BLUE = I used
blue to highlight main points, and information that I already know, but it was
a good reminder.
RED= I used
red highlights to show contact information for Senator Lee.
GREEN= I used
green to highlight things I found intriguing and to be good information.
ORANGE= I used orange highlights for information that
Larry Sheppard gave to us in class that I found to be fun facts, about our
history.
· Larry Sheppard
· Larry Sheppard
o
He works for Mike Lee (R)
(One of Utah’s US Senators)
§ Lee.senate.gov-
His website and how to stay up to date on what is going on.
·
Based on our constitution we have three forms of
government. They are supposed to all keep each other in line. They are as
follows:
o Legislature
§ Congress
·
House of Representatives
·
Senate
o Executive
§ President
& Vice President
o Judicial
§ Supreme Court
·
Senate Constitutional Requirements
o Each states have two Senators
o They serve for a six year term.
o They must be a US citizen for at least nine years.
o They must be a resident in the state they want to represent.
o Must be at least 30 years of age.
o The Vice President is part of the US Senate.
§ They vote
in order to divide a tie.
·
The US Senate has exclusive responsibilities than
the House of Representatives. They include:
o
Confirming Presidential Nominations
o
Ratify Treaties
o
Try impeachments initiated in the House the trial.
·
Us Senate Staff
o
Legislative staff primarily DC based
§ Staff are
specialists in particular areas of government
§ Junior
leg staff write a lot of letters
o
Focus for Utah staff is constituent service
§ Assist in
interactions with government agencies
·
SS
·
Visa’s
·
Military
§ Communicate
with local citizens and leaders
§ Mobile
office
·
Larry Sheppard
o
Goes to the different small towns to hear their
problems and concerns.
§ Special
Projects
·
Unforgettable 107th Congress
(2001-2002)
o
A deceased candidate elected to the Senate
o
The First Lady of the US elected to the Senate
§ Hilary
Clinton
·
Before she was the Secretary of State
o
13 women in the Senate, would rise to 14
§
Today there are now 20
o
1st time ever: 50 Republicans & 50 Democrats
§ When
majority switches there is a completely different balance. To reorganize.
·
They receive more money to do different things.
o
VP Al Gore the tie-breaking vote for 17 days.
§ Leaned to
the democrats.
o
With Dick Cheney sworn in, GOP in control
o
May 24, Jim Jeffords switches parties
§ 3rd
switch in parties in two years
o
September 11 attacks
o
October 15 anthrax letter
§ 5 people
killed
§ Buildings
locked, everything shut down for 8 weeks.
§ Letters
aren’t very effective.
o
Jim Talent special election
§ Because
of the Senator who was killed, and his wife took his place for two years
§ This
makes the fourth change in powers back to Republicans
o
100th birthday of Strom Thurmond
§
Longest serving ever and the oldest.
o
Trent Lott toast of Thurmond led to new leader.
·
Major Issues in 113th Congress
o
Fiscal Cliff
§ Tax
increases, and budget cuts. Happened January 2.
o
Sequestration
§ Mandatory
cuts. In the Military…coming up.
o
Continuing Resolution
§ We haven’t
set a budget in four years.
o Debt Ceiling
§ We have already exceeded our limit. So congress has to decided
if we are going to let the keep borrowing.
§ It has been raised 18 times, but when it gets raised the
spending also gets raised.
·
Needs permanent spending reforms.
·
Cuts won’t do the job.
§ There is push and pull between the branches of government.
§ Should be 18.5% of GDP, right now it is about 24-25%
§ Set a limit so that we can prioritize spending.
§ In
Clintons the economy was booming so we had a surplus.
o
Immigration Reform
§ The gang
of ocho. 4 Representatives and 4 Democrats
o
Balanced Budget Amendment
·
How to communicate with your elected officials.
o
Do your homework on how to talk to your Senates,
know what you want to discuss.
o Target your legislators that you are going to go after. Know who
these people are:
§ Allies
§ Champions
§ Fence Sitters
§ Mellow Opponents
§ Hard Core Opponents
o
Choose a method of communication: (In order of
effectiveness)
§ In person
§ Letter
(Local office, or fax it)
§ Email
(Easy, not a lot of thought put into it.)
§ Phone
Call
§ Petitions
·
Discounted, because they don’t know
how serious people are.
o Don’t be afraid to use the Senators staff.
o
Make it personal. Don’t take it personal but make
it personal.
o
Present facts, eave documentation.
o 10 good conversions are better than 1000 postcards.
o
Play nice, they are professionals. Treat them as
you would like to be treated.
o
Listen
o
Follow-up but don’t be a pest. Every couple of
weeks.
o
Try, try again.
·
Lee.senate.gov
o
Follow him. Mike Lee
These are my notes that I took during class today. We had a staff member of Mike Lee, his name was Larry Sheppard. I really enjoy having guest speakers come, because it is nice to see an inside picture of what goes on, and to see a different perspective. To be completely honest I didn't really know a lot about the Senate before today. But all of my notes posted above are all little things that I learned today. Today I learned about the best way to contact a US Senator if you need to get into contact. I was surprised when I learned today that petitions are the least effective way to get your opinions and worries to the Senators. Why? Because it may be a lot of work for the person actually putting the petition together, the people signing their name aren't really taking it seriously. They find the information more valuable if they know someone has taken the time to do research and write a letter, or better yet? To appear in person. They like you to do your research and know what you're actually talking about, because it shows more about you as a person. They the topic actually means something to you, and that's why you've invested the time and energy.
I also learned that we had a man running for Senate that died a couple weeks before the election, and it was to late to take him out of the running. So it was said tht if he was elected his wife would step in for him until they could have another election to replace her. I found that very intriguing.
Today's class was very interesting. I'm glad to say the least that I made it through the storm of freezing rain to participate in the class discussions.
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