A thick week in DC – September 2022

The US Capitol Building the way we like to see it.

I spent most of last week “polishing the marble” in Washington, DC. It was nice seeing the Capitol Building free of banners, beards, and bombs – although January 6 did leave a lot of scars. There was a lot more metal around the East Entrance of the Capitol Building (barriers and vehicles), and getting access to the Congressional office buildings included annoying layers of security – long lines, scanners, legislative escort requirements, and grumpy guys and gals in uniform with nothing better to do…

That being said, we nonetheless got much accomplished. The instigating event for the visit was the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (#MMPA50) for which we had a reception on Wednesday night, supported by our MMPA Coalition, and   coordinated by Naomi Rose and her staff from Animal Welfare Institute. Daniela Huson, OCR’s Communications VP produced an introduction, and a series of “success story” videos we’ve been playing over the last few months, and Michael Jasny of NRDC coordinated the talking points and ‘asks’ regarding the reauthorization of the bill.

(In order to keep legislative dross from piling up, and assuring National policies reflect current circumstances, all bills and acts are set for reauthorization every five years. This pencils out to a year more than a Presidential term, a year shy of a Senate term, and 2-1/2 Congressional Terms… another reason to appreciate the Framers…)

 I spent Wednesday focused on the MMPA, traipsing across the hill, hitting eight meetings variously between the House and Senate, mostly talking about what to include in the October reauthorization.

Tuesday and Thursday Daniela and I coordinated meetings on the House and Senate sides, respectively, to talk about offshore wind, the poison pill in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” and speculating about what the “Permitting Streamlining” effort might include – which I am cautiously pleased to report that everybody hates.

Unfortunately, two days before our adventure, Daniela came down with the Dreck (probably brought to her by the kiddies in her family), so she was unable to join us in DC. So with the exception of a “virtual” meeting on Thursday, I was on my own. But the meetings were good.

OCR is not really a lobby organization, and when there are not any particular bills in the cue, we mostly just try to inform the discussions orbiting around Federal activities. For me this was the conservation concerns we have on Offshore Wind (OSW). If you have been following our newsletter/blogs you’ll have been reading our cautionary posts on OSW.

It’s hard to gauge the influence we have when there are no associated bills attached. My strategy involves enticing the Legislative Directors/Associates into a conversation about the animals and habitats of concern, substantiating how much everybody loves marine mammals and how they want to protect them – suggesting that more informed decisions about their protection could be made with more research funding. This works on both sides of the aisle, particularly when we weave in funding the researchers at the universities in their particular districts or states.

In the end it’s all about money… tempered by love and concern about this beautiful planet we inhabit. OCR not having bundles of money – we, along with yourselves, do have an abundance of love and concern. To lawmakers, this is correlated to voters.

Please share this love and concern with your community. And Vote. This is how we get things done on The Hill.