Contacting Key Stakeholders

This week, we chose to contact the key stakeholders for the National Nurse Act 2011. Listed below is a list of who we contacted and why we chose to contact these representatives.

Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA6): Rep. Goodlatte serves as representative for the Shenandoah Valley. His assistance is essential to gaining support locally. Once the National Nurse Act 2011 gains support locally, then it is attainable to gain more support outside of our community. In addition, gaining support in the Shenandoah valley would mean gaining the support of many educated individuals in the local colleges and universities. These supporters would provide invaluable assistance in gaining support for the National Nurse Act 2011.

Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA9): Representative Griffith is a key stakeholder because he serves on the House Committee of Energy and Commerce, which is currently considering the National Nurse Act. As a member of the committee, his support would be critical. If the House passes the National Nurse Act, then it will move to the Senate and be one step closer to being passed.

Frederick Upton is considered a key stakeholder because the House Committee of Energy and Commerce, of which Rep. Upton is the Chair, is currently considering the National Nurse Act of 2011. Many bills do not even get to get to this point in the legislative process while many others are halted at this point and do not get any farther. It is up to the congressional committee to report the bill favorably or unfavorably to the Senate or House as a whole, then allowing it to receive consideration by the full body to move forward. By gaining the support of Rep. Upton, it could increase the chances of the act to be reported by the committee and then to move on to the House, Senate, and hopefully to be signed by the President.

Senator Mark Warner and Senator Jim Webb were contacted because they currently serve as the representatives for Virginia. Both senators offer contact forms for their constituents to contact them regarding legislation that they are concerned about. With our work on following the progress of H.R. 1119, the National Nurse Act, we considered our local representatives as key stakeholders. We are a group of students representing the activism of nurses and students from their area and it would be great to work in garnering their support or opinion on the National Nurse Act as it progresses through committees.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA30): Representative Waxman is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which is the committee that HR 1119 has been referred to. He has also demonstrated a substantial voting record that supports both nurses and patients. He co-sponsored HR 4903, the National Nurse Act of 2006, but unfortunately the bill never made it out of the committee. Representative Waxman sympathizes with the need for a National Nurse, having stated that “[Nursing] deserves an office in the department to promote better public health”.