The Capital Hill Experience

            After NASCAR Day at DuPont Headquarters where Jeff Gordon unveiled the “Celebratory Car” paint scheme that will race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to commemorate the 20^th Anniversary of the Jeff Gordon/DuPont partnership, followed by hospitality for DuPont customers at the NASCAR Cup Series race in Dover, I departed my “motorsports world” and drove to Washington D.C. with another purpose.

            When I arrived in D.C. last week, I met eight of my follow Jeff Gordon Children’s

Foundation Promise Circle

members on Capital Hill for Childhood Cancer Action Day. Organized by the Alliance for Childhood Cancer, we spent Monday being educated about the issues and participating in advocacy training.

            Congress is in session and both a House and Senate version of the FDA Reform Bill are on the table. It was our job to both educate and lobby our NC senators and congress men and women to pass legislation for very specific initiatives including the Childhood Cancer Survivor Ship Act and The Creating Hope Act, among others.

            There were organizations, nonprofits and individuals including childhood cancer survivors and parents of both survivors and of those who lost their battle with cancer from every state. Since each contingent only meets with reps from their own state, the 200+ advocates were seated at tables with others from their state.  I would have to verify this fact, but I’m quite sure that North Carolina had the most people as I think only California had more than one table at the training session. Additionally, I’m proud to say that the

Promise Circle

had the most people representing one organization.

            The issues were in full focus by the end of the day on Monday, and with specific appointments set for Tuesday, we were ready to advocate for the cause. We had four appointments, two that overlapped. As part of the Charlotte-area group, I was able to meet with reps from Senator Richard Burr and Rep. Mel Watt’s office and directly with Patrick McHenry. Others in my group also met with Sen. Kay Hagan.

            It’s interesting how the process works because you are actually welcome in the halls of Congress and the reps and staffers are truly interested in hearing what you have to say. With so many issues on the table, to go to D.C. and meet with them directly is to deliver specific information that may not land in front of them otherwise. When the house and senate meet to hammer out the details of the bill, they will have better information about the issues with a sense of where the voting public from their district/state stands on the issues because of our visit.

            This is what lobbying actually is. We often think of lobbying as a negative because we tend to hear only about how big business lobbies the government and gets unfair tax credits and other initiatives that protect its industry when others do not. These big businesses also give large sums of money to support candidates and the political parties. 

            But again, that’s only one part of it. If “advocating/lobbying” is also about lending information that may increase the likelihood of incentives to drug companies to create new treatments for pediatric cancer, or to make it mandatory for them to report drug shortages to the FDA so that patients don’t suddenly find themselves at a lost for treatment with no warning, or to address the very specific needs of ongoing treatment, then we should all know that in the United States of America, it is possible for our voices to be heard through this process.

            And it is possible for nine women from the Jeff Gordon Children’s

Foundation Promise Circle

to make a difference -- and we believe we did.

           On a lighter note, those of us who have worked in NASCAR for a long time have met many famous personalities including athletes, singers, actors and even politicians. That being said, only in D.C. can you walk in front of the Captital Building between appointments and see Warren Buffut just standing on the sidewalk. I think he was getting ready to do an interview, but still...

            So what I'd like to share is this: When people say “write your senator or congressman,” know that it really does make a difference. They work for you and they need to pay close attention to what voters have on their mind. Sadly, only a small percentage of eligible voters actually exercise that right. Your government representatives know that if you wrote a letter, called their office or went to visit them, that you’re probably one of the few who also goes to the polls. That means that a small portion of the population has a great deal of influence and your voice if you let your voice be heard, you can nake a difference.

            Since cancer is the No. 1 cause of death for children under 20, and only one new drug has been developed to treat pediatric cancer in two decades, if we moved the needle at all, then we made a difference. I believe we did.

            And as we (The Charlotte Destination Group) won the bid for both the transportation contract and to host one of the 12 delegate events for the Democratic National Convention – I am more interested than ever to see first hand how the political convention process plays out.

            I am a very proud 19-year resident of Charlotte and an even prouder American!