|
All Congressional Memberships Expire December 31!
Chapters Must Act Now!
Chapters with congressional members must take action now to begin (or extend) their membership in the
Air Force Association. Chapters must act on each Member of the new Congress--those newly elected, re-elected
and those Senators who did not face re-election but continue to serve.
The Air Force Association realizes the critical importance of a healthy relationship with all of our elected
officials and the particular link between AFA chapters and their national elected officials (both House and Senate).
As a result AFA is again making complimentary memberships available for each of the members of the new, 111th
Congress. However, these memberships are available exclusively through AFA chapters and can only be initiated or
continued if you take action.
All Members of Congress already receive a copy of Air Force Magazine in their office on Capitol Hill (as well
as hundreds of other publications). The purpose of this complimentary membership program goes beyond that. It is to
personalize and localize the membership, including chapter affiliation and the distribution of Air Force Magazine.
That is why we are asking the local level (chapter or state) to act in extending these memberships and that is also
why we are asking each Congressional applicant to use his or her home address or home district office address.
Enclosed is a list of the current AFA Congressional memberships. All these memberships will expire at the end of
2008 if they are not renewed by someone at the local level.
How to Renew Your Congressional Members
Two easy steps are required to extend the complimentary membership to your Representative or Senator:
-
Get the Member’s Approval (if he or she is not already an AFA member)
Complimentary Congressional membership requires the Member’s approval. If you are renewing an existing membership
or if one of your chapter people has a strong personal relationship with a Member of Congress, you needn’t go
through the process of advance correspondence to determine whether the Member is willing to accept a gift membership.
Just go to the next step.
Otherwise write a letter to the Member of Congress from your chapter (or for the Senator, from the state
organization) saying that the chapter/state desires to present the individual with a two-year membership in the
Air Force Association and the chapter/state organization. Once you receive a positive response, move up to the
next step.
When a positive response is received, complete any AFA membership application in the name of the Member of Congress.
Then write “CONGRESSIONAL” across the “Membership Options” section of the application. (Or you can download a
Congressional membership Application off the web site.
http://www.afa.org/members/CongApp.pdf Be sure to
indicate whether the individual has any military experience in the “Eligibility” section, include chapter
information and write in the name of the unit president as the sponsor. When that is done, send the application
to Judy Galbreath at AFA Headquarters.
You must fill out a new application for each complimentary member, whether the member is new or a renewal.
We will not accept addresses on Capitol Hill. Use the Member of Congress’ home address (in Washington or home
district) or the home district office address.
When the completed Congressional application is received at headquarters, it will be processed, new member
credentials will be mailed and the name will show up on your next interim roster. The membership will be valid for
the balance of the current session of Congress, up to two years, and will expire December 31, 2010.
Subsequently, the Members of Congress should be included in all chapter mailings and invitations, and either the
Chapter President or Vice President for Government Relations - or both - should keep up a reasonably frequent
correspondence with these Members. If you have any questions about this program, please contact Judy Galbreath
(ext. 4800).
Return to the
Table of Contents
or go to the Next Article
|
