have to recruit Members to join all over again. The Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members of Congress who are interested in learning the importance of general aviation to our economy and transportation system.
We need a robust GA Caucus to fend of attacks on our freedom to fly. Last year we had 125 Members of the House GA Caucus and Congressmen Graves and Barrow want to surpass that number this Congress. They can’t do it without your help.
Please reach out to you Representatives and encourage him/her to join the GA Caucus to secure the future of General Aviation and the 1.3 million jobs and more than $150 billion it contributes to the U.S. economy annually.
Be sure to tell them that they can join the
Caucus by contacting Mike Matousek (with Congressman Sam Graves)
at 202-225-7041 or mike.matousek@mail.house.gov
or Brandon Webb (with Congressman John
Barrow) at 202-225-2823 or brandon.webb@mail.house.gov.
To view the Dear Colleague letter from Congressmen Graves and
Barrow to all Members of Congress inviting them to join the House
GA Caucus click here
http://download.aopa.org/advocacy/GA_Caucus_Dear_Colleague.pdf
Ask Your Representatives to Join the GA Congressional Caucus
By GregI just returned from Washington DC where I attended a planning session for GA groups who will be involved in the General Aviation Caucus for the new Congress. We GA folks as a group must get as many legislators to join the General Aviation Caucus as possible.
This was, we all agreed, the first time some many GA groups had come together at one table. The meeting was a testament to the importance those representing GA interests are placing on legislative issues. I am glad to see it.
When we think of legislation we tend to think of laws being passed. However, we also need to remember that political influence can help us with non-legislative issues as well. In fact, non-legislative understanding of GA is just as important. When elected representatives start to question the wisdom of specific rules or trends in rule making that are harmful to GA it is very helpful.
As a result we ALL need to contact our elected representatives and urge them to join the General Aviation Caucus; the last Congress had more than one hundred members. The goal this year is to attract even more. Members of Congress will naturally be interested if they are pilots or have GA industries in their home states. However any legislator can join – YOU just need to suggest it to them.
So, what we all need to do is contact our representatives asking that they join the GA Caucus. Even if they are not pilots being Caucus members will help educate the members about issues of concern to you and I as pilots. In addition, there is simply strength in numbers – particularly when we talk about large groups of representatives.
You will be hearing more about efforts to get pilots and others interested in the wellbeing of GA to get their representatives to join. YOU can do this today. Simply send a note to your Members of Congress, and ask them to join the General Aviation Caucus. It’s a good thing for all of General Aviation – including you!
