 |
|
|
 Vallarta Living | March 2007 
Americans Abroad Get an Advocacy Group in Congress
 PVNN
| | The four million or more Americans working and living overseas have gained perhaps the most conspicuous political platform they have ever had in Washington: a congressional Americans Abroad Caucus. |
Persistent follow-up by Americans abroad on a concept introduced during Overseas Americans Week last June has led to the creation of an "Americans Abroad Caucus" in the US House of Representatives by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC).
In a letter dated February 22, 2007, addressed to their House colleagues, Representatives Maloney and Wilson said:
We are writing to invite you to join the Americans Abroad Caucus, dedicated to the estimated 4 to 6 million American citizens living and working overseas.
Although they live overseas, many of these Americans continue to vote and pay taxes in the United States. Whether or not they work for American businesses overseas, they help increase exports of American goods and services because they traditionally buy American goods, sell American goods, and create business opportunities for U.S. companies and workers.
Their role in strengthening the U.S. economy, creating jobs in the United States, and extending American influence around the globe is vital to the well-being of our nation. Moreover, they are unofficial ambassadors, often the first contact many people around the world have with "America" and are our very informed "antennae" on the world.
Because they live abroad, sometimes we here in Washington forget them. Lacking good statistics, we have only a vague picture of whom and where they are. When considering electoral reform, we may forget that some Americans live in distant deserts and jungles or serve in dangerous combat zones, lacking access to voting technology that we in America take for granted.
Additionally, because their votes are distributed across all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories, they have no single, strong presence on Capitol Hill when legislation is introduced on citizenship, census, voting, or taxation. It is as if an entire state with a population the size of Colorado, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, or Alabama had no one to represent it in Washington.
The Americans Abroad Caucus will provide a forum for discussion of those issues and a means for utilizing the on-the-ground experience of overseas Americans so that we can better work with and for this important and growing constituency. This is a population loyal and vital to America. They need and deserve a group of legislators sympathetic to their causes and open to dialogue with them. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us