Yet again, the brisk February weather in D.C.
required my overcoat. While riding in the taxi to the Dirksen Senate offices,
the sun illuminated the landscape to make beauty of the barren winter scenes,
and heated my stay in the cabin. With hopes of a successful visit, I recalled
the advice of the NCHER round table the previous afternoon. “This is a
relationship business,” said one. Another said, “Focus on committee staff
because members look to staff for direction.” One panelist even said of his
prior staffing experience, “Members voted on my recommendation 90% of the
time.” Another point stressed was, “Time is limited; expect up to only 15
minutes. If you speak about more than small-talk, then you have accomplished
more than 70% of visits.” Lastly, always send follow-up emails and thank you
letters. This helps to cultivate personal relationships and ensures your email
address is recognized in their inbox.
My anxiety was still high, but some sense of
preparation helped temper it. Knowing my role for the day was to follow Ron
Gambill’s lead and add supporting statements to the predetermined points - this
most effectively kept my anxiety manageable. Ron Gambill, CEO and Chairman of
Edsouth, wields over forty years of industry experience and frequently sojourns
to the Capital. By far, Ron is the best person I know that could teach me how
to have a successful Capitol visit.
Eventually the taxi came to a stop and the
driver asked, "Is this good?" Not knowing where I was, and hoping to
conceal my ignorance, I responded with a confident "This is great."
Stepping out among the iconic buildings, I comforted myself with a glance at my
watch to confirm I had plenty of time to navigate. Within ten minutes, I
located my desired location and made time to take some photos of the Supreme
Court and the Capitol Building.
Surprisingly, entering the building where the Senators
work only required walking through a metal scanner. No reservations
necessary. The halls are adorned with marble floors, marble walls, and solid
wood doors. Although the architecture appears older, the magnificence was
stunning. The halls were never empty. Everyone dressed well. I even took a
mental note that I need to purchase a nice pair of brown dress shoes with a
matching belt. Judging by quantity, clearly brown is the new black. Media
people randomly jogged after folks or to the next location. Most surprisingly, numerous
younger people walk the halls as employees. Not sure if this should be tempered
by my personal phenomena of aging, of which I'm still fairly new to in my
thirties, but so many appeared in their twenties.
Our meeting with Senator Alexander (R-Tenn.)
was scheduled to begin within 15 minutes after our visit with Senator Corker’s
(R-Tenn.) staff. Fortunately, both Senators' offices are located in the same
building on the same floor. As we walked towards the entry, multiple hallway
doors were marked, "Do not enter. Access at 455." Ron shared that all
of the rooms on this side of the hall were joined as part of Alexander's
office. Since Alexander is a long-time politician with considerable tenure and
influence, ample space for him and his team is provided.
Upon entering the office, I consciously
followed Ron's lead. We were greeted warmly by three young men. After some
small-talk about the weather, Ron and I sat to wait around a small four-top
table. Scanning the room, the decorations were impressive. Multiple Tennessee
artifacts hung off of aged wood planks, and on the far wall hung a painting of
Alex Haley, the author of Roots.
Within a couple minutes of entering the entry
office, the door to the conference room opened and we were greeted by Robert
"Bob" Moran. Bob serves as Deputy Education Policy Director to
Senator Alexander. His enthusiasm to meet Ron seemed much more genuine than by
those in Corker's office. I thought these two must truly share a friendship. It
didn't take long to confirm my suspicions. I later learned of their
long-standing friendship. After sitting at the conference table, Ron introduced
our points of concern. Bob lit up with interest. His enthusiasm for the topic
brought him forward in his seat and his elbows to the table.
Our first points of concern were summarized as
"Simplifying and Improving Federal Student Aid." Currently, Senator
Alexander has invested plenty of time on this subject as he aspires to rewrite
the HEA instead of amending it. Bob reminded us of the FAST Act that focuses on
simplifying the FAFSA and wanted us to specifically address these types of
concerns. We shied away from expressing a desired specific number of questions;
instead, we confirmed our shared concern to simplify the FAFSA.
All of a sudden, Senator Alexander entered the
room and shook our hands. He apologized that he was late and that he would have
to leave quickly in order to attend an education hearing on K-12 (also known as
No Child Left Behind) as Chairperson for the Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions (HELP) Committee. As we were warned at the conference, K-12 reform
currently claims the spotlight as members work to create bills to submit by the
end of March. Once again, Ron's presence was warmly welcomed. The Senator
addressed Ron as a friend and thanked him for his on-going work for students
and parents. The Senator sat and briefly affirmed our main points and shared
our concerns for education reauthorization. Then, as abruptly as he entered, he
said farewell and shook our hands before quickly departing.
As Bob, Ron, and I sat back down, we
transitioned to our second points, "Promoting College Affordability and
Limiting Over-Borrowing." Bob then jumped in with a series of unexpected
comments and questions. I struggled to follow one of his questions as he
inquired my opinion on a potential policy. I fought to hold back timidity in my
voice and strived to speak with confidence. As a safe surrender, I offered to
research the issue more, making a note for myself.
While we spoke with Bob, I was overly impressed
with his knowledge of the education industry. At one point, I expressed my
enthusiasm to have him working with the Senator during this critical time of
reauthorization. Spurred by my compliment, he shared a summary of his
congressional experience dating back to his days as a staffer for a Congressman
from Pennsylvania. He probably saw my eyes light up after that. After some
inquiry, we determined that his jurisdiction actually extended to my hometown
of Meadville. Absolutely crazy! Growing up in Pennsylvania, I knew most people
either passionately follow the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Philadelphia Eagles.
Once he confirmed his loyalty to the city of brotherly love, I knew we could
become good friends although our favorite teams are rivals. Although minor, our
shared roots provided a sincere relationship-building springboard.
At some point as we were wrapping up our final
points, I watched Bob display nonverbal cues in hopes of wrapping up the
meeting. He began scanning his watch and reassembling his papers. How could we
blame him? Our time with him was approaching an hour. Already we had exceeded the
15 minute time expectation. We also successfully covered all main points and
most supporting points to prevent falling prey to the small-talk trap. Ron's
presence, coupled with years of relationship building, clearly put us ahead of
the average lobbyist. Bob led us to the door and thanked us for the visit. We
both thanked him for his time and offered to assist in any way if needed. While
walking out of the room, we shook hands with Bob and exited to the waiting room
filled with more people waiting for their turn to visit.
All in all, Ron and I visited
two Senators and three Representatives over two days. At each visit, Ron was
warmly greeted, and similar cordial greetings were extended to me. Witnessing
the impact of Ron’s relationships confirmed the importance of the
relationship-building advice delivered at the conference the day before. His diligent work over the years to cultivate
personal relationships with staff and members illustrated how successful visits
can become. In hopes to start building my own relationships, I sent personalized
emails to all staff members we met each evening.
Many say education reform is
considered a bipartisan issue, yet we still addressed opposing concerns with staff
at a couple offices. I welcomed their apprehensions. It showed their concern
for the topic and provided an opportunity for us to work together on a shared
solution. Another aspect to consider is that Republicans currently maintain the
majority in the Senate for the first time since 2007. During a subsequent panel
discussion at the NCHER conference, Senator Murray’s (D-Wash., Ranking Member
on HELP Committee) staff representative expressed that reauthorization could
take “multiple years due to the complexity of the issue.” Ron suggested, “Democrats
may desire to slow the process in hopes of regaining the majority in the next
election.”
Looking back, I felt a new
appreciation for the political process as I walked beside Ron down the marble
halls towards the exit. Thankfully my industry is education - one of noble
pursuits and collective concern. I might not have gained the same enthusiasm
after our member visits if we had lobbied for something less bipartisan. Although
the political process seems "slow," now I believe that my
expectations were not properly calibrated. Progress is happening. These issues
involve lots and lots of people. It's hard enough to get eight people in a
boardroom to agree on contentious issues; no wonder it's exponentially more
difficult within the Capitol building. More work needs to be done, and I’m
ready to join others in the cause. We all can make a positive difference. I
look forward to my next visit to the Capitol.
