N.C. Business and Professional Women:
Lobbying for Women

Six members of the North Carolina Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Organization (BPW/NC) traveled to Washington, DC, February 1-4, 2006, to participate in the annual National Business and Professional Women (BPW/USA) Policy & Action Conference and the Interim Board Meeting. This was also the annual pilgrimage of each state’s Federation of Business and Professional Women to lobby their congressmen on issues that will affect all women.

BPW/NC members went to the offices of U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole and U.S. Senator Richard Burr and U.S. Representatives David Price, Bob Etheridge, Brad Miller, G.K. Butterfield, Sue Myrick, and Charles Taylor.

BPW/NC makes a visit is U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole's office. L-R: Caryl Sinfield, Varnell Kinnin, Barbara Bernard, Mary Lou Babinski, Arlene McKay, Bethany Pantuck, Staffer for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and Mary Alice Wells

The members were not able to speak directly with the congressmen because they were out of the office, so they spoke with members of their staff. These staffers are very knowledgeable and, most of the time, it is the staffers who weed through the many pieces of mail and faxes that are sent to their boss’s offices. So in essence, we sent our message to our Senators and Representatives through key players.

Armed with copies of the Retirement Security for Life Act, the Healthy Family Act, and Johanna’s Law, the BPW/NC members, along with members of BPW/USA, converged on Capitol Hill. Six Greyhound buses took approximately 200 women to the “hill.” Each woman had a mission: to talk to their states’ senators and representatives or a staff member in their office.

The first item to be presented to the staff members was the Retirement Security Act (S.381), introduced by U.S. Representative Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), and U.S. Senators Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) and Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). This act would provide a new tax incentive to encourage people to choose retirement vehicles, such as annuities, that will provide guaranteed lifetime income. Annuities are the only retirement vehicles available that cannot be outlived. This is proposed for businesses that employ 15 people or more.

The Healthy Family Act (S.932), introduced by U. S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), would provide full-time employees with seven paid sick days a year. This is to be used for their medical needs or to tend to the medical needs of a child, spouse or parent. Part-time employees receive a pro-rata share of paid sick days.

Finally, Johanna’s Law (S. 1172), introduced by U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn), and U. S. Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), would authorize a national gynecologic cancer early detection and awareness campaign directed at women and their healthcare providers.

Johanna’s Law, if passed, would help insure the survival of more women because of early detection through the National Public Awareness Campaign. Nearly 80,000 American women are newly diagnosed each year and approximately 29,000 women die annually from gynecologic cancers. Therefore, knowing the symptoms is the key to early detection.

Before the BPW members went to the various offices, they were treated to lunch on Capitol Hill in the Hart Senate Office Building. This lunch included a keynote speaker, U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).

The lunch also included a panel discussion. One presenter on the panel was Cindy Hounsell, executive director of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER). Other panelists were Sheryl Silver, founder and president of the Alliance for Women’s Cancer Awareness, and Holly Fechner, policy director and chief labor & pension counsel for the U. S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee from the office of U. S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass). Each member of the panel spoke to one of the bills we were taking to our congressmen. After a brief question and answer session, the members of BPW/USA headed out to Capitol Hill to lobby their congressmen on behalf of women.

For two and a half hours, BPW/USA members roamed the halls of the Dirkens, Russell, Rayburn, Longsworth, and Cannon Buildings on Capitol Hill. At the end of the day, BPW/USA members boarded the Greyhound buses and headed back to the hotel.

For more information on the progress on Johanna’s Law, the Healthy Family Act, and the Retirement Security for Life Act, visit the Web site for the Library of Congress at www.loc.gov.

On a personal note, this was the first time I have gone to Capitol Hill to lobby for anything. It was exciting and a bit overwhelming. To think I would be walking down the halls and in the offices of our lawmakers had never crossed my mind.

In each office you see handouts, fliers, and keepsakes from the state of North Carolina. Outside the congressmen’s offices are the United States flag and North Carolina’s flag. Not all the states’ congressmen had them, but I was impressed that North Carolina’s did.