In addition to our annual Lymphedema Lobby Days, where scores of advocates from around the country travel to DC to meet with over 200 offices, our board members make small trips to DC almost monthly. There are also individuals who have had district meetings with their members of Congress at local offices.
We kept record of all these meetings, and decided to total the number conducted thus far in this Congress, meaning in 2017 and 2018. The results surprised even us.
Our board and amazing advocates around the country have had 732 meetings during this Congress! We have 398 cosponsors, so that’s an average of slightly less than two meetings per supporting office.
The amount of contact an office needs before signing on varies. Some offices cosponsored so quickly when the bill was reintroduced that we never needed to meet with them at all. Others had four meetings before cosponsoring.
There are only 9 offices out of all 535 Congressional offices that we haven’t met with yet this Congress. We are aiming to see them during our board trip to DC later this month.
YOU CAN HELP TOO! If any of your members of Congress have not cosponsored yet, please consider scheduling a meeting at their district office.
Everything you need to schedule, plan for, and conduct your meeting can be found on the District Meetings page of our website. Let us know if you have questions or need help.
Thank you for your incredible advocacy and keep up the great work!
Heather Ferguson
Founder & Executive Director
Lymphedema Advocacy Group
LymphedemaTreatmentAct.org
