State Societies Join AARC in Seeking Member Support for Fourth Annual Capitol Hill Lobbying Day

For Immediate Release

IRVING, TX (February 28, 2005) – For the fourth year in a row, the AARC and its State Societies are co-sponsoring an annual Capitol Hill Lobbying Day that will draw AARC members from all over the country to Washington, DC to promote issues key to the profession of respiratory care.

Next week’s event will be carried out by 90 members of the AARC Political Advocacy Contact Teams (PACT) from 43 states, who together have set up more than 200 meetings with Congressional staff and members of Congress to talk about the inclusion of respiratory therapists under Medicare’s home health benefit and greater recognition for COPD through appropriations and coverage.

Now you can do your part too, by visiting the Capital Connection area of the AARC web site—http://capwiz.com/aarc/home/—and using the tools there to email your members of Congress in support of these lobbying efforts.

“It’s easy and it will help immensely with the work your fellow respiratory therapists are about to do,” says AARC Director of State Government Affairs Cheryl West, MHA. The web page includes detailed instructions on how to identify your members of Congress, along with a brief outline including talking points you can use in your email.

West emphasizes how important it is for members of Congress and their Congressional staffs to hear from respiratory therapists all over the nation in support of the key issues that PACT members will be bringing to the table next week. “Every special interest—and we are a special interest—needs access to staff and legislators to get their points and issues across. A DC-based lobbyist gets the day-to-day work done . . . But it is the RT constituents from home that really make the difference.”

The AARC PACT members will be joined on Capitol Hill by AARC President John Hiser, MEd, RRT, FAARC, and other members of the AARC leadership, and AARC Executive Director Sam Giordano, MBA, RRT, FAARC, and key members of the Executive Office staff.

The AARC PACT was established several years ago to support AARC members in each state who have volunteered to keep watch over local and state issues vital to the profession and foster ongoing relationships with their elected officials. For more information about the PACT, visit the PACT web page at: http://www.aarc.org/advocacy/pact/.

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Contact: Beth Binkley
Binkley@aarc.org
American Association For Respiratory Care
9425 N MacArthur Blvd, Suite 100, Irving, TX 75063
972-406-4657, 927-243-2272