Advocacy.

The LWVUS Advocacy Team and our Leagues and members nationwide were still engaged in lobbying for the League's priority issues as the first session of the 109th Congress continued after the Thanksgiving recess. Throughout this first session, the League successfully fought attempts to roll back campaign finance reform and attacks on the Clean Air Act. The League also kept up the pressure in opposition to the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act and opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for new oil and gas drilling.

In 2005, the LWVUS Lobby Corps took the League's message on protecting the Clean Air Act, Social Security, campaign finance reform and civil liberties to the Hill. The Lobby Corps' last visit of this first session was in support of DC Voting Rights. Other lobbying and LWVUS letters to Congress towards the end of this session included support of the McCain Amendment opposing torture; support of transparency in Katrina-related government contracts; opposition to eroding environmental protections after the hurricanes; support of funding for social programs in the budget reconciliation bill; opposition to voter registration restrictions in a federal housing bill; opposition to a bill that would roll back campaign finance reform; support of funding for the Help America Vote Act; support of the voting rights of women in the Iraqi constitution; and support of the UN Summit Outcome document.

The League joined the Reform Institute and the Center for Democracy and Citizenship in releasing a report on redistricting reform, "The Shape of Representative Democracy." The report was the product of a conference, attended by experts from diverse groups, to discuss principles of redistricting reform, including independent commissions, minority representation, partisan fairness and competitiveness. The LWVUS will cosponsor the next conference on putting the principles into action to achieve reform of redistricting systems around the country.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

As congressional hearings on reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act began, the League called for the renewal of the VRA and worked with a broad-spectrum coalition to create the tools and prepare activists to achieve it. Important aspects of this landmark legislation will expire if not reauthorized by 2007. It will take a large organized effort on the part of all concerned citizens to ensure the reauthorization. To learn how your League can get involved please contact LWVUS Grassroots Lobbyist Angela Canterbury ([e-mail]).

2005 was a banner year for League activism with nearly 100,000 e-mails going to Congress on the League's priority issues! To learn more about how you can make a difference in 2006, read more about the League's national priorities in the Hill Bulletin on page 12; also visit Take Action at www.lwv.org and sign up for the Grassroots Lobby Corps to receive action alerts by e-mail.