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Operating Dewey Canyon IV: Lobbying

By VVAW

(The following article is taken from the NACV New Veteran News, the publication of the National Association of Concerned Veterans.)

NACV's Vice President Mike gold directed the lobbying effort on Thursday and Friday, May 13th and 14th. He was prepared with voluminous amounts of information as vets broke into teams to visit their Congressional delegations and staffs. Thursday was targeted toward the House, while Friday was reserved for lobbying the Senate. Both days were deemed eminently successful. Each team was given room numbers, names, position papers and copies of the NACV New Veteran News and VVAW's THE VETERAN to pass on to the Congress. Hundreds of each were distributed, while vets who were utterly fed up with being ignored faced the representatives of the system nose-to-nose.

One of the highlights was a 15-person delegation that met with the staff of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Friday. The debate, led by Gold, was spirited as vets let the Congressional staff know exactly how they felt. No rules of decorum held as the group brought up issue after issue concerning vets: employment, Agent Orange, nuclear exposure, education, programs for incarcerated vets, etc. People expressed how they felt in their own way. No one was rowdy or out of hand. By the end of the session, it was clear, however, that some were frustrated with ho slowly the system works. "Well, they listened for three hours and heard what we had to say, but I don't know," said one vet, expressing his concern. Other vets, however, were "up." A team that visited with the Massachusetts State Delegation met with both Tip O'Neil (Speaker of the house) and Ted Kennedy. Both seemed responsive to the needs of vets and committee to providing some relief for the problems facing us.

While some Congressional Delegations were not in, their staffs were receptive to the delegations of vets and listened attentively. In several cases, follow-up letters from the Congressmen themselves have been received committing the Congressmen to support for upcoming legislation. As Gold put it, "no matter what we say, for these two days we've been saying it to the people who can do something about it, and that's what we're all about." That view was shared by many.