Advocacy Tip of the Month, July 2008

Hot off the Press!

Local news matters. Especially to members of Congress. The next time your local paper runs an article related to international education—or if an article in the regional or national press catches your eye—take the time to send a copy of it to your members of Congress, with a note telling them why the subject of the article is of special importance to you.

Members of Congress care a great deal about what is in the news in their home states, as well as what their constituents are hearing about in the national news. As an active member of the Advocacy Centered Team (ACT), you regularly communicate with your elected officials on issues related to international education and exchange. In addition to sending letters and making phone calls, sending an occasional press clipping is a great way to connect the issues you care about with topics that are making headlines back home.

Action Step

Send a press clipping to your members of Congress sometime in the next month.
Keep an eye on your local paper, or other publication you read regularly, for articles that relate to international education and exchange. If you find one, follow the instructions below to send it to Congress.

If you do not find an article in your local paper, please forward the recent Op-Ed published in the Christian Science Monitor by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, the former chair and vice chair of the 9/11 Commission, encouraging the Senate to pass the Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act and President Bush to sign it into law. For a current list of cosponsors of this legislation, visit the Take Action Center.

To access the Web form for your members of Congress, please follow these easy steps:

1. Visit the NAFSA Take Action Page and choose your state on the map
2. Click on the link that says Full Delegation and click on each Member’s name.
3. Under their picture, click Send Message and when prompted, choose Compose Your Own Message.
4. You can copy and paste the text of the press clipping from your local paper’s online edition or from the press release link above. Add a brief message about the importance of this news for your campus, your students, and the constituency that the members of Congress represent.