Over the next month, NOPA will work with the Caucus' Co-Chairs' Congressional staff outreach to Members of Congress, inviting them to join the caucus, and NOPA urges all individuals and organizations in the Portuguese American community to reach out to your Members and ask them to join the caucus.

Please Note:

Congressional Caucuses must be repopulated every two years with every new Congress. So our Caucus needs Members in addition to its Co-Chairs.

Contacting your Representative/Senators makes a difference. It's important for your policymakers to hear from their constituents to know what is important to you. We have received some responses from Congressional offices saying that it would be helpful for them to get requests to join the caucus from constituents in their districts/states. 

Below are sample thank you and invitation letters along with some talking points, tips for contacting Congress, and useful resource links for you to use in an email, letter, or phone call to your Members of Congress. 

Please email or call your Members of Congress to thank them for joining the caucus, or, if they have not already joined, to ask them to support the Portuguese American community by joining the Congressional Portuguese American Caucus for the 114th Congress.  

Feel free to contact NOPA for assistance or guidance on contacting your Members of Congress -- and pass this alert on to your friends and colleagues in the Portuguese American community -- the more our community is active in the process, the more Congress can learn of our concerns and successes.  

The Congressional Portuguese-American Caucus was established in 1995 by Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy (RI-D) and co-chaired with Congressman Richard Pombo (CA-R). The caucus over the years grew to a membership of 38 congressmen and was actively supporting key initiatives of interest to the Portuguese American community such as the Dual Taxation Agreement (1996), the Visa Waiver Program (1999), sanctions against Indonesia regarding the violence in East Timor (1999).

In 2010, NOPA found out, unbeknownst to the community, that the last time a Congressional Caucus for the Portuguese American community existed on record was the 107th Congress (2001-2002). All Congressional Member Organizations' registrations are overseen by the Committee for House Administration; however there had not been any action to reinstate the Portuguese American Caucus in any of the previous four Congresses, spanning eight years: 111th Congress (2009-2010), 110th Congress (2007-2008), 109th Congress (2005-2006), and 108th Congress (2003-2004).

NOPA recognized that the Portuguese American community:

• Continued to expand each year and needed Members of Congress that it could turn to first to have its opinions heard and priorities addressed.
• Needed a group of federal policymakers who were proud to represent the Portuguese American community its contributions to American society in an officially registered caucus.
• Needed to re-establish this important congressional member organization dedicated to voicing and advancing, through the legislative process, issues affecting Portuguese Americans.

In 2011, NOPA lead the effort to contact the Committee for House Administration and the staff of the Portuguese American Congressional elected officials urging them to take quick action towards reinstating the Portuguese American Caucus for the 112th Congress (2011-2012). During the reinstatement process, NOPA worked closely with Congressional staff from the selection and coordination of the caucus co-chairs, to crafting the caucus mission and application that was submitted by the Congressmen to the House Committee on Administration, which keeps the official information on Congressional caucuses. 

Since the Cacus' reinstatement, NOPA haslaunched an effort to educate the Portuguese American community about how congressional caucuses belong to the community and that the caucus was accessible to all individuals and organizations in the Portuguese American community by providing direct contact information to the congressional staff directors who managed the caucus.

You can follow the links below to locate your Members of Congress: 

U.S. House of Representatives Contact Information:  

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

SUBJECT: Please Join the Congressional Portuguese American Caucus

LETTERHEAD

(Date)  

Dear Congressman/Senator _________:

As ('title' of 'org/company'), and your constituent from (your place of residence), I am asking for your support of the Portuguese American community by joining the bipartisan Congressional Portuguese American Caucus in the 114^th Congress.

The caucus is dedicated to the more than 1.5 million members of the Portuguese American community and the critical ties between the United States and Portugal, with diplomatic relations dating back to 1791.