Legislative Update.

Policy Committee Members Meet Policy Makers In Nation's Capitol

Members of ACA's Public Policy Committee met with policy makers in Washington, D.C., during the first week in April to discuss ACA's policy agenda.

Committee members met with representatives of more than twenty Congressional offices, Executive Branch agencies, and other organizations with similar policy interests.

Issues discussed included:

* the CIPRIS fee proposed for nonimmigrant students in the United States

* exemptions from FICA withholding for camp counselors

* exemptions from requirements for Social Security identification numbers

* background checks

* access to public lands

* cost-recovery for use of public lands

Peg Smith, ACA's executive director, said the meetings were very productive. "We were given assurances that the fee proposed under the CIPRIS program for nonimmigrant students may not be imposed, and we were also encouraged by discussions concerning access to public lands," she said.

Committee members also held discussions concerning plans for the 2002 ACA National Conference in Washington, D.C., and how national policy makers can be integrated into the programs and activities of the conference and its participants.

ACA and APCO Worldwide, ACA's Washington representative, met with the CEO of the Corporation for National Service, former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford. ACA discussed partnership opportunities that promote important life skills such as citizenship and volunteerism along with the lifelong learning experiences that take place at camp every summer.

Cipris Update

ACA representatives in Washington were told that the work being done by ACA members and APCO was paying off on the controversy surrounding the proposed CIPRIS fees on nonimmigrant students.

Working with a coalition of national organizations, ACA and APCO have helped mobilize thousands of people throughout the country who oppose the CIPRIS fees and have contacted members of Congress about their opposition. ACA also presented policy makers with a petition against the fees signed by hundreds of ACA National Conference participants.

CIPRIS is a program administered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to track the whereabouts and activities of nonimmigrant students who are in this country and going to school or working. The INS has proposed imposing a $95 fee per student in order to pay the costs to the government of tracking the foreign students.

You can continue to affect the outcome by writing to your members of Congress about this issue. More information can be found on ACA's Web site (www.ACAcamps.org/publicpolicy/), and you can find out who your members of Congress are by visiting the House of Representative's Web site: www.house.gov/writerep/.