Change Equals Opportunity-Looking for a Few Good Occupational Therapy Professionals!
On November 2, 2010, the nation was witness to a wave election in which one party’s surge coincided with the other party’s collapse. The House results include 94 newly elected members and a switch in the balance of power, with 63+ pickups for Republicans. In the Senate, the Democrats managed to hold on to the majority, but Republicans gained 6 seats (53D/1 undecided/46 R).
Today, a few seats remain undecided, party leadership elections have been held without surprise, the lame duck Congress is in session, and the start of the 112th Congress is just around the corner.
These changes in the Congress provide the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and its members with the opportunity to broaden and boost AOTA’s federal advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. You can be a part of this. The American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC) Chairperson, Amy Lamb, OTD, OTR/L, encourages all occupational therapy practitioners and students to get involved in this process:
“Thanks to my position with AOTPAC, I have seen firsthand the effectiveness of grassroots advocates and how important they are to the success of AOTA’s federal advocacy efforts. While the Federal Affairs Department staff of AOTA are well connected and well respected on Capitol Hill, they lack something that you, the AOTA member, have: a real connection to the district and a vote. You are the constituent and you can be a great resource.”
So, the question is: Do you want to be a part of that change, or do you want to watch from the sidelines and let Congress make decisions on what you can or cannot do in your practice?
Perhaps you know one of the newly elected members of Congress (U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate) or one of the returning members of Congress. You may have volunteered in a campaign. Maybe you made a campaign contribution. Maybe you would like to be politically involved and just don’t know how. Your involvement is just a phone call, an e-mail, or a visit away. Consider the following actions you can take:
- Send a note, letter, or e-mail of congratulations to the newly elected (or returning) member of Congress. If you do not already have a relationship or connection, use this note, letter, or e-mail as a point of introduction. (You can send an e-mail to current members of Congress from our Legislative Action Center .)
- Schedule a meeting to introduce yourself and talk about the benefits of occupational therapy. Check with the candidate’s campaign office (many will keep one open) to see what his or her schedule looks like over the next several weeks. If the campaign office is closed, check out Facebook and other social networks to see what opportunity you can find to introduce yourself (e.g., a town hall meeting, a special holiday event or parade at which they may appear).
- If you will be participating in some type of local or state occupational therapy meeting in the near future, invite the member-elect to attend. Although their schedules may not permit attending right now, it is something that you can keep on the table for the future.
- If there is an occupational therapy school or program in the district, invite the member-elect to come and meet the students.
- Check to see if the campaign ended in the black or if there is a debt. If there is a debt, you might want to consider making an individual contribution or hosting an event where a few family members, friends, and colleagues can attend to contribute to retire the debt while simultaneously getting an opportunity to meet the member-elect. When making a contribution it is always best (but not always possible) to make the contribution in person. Also, let AOTPAC know if you want AOTPAC to help with a contribution to the candidate.
- If you are interested in being a grassroots advocate for the profession please contact Darlene Dennis at AOTA: aotpac@aota.org or call at 301-652-2682.
We are particularly interested in identifying AOTA members with connections or an interest in building connections with the newly elected members of the U.S. Senate, whom you can identify on the following list:
Newly Elected Members of the U.S. Senate for the 112th Congress
Arkansas: John Boozman (R)*
Connecticut: Richard Blumenthal (D)
Delaware: Chris Coons (D)
Florida: Marco Rubio (R)
Illinois: Mark Kirk (R)*
Indiana: Dan Coats (R)*
Kansas: Jerry Moran (R)*
Kentucky: Rand Paul (R)
Missouri: Roy Blunt (R)*
New Hampshire: Kelly Ayotte (R)
North Dakota: John Hoeven (R)
Ohio: Rob Portman (R)*
Pennsylvania: Pat Toomey (R)*
Utah: Mike Lee (R)
West Virginia: Joe Manchin (D)
Wisconsin: Ron Johnson (R)
*Previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Last Update: 11/30/10
