RAB ASSISTANCE NEEDS "LEAD" - NOW!

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@igc.org>]

RAB ASSISTANCE NEEDS "LEAD"

Congressional staff representing the House and Senate members of the 
Defense Authorization Conference Committee are meeting now to 
discuss the "small issue" differences between the bills passed recently 
by the two houses.

It appears that there is a strong possibility of improvement in the Senate 
language regarding technical assistance to Restoration Advisory 
Boards, but only if a member of the House National Security 
Committee takes the lead in raising the issue.

If you live in a district with a Republican representative who is both on 
the Committee and is willing to listen, urge him to fight for this 
program.

More realistically, we may have to rely on Congressman Dellums, who 
last year as Committee chair helped get the Underwood Amendment 
enacted. Now, as ranking minority member, he not only has less 
influence, but his plate is already full with other issues.

Congressman Dellums needs to hear IMMEDIATELY that his 
constituents - as well as his friends outside of his district - believe that 
independent technical assistance to RABs is a MAJOR ISSUE, even 
though the amount of funding involved is minuscule in relation to the 
entire Defense budget.

Specifically, if the Conferees accept the Senate language, it should be 
modified to make clear that the objective of the provision is to support 
INDEPENDENT technical assistance, and that the $4 million proposed 
by the Senate for both administrative and technical support to RABs is 
about half of what will be required this year.

Once we are assured that Dellums will take the lead, then we can focus 
on other members of the conference committee.

Finally, it is my impression that the state regulators have done a good 
job of getting their message in support of the DSMOA - Defense State 
Memorandum of Agreement - program out in Washington, but I do not 
know whether any member of Congress on the Conference committee 
is championing this issue. It wouldn't hurt to mention this, as well, in 
any communication to Dellums.

Honorable Ron Dellums

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Lenny Siegel