Fellow PACE Volunteers,

IEEE-USA has challenged you and the entire PACE organization to seek out and contact each of the 535 Members of Congress - your Senators and Representatives - in a grassroots attempt to show that IEEE is not merely four letters, but is real and constituents like yourselves are ready to pick up the challenge to contact your representatives if needed.

The goal of the CARE (Congressional Advocacy Recruitment Effort) program is to have IEEE U.S. members make a constituent visit on their U.S. Senators and/or Representative in their District or Washington, DC office sometime during the 107th Congress (2001-2002) with the overall purpose of building relationships between engineers and Members of Congress while raising Congressional awareness (of IEEE) and appreciation of science and technology.

Although many of us are interested in other important PACE activities, we need to see that our local 'Society' is served well by our Members of Congress when we need IEEE recommended legislation to be acted upon. It is our profession and IEEE-USA helps us to defend it. Be sure to log on at: http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/care to make YOUR pledge to this good cause.

Your CARE Pledge says that you have agreed to meet with one or more Members of Congress. IEEE-USA President Ned Sauthoff has said "Constituent contact lets them know that the issue is important, that it affects their state or district, and that voters are concerned enough to act. A few knowledgeable engineers who speak out can have a significant impact, especially on complex technological issues on which engineers have special expertise." (See Ned's entire challenge to the PACE Network below.) I know we are all busy. Please see what you can do to free up a little time in support of this effort - YOUR pensions, livelihood, and career may be in future jeopardy if you don't act now...

Please contact me if you have any questions. So far only a few of us have pledged so far - let's try to make our Region 3 PACE presence felt by actively joining this program.

Thanks for your help,

Don

Don Hill
PAOC Chair 2001
1676 Donelwal Drive
Lexington KY 40511-9021
H 859 259 0740
W 859 257 8487
C 859 489 IEEE
F 859 323 3287
d.w.hill@ieee.org

Ned's Challenge:

IEEE-USA needs your support to make the Congressional Advocacy Recruitment Effort (CARE) project a success.

The CARE Project is a new IEEE-USA initiative to recruit IEEE volunteers as grassroots activists for the purposes of building relationships between engineers and Members of Congress and raising Congressional awareness and appreciation of science and technology. Our goal is to have IEEE U.S. members pay a constituent visit on every U.S. Senator and Representative in their District office sometime during the 107th Congress (2001-2002). The project also encourages a wide variety of interactions in addition to traditional visits, such as congressional involvement in National Engineers Week, participation in tours and demonstrations, and member involvement in local Town Hall meetings, etc.

In order to achieve these goals, IEEE-USA needs you, the volunteers who make up the PACE Network, to help promote the CARE project in your sections, chapters, societies, and student branches. Set a personal example by taking the CARE Pledge and then paying a visit on your Member(s) of Congress. Then help us to put the word out to others. A strong push is needed now to take advantage of Congress' August Work Period (August 4 - September 3), which is the perfect time for visits to congressional District offices.

CARE Project information is available on the PACE Network 2001 CD (which you will be receiving shortly) and can also be obtained at the CARE website (http://www.ieeeusa.org/forum/care). In addition to a pledge form and report form, there are also useful resources including a guide to arranging a successful congressional visit, a congressional directory, a Powerpoint presentation on CARE, and a cross-reference of IEEE-USA sections by congressional district. Please make use of these resources and contact Chris Brantley in our IEEE-USA Washington office (202-785-0017, x.8347 or c.brantley@ieee.org) if you need any assistance. The PACE Network leaders will be following up with you to organize a visitation support process to ensure that every Senator and Representative is visited.

Norm Augustine once remarked, "Engineers today seem to be the stealth occupation.... if we as engineers are unwilling to responsibly speak out on issues within our realm of expertise, who then will?" The CARE Project accepts that challenge. But to succeed, we need your help. Please accept the challenge and help us show that the PACE Network can deliver.

Sincerely,

Ned R. Sauthoff
2001 President, IEEE-USA