Launched in February 2007, the bi-partisan Americans Abroad Caucus has grown from its early membership of six to the current twenty-four.
But is your state represented? Is your district represented?
Present members are both veteran members of Congress and “freshman” Representatives; they are Republicans and Democrats from such powerful committees as Oversight and Government Reform, Rules, Appropriations, and House Administration that oversees the federal election process. They represent states as “small” as Maryland and as “large” as Texas and even a territory, the Virgin Islands. They come from the east – New York, and the west – California; from the north – Massachusetts, and the south – Florida. But is your state represented? Is your district represented?
Why a caucus?
The Caucus Co-Chairs Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) have already officially urged their colleagues in the House three times to make their websites more user-friendly for overseas voters, and both were original co-sponsors, alongside Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, of House Resolution 287, introduced by Caucus member Alcee Hastings (D-FL), To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first use of the name ‘America’, on the 1507 map by Martin Waldseemuller in St. Dié, France. Congresswoman Maloney is a long-standing champion of overseas voters and has worked hard in the past to ease restrictions on absentee voting for the military and for overseas citizens. Recently, she introduced HR 4237, which makes practical amendments to UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) to eliminate certain barriers to voting from overseas and enfranchise young people who do not yet meet state residency requirements. Her colleague on the caucus, Mike Honda (D-CA) has introduced HR 4173, which is very similar but adds voter information programs for overseas civilians and asks that passports include information on voting rights and procedures.
While the Caucus has no inherent power, it is made up of legislators familiar with our causes and, for one reason or another, sympathetic to the special concerns of their overseas constituents – better able to represent our far-flung population than some of their colleagues. If your Representative is not on the list below (current members listed in their order of joining), contact him or her now (all 435 Members can be found through www.house.gov).
Just think! If the Americans Abroad Caucus had existed in 2006, it is possible that TIPRA, the “Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act”, might not have been passed with the provisions that, to offset domestic tax cuts, impose significant tax burdens on many Americans overseas and risk depriving the U.S. of valuable advocates for its businesses and services abroad. If the Caucus had existed in 2006, it is possible that certain states would not have refused absentee ballots because the paper they were printed on was not standard US size and weight. It is possible that the appropriate staffer of one of the Caucus members would have contacted FAWCO or another overseas advocacy organization and asked: “How does this legislation affect YOU?”
Contact your legislator now and, while you are on his/her website, see if it has made the easy shift to welcome correspondence from overseas voters that can be found on the “Contact Me” pages of both Carolyn Maloney and Joe Wilson. (And if one of the members below is your legislator, remember to write and say “Thank you!”)
For a few tips on contacting your legislators , or for a sample letter you can personalize for your legislator, see the U.S. Liaison page on the FAWCO website.
For the first time, overseas citizens have a group in Congress that has officially indicated support for their concerns. Let’s support them, in turn, and “grow the Caucus” to a size worthy of the 26th state we correspond to, in terms of population!
Current members (as of May 1) of the Americans Abroad Caucus, in order of joining:
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
Joe Wilson (R-SC)
Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Frank Wolf (R-VA)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
John Boozman (R-AR)
Donna Christensen (D-VI)
Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Stephen Cohen (D-TN)
Kay Granger (R-TX)
Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Julia Carson (D-IN)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Tom Davis (R-VA)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Susan Davis (D-CA)
Charles Gonzalez (D-TX)
Michael Conaway (R-TX)
Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Janice Schakowsky (D-IL)
Mike Doyle (D-PA)
Jim Moran (D-VA)
Rush Holt (D-NJ)