Advocacy Tip of the Month, July 2007

Why Does NAFSA Want Me to Contact Congress About the Same Bill Again and Again?

Does it ever feel like you’re hearing about the same bill over and over? That’s because getting a piece of legislation passed in Congress is often a long, multi-step process, and requires sustained constituent engagement to ensure that the issue remains at the forefront of the Congressional agenda throughout the process. Although the legislative process is often viewed as cumbersome and painfully slow, it was intentionally designed this way to promote greater deliberation and compromise on legislation that often has far-reaching consequences for American citizens. And those who get their voices heard are the ones who are willing to engage again and again, at the right time, with valuable input and personalized messages.

It is not uncommon for a piece of legislation to take years to be signed into law, and it is critical that you contact your members of Congress at strategic times throughout the process. Contacting your members of Congress at several points in the process sends a strong message of your commitment to the issues and increases the likelihood that your voice will be heard among the cacophony of voices Congress hears from each day.

NAFSA keeps you informed about the various stages in the process through ACT, the Advocacy Centered Team, so you don’t need to worry about when to take action. Just be sure to weigh in when you receive an action alert and be sure to personalize your message.

Action Steps

1. View NAFSA’s 13-step legislative process chart for a refresher on how a bill becomes a law.
2. Give us your feedback on the Advocacy Tip of the Month series. Have you found the tips to be useful and informative? Have they helped to further your knowledge of effective grassroots advocacy? Is there a particular topic you would like for us to cover? Please let us know how we are doing!

A Long, Multi-Step Process

For example, you may be asked to help gain support for a bill by garnering co-sponsors, urging a committee to act favorably on the bill, supporting the bill when it goes to the full chamber or “floor” for a vote, and urging the House and Senate to come to a favorable compromise in “conference” on their different versions of legislation so that an act can be signed into law by the President.

Even after a piece of legislation is passed, there is often a need for continued advocacy, so you may get a “call to action” asking you to urge Congress or an agency to do something. Consider, for example, the two-step process of authorization and appropriations.

The formal process consists of two sequential steps:
(1) enactment of an authorization bill to create or to continue an agency or program as well as to allow the subsequent enactment of appropriations; and

(2) enactment of appropriations to actually provide funds for the authorized agency or program. You will usually be asked to weigh in at both stages of these processes on international education funding programs.

You may also be asked to weigh in at the regulatory phase, when an agency writes regulations for a bill that was passed by Congress.


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