2016 Lobby Days a Huge Success
Casey Stinemetz
Maurice Martin, George Johnson, Willie
Hager & Jan Ruhman on the Hill.
Our 2nd annual lobby days are
behind us, but that doesn‘t mean
that our legislative efforts are over!
We have learned a lot from this
experience, and we are ready to
move forward in the upcoming
year as we grow our legislative work.
take a public stand to oppose hate
speech and Islamophobia.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the 2016 Lobby Days,
whether by coming to D.C, visiting
in your home state, calling your
local offices, or posting online. It is
clear from the feedback we have
received from Congressional staff
members and VFP supporters that
WE WERE HEARD!
Schedule meetings in advance!
(And follow up with the offices if
you don‘t hear back).
Keep e-mails to staff members
short, concise and to the point.
Tell your personal story. They
will respond to your authenticity!
During the visit, stay on topic
and have a clear ask.
Get contact information to follow up after the visit.
The focus of our visits this year
were on the recent increase in
spending on nuclear weapons and
on moving the Agent Orange Relief and Recovery Act. We highlighted the important issue of deported veterans, and discovered
that many of our leaders were unaware that this was happening to
men and women who served our
country. We also asked all Representatives and the Senators to
A few things we learned:
Even though our Lobby Days are
over, you can still take action!
E-mail casey@veteransforpeace.org to join our legislative email list
Schedule a visit with your representative or senator
Donate to VFP to support our
legislative work.
Veterans Challenge Islamophobia
Jonathan Hutto, Sr.
peace donors, enabling VFP to
develop a plan and begin recruiting members of VFP and
Iraq Veterans Against the War
for the campaign.
Upon receiving a $200,000
grant from the Open Society
Foundations, VFP set up a
Program Committee, drafted a
sign-on statement, developed
VCI staff Hutto & Maier with others at Beyond
a website and hired national
the Choir training.
staff, with strong recommendations
from lo