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On 6 April 2005, more than 90 Special Olympic athletes, Program leaders and family members converged upon Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., USA, to meet with Members of Congress during Special Olympics' first Lobby Day (click here to see photos). They came ready to make their case to Senators and Representatives about the importance of Special Olympics to their communities, the United States and the world and to secure congressional funding support for our programs.
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| Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), center, was one of several Members of Congress who attended a Special Olympics reception in the U.S. Capitol. With Stevens are Special Olympics athletes Billy Quick (left) and Paul Maretti. |
Special Olympics delegations from 21 U.S. states visited 80 congressional offices to thank legislators for passing the 2004 Sport and Empowerment Act and to seek continued funding of Special Olympic priorities such as education, global expansion and Healthy Athletes®.
Members of Congress and their staffs are familiar with the world of lobbying, but they have never before seen the level of dedication shown by these Special Olympic delegations. The athletes themselves made the strongest case for the power of Special Olympics Programs to tear down the barriers to inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities.
Special Olympics athletes and Program Directors went through extensive training on how to make "the ask," how to stick to the message and how to flow through the talking points. In essence, they learned how to tell their stories as a means to effectively lobby their federal legislators. Michael Brogioli, Special Olympics Vice President for Government Relations, noted, "Our athletes, along with family members and Program leaders, are our most effective lobbyists and they put human faces on our cause. Congressional offices learned a lot about our movement, and I believe we made a real difference on Capitol Hill by illustrating the value of our programs and their ability to touch constituents across the country."
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| Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), center, meets with a Special Olympics delegation, including Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver (left, gesturing). |
The main task of the delegations was to highlight the importance of Special Olympics and specifically to request full funding of the Special Olympics Sports and Empowerment Act, which authorizes US$15 million in federal funding for Special Olympic in fiscal year 2006. The funds are earmarked to help volunteer recruitment and retention, expand initiatives such as Unified Sports® and Special Olympics Get Into It (SO Get Into It™); recruit and train health care professionals to treat people with intellectual disabilities; and to support Program development and growth in underserved areas of the world.
"Bringing Special Olympics to more people in more countries will not only directly benefit the lives of those new athletes and their families, but it will also help dispel negative stereotypes about people with intellectual disabilities," said Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver.
The delegations were joined at a reception in the Capitol by Shriver, Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and congressional supporters including Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, Senator George Voinovich of Ohio, Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Senator Craig Thomas of Wyoming and Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina.
Click on the images below to view enlarged photos and captions.
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