ACTION ALERT: Urgent: We Need Your Help Now on
CleanWater!
This week the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding two
hearings on Capitol Hill on the status of the Nation's waters, including
wetlands, under the Clean Water Act. Legal and scientific experts, as well as
states and stakeholder groups will testify. It is very likely that the Clean
Water Restoration Act will be discussed during these hearings.
As you know, the Clean Water Network's priority campaign is to ensure that the
broad scope of the Clean Water Act is maintained. To that end, CWN groups have
been working hard to see that the Clean Water Restoration Act (HR 2421) passes
Congress this session. This important legislation would settle recent debate by
reaffirming the scope of the Clean Water Act as intended by Congress when it
passed the Clean Water Act more than 30 years ago.
Congressman James Oberstar (MN), the Chair of the Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee, along wi th Rep resentatives Vern Ehlers (MI) and John
Dingell (MI) are lead sponsors of the Clean Water Restoration Act (HR 2421).
The full Committee hearings are scheduled for Tuesday, July 17th at 2 pm and
Thursday, July 19th at 2pm in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building.
These hearings are an important part of the process of moving the Clean Water
Restoration Act out of Committee and to the House Floor for a vote.
Your hard work all across the country on the Clean Water Restoration Act, HR
2421, has paid off. We now have 165 co-sponsors on Capitol Hill. Your collective
efforts have been a cornerstone of the Clean Water Network's 2007 advocacy
campaign to promote the bill.
We are grateful for everything you have done. However, now that hearings are
scheduled it is more important than ever for you to turn the decibel level up
several notches!
Opponents of the Clean Water Restoration Act have been incredibly active
spreading misinformation ab out wh at HR 2421 would do. They are organizing
briefings, constituent meetings, and sending scores of letters to the editor of
major news outlets.
They appear to have more money than The Donald and have been able to use that to
their advantage to get their message out far and wide. We need to counter their
campaign with one of our own: A grassroots campaign comprised of folks from
across the country who care about protecting their rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
Congress needs to hear from people like YOU, who experience up close and
personal the effects of water pollution. THEY NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU NOW!
Not just once or twice, but several times. They also need to hear from your
organization's members as well as partners. Everyone who cares about clean water
should contact their US Representative. Folks on Capitol Hill need to get the
message that it is imperative that Congress pass the Clean Water Restoration Act
in the 110th Congress. Enough is enough. It is time to get serious.
To make sure Congress gets the correct clean water message here are some
suggestions on how to convey your message that are not very labor intensive or
costly but have a big impact nevertheless:
1. Call your Member of Congress now! If they are already a bill co-sponsor thank
them. Follow-up by asking your Representative what else they can do to make the
bill reality. Signing onto the bill as a co-sponsor is one level of commitment.
Generating support amongst other House members by sending Dear Colleague letters
is another.If your Member of Congress is not on the bill, ask them to cosponsor
NOW. If you cannot speak directly with your Representative (they are extremely
busy) be sure to ask to speak to the Environmental Legislative Assistant either
in the district office or the DC office. If you do not have the number for your
Member of Congress, call 202-224-3121 for Capitol information. You can click on www.thomas.gov
and then enter the bill number (HR 2421) to check the current list of
co-sponsors. You can also click on www.mygovernmentguide.com
to look up the name of your Representative's environmental legislative
assistant.
2. Set up a Meeting! In-district meetings with your Representative or members of
her or his staff are terrific ways to deliver the message. These are difficult
to arrange, but if successful can result in huge dividends. The network has a
plethora of fact sheets and information on our website. If you need more
information, a sample fact sheet on the bill, or other materials, you can go to:
http://www.cleanwaternetwork.org//issues/scope/getengaged/DisplayContent.cfm?ContentID=51
9& ContentTypeID=4PageFormat=DisplayContent
You can either set up a meeting for yourself, other members of your group, or
for a coalition of groups working together on clean water. The best way to set
up a meeting quickly is to call the district office. If you do not already have
a contact there, ask for the scheduler. Simply explain that you are requesting a
meeting and why. Some offices require meeting requests to be in writing. If so,
we have included a sample letter at the end of this alert that you can use to
email or fax a written request.
It is often very important to follow up in a day or two to get an answer to your
meeting request. It is also helpful in meetings such as this to have state and
local information available to let your congressperson know how this affects
their district directly.
3. Send a letter to Capitol Hill. A letter signed by your executive director of
chairman of the board directed to your member of Congress is also a great w ay
to convey your message. Another route is to get a number of organizations in
your region or state to sign on to one letter to promote the bill. A sample
letter follows at the end of this alert that you can tailor to meet your needs.
4. Letters to the Editor: Send letters to the editor of local news outlets. A
copy of a recent LTE template can be found by clicking on the following link: http://www.2theadvocate.com/opinion/8218167.html
Be sure to tailor the letter with local and state specific information.
5. Meet with the editorial boards of local and statewide media outlets.
6. Mobilize your own membership and network. Sending out action alerts to your
members and associated groups is a great way to activate people. Encourage your
members to get involved. Annual meetings, workshops, board meetings and the like
are all good face-to-face opportunities to generate ac tion. Other possibilities
include posting bulletins on your website to give folks up to date information
on developments.
SAMPLE WRITTEN REQUEST FOR A MEETING
July 15, 2007
The Honorable [INSERT REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME HERE]
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC20515
VIA FACSIMILE [INSERT FAX NUMBER FOR LOCAL OFFICE HERE - MEMBERS' WEBSITES CAN
BE ACCESSED VIA http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml
Dear Representative [INSERT REPRESENTATIVE'S NAME
HERE]:
I am writing to request a meeting with you when you are in the district office.
I will be representing the [GROUP NAME] and would like to speak with you about
the Clean Water Restoration Act (HR 2421). [GROUP NAME] is seeking your support
of this very important legislation to reaffirm the scope of the Clean Water Act
as Congress intended when it passed this popular, bi-partisan legislation more
than 30 years ago.
I look forward to meeting with you. Please a sk you r scheduler to contact me at
[insert your
e-mail address & phone number] to set up the appointment or if you have any
questions.
Thank you,
[Sign name here & location]
LETTER Template to Members of Congress asking for support on the Clean Water
Restoration Act:
July____, 2007
The Honorable Representative _______________
U.S. House of Represeantatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative ____________:
On behalf of the [name of your group here], an organization committed to
ensuring that our waterways provide clean drinking water and are safe for
swimming, fishing and boating, we urge you to sign up to be co-sponsor of the
Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (HR 2421). This legislation is needed to
protect the nation's waters from pollution and was introduced in the US House by
Representatives James Oberstar, John Dingell, and Vernon Ehlers. Currently there
are 165 co-sponsors in the House.
The b ill wo uld reaffirm the historical jurisdiction of the 1972 Clean Water
Act and ensure all "waters of the United States" that have been
covered by federal safeguards against pollution for more than 34 years retain
Clean Water Act protection. This bill does not create "new" protective
authority, but simply restores the regulatory status quo. The bill is needed
because decisions by the Supreme Court over the past few years (Rapanos/Carabell
2006; SWANCC 2001) and administrative actions by the Environmental Protection
Agency and Army Corps of Engineers have muddied the waters regarding the
jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act, making this bill critically important now.
Waters most at risk of losing federal protections because of these actions
include small and seasonal streams and rivers, and nearby wetlands. According to
the U.S. EPA, 59 percent of the nation's streams and rivers, measured in miles,
fall into this category of waters. Source water protection areas containing the
se sma ll or intermittent streams and rivers provide water to public drinking
water supplies serving more than 110 million Americans. Wetlands also provide
important functions in our watersheds, from reducing flooding to offering
habitat to ducks and other wildlife.
Great strides have been made in the 34-year history of the Clean Water Act in
cleaning up and restoring our nation's lakes, rivers and streams, but there is
much work still to do. Today, over forty-five percent of the rivers and lakes in
the United States are still too polluted to be safe for fishing, swimming,
drinking water supply, wildlife habitat, and other uses. [Insert State specific
information here].
The Clean Water Restoration Act will return us, in [insert STATE] and throughout
the country, to the path toward further progress in cleaning up the nation's
waters and making them safe and clean.
Please become a cosponsor of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act.
Thank you for sup portin g clean water.
Sincerely yours,
Your name and organization
SAMPLE THANK YOU LETTER TO MEMBER OF CONGRESS WHO IS CO-SPONSORING CWRA
July____, 2007
The Honorable Representative _______________
U.S. House of Represeantatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative __________________:
Thank you for standing up for [State's] and the nation's waters by becoming an
original co-sponsor of the Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R. 2421). This
important legislation, led by Representatives Oberstar, Ehlers, and Dingell, is
needed now more than to ensure all of our nation's waters, large and small, will
remain protected.
As you well know, Congress always intended that the Clean Water Act protect all
of our nation's waters, from the headwater streams and wetlands where watersheds
begin to the lakes, rivers and coastal waters where they end. Because of this
comprehensive and scientifically based approach, the Clean Wa ter Ac t has been
steadily making progress toward its central goal - to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical and biological integrity of the waters of the United States.
Various industries that discharge pollution into our nation's waters are now
trying to evade the Clean Water Act's longstanding restrictions on unregulated
water pollution by arguing that some waters should not be subject to these
limits at all. Unfortunately, recent closely-divided U.S. Supreme Court
decisions and EPA's and Corps' policies now threaten to strip these
long-standing federal protections from waters across the nation - including the
majority of stream miles and potentially tens of millions of acres of wetlands.
The results of your efforts and those of your 164 House colleagues who are also
original cosponsors of the Oberstar-Ehlers-Dingell bill will make passage of the
Clean Water Restoration Act possible this Congress.
Thank you and your staff for your efforts to ensure that y our constituents and
all Americans across the country have clean water.
Sincerely,
Name, organization. address
The Network will keep you updated on developments on this week's hearings and on
the progress of Clean Water Restoration Act. Beginning next week be sure to
check out the Network's website at www.cleanwaternetwork.org
for a new section entitled "CWRA Countdown: Up to the minute news on
passing the Clean Water Restoration Act." This new section will include
snapshots from across the country of what YOU are doing to promote the Clean
Water Restoration Act Our opening report will highlight innovative efforts
underway in New Mexico by CWN members Amigos Bravos and the National Wildlife
Federation. So stay tuned. Be sure to send any and all updates on your
organization's activities to Natalieroy@cleanwaternetwork.org.
Thank you for all of your continued support an d effo rts on the Clean Water
Restoration Act. Your support does make a difference!!
Natalie Roy
Executive Director
Clean Water Network
202-547-4208 (H208)
Natalieroy@cleanwaternetwork.org