The Price Paid For Regulation

Whenever I am on a train, bus or on an airplane and I hear the phrase “Federal Regulation Requires” after advocating in Washington, D.C. I have found out that there have been many people to make a law come to pass! I never really thought much about the government of my precious America. A government “For the People and By the People” is run by the people of the United States of America.

I experienced more involvement in the process of being “the people” during my last trip to Washington, D.C. 9 to 5, National Working Women, invited me to go back to Washington for “National Summit on Paid Sick Days and Paid Family Leave.” We were advocating for a Federal Bill “Healthy Families Act (S. 984) which will provide paid sick days for people that work 30+ hours a week at a company with at least 15 employees. On my previous blog entry (see Special Kind of Giving) I shared how I met a small business woman that made the decision to provide for her employees paid sick days and the Lord rewarded her not only with happy employees but He increased her business.
This summit was held at the Hyatt Regency in Washington that is in the shadow of Capital Hill. There were experts speaking on the facts and figures about paid sick days as well as testimonies from people that didn’t have paid sick days. I never realized how much money and people intervention was involved to make a law a law. We came from 12 states. Some like myself flew into Washington. This summit paid for all of our expenses. Money invested. They even trained us in how to present ourselves to the legislative assistants to Members of Congress. This summit also gave me the opportunity to attend a Congressional Reception on Capital Hill. I had the opportunity to meet Shelia Jackson-Lee, a representative from Texas. She rushed in from the airport and took time to speak to us. I had an opportunity to give her an encouraging word from the Lord and she received it with gladness! I really appreciated her time because Congress was in the middle of solving the debt issue!

The second day in Washington I attended a “Care Congress” in the morning This was a congress centering on Domestic Workers. For so many years if you were a domestic worker then you were “less” and your job was labled “classless.” But at this congress it was declared that Domestic Workers are PROFESSIONALS! I always want to sit in the front so that I can see and hear everything as well as take pictures. So I was sitting in the front right by the head table. As the Care Congress began suddenly a door opened in front of me and in walked Valerie Jarrett. You say “Who is Valerie Jarrett?” She is the Senior Advisor for President Barack Obama. I was close enough to her (and the Secret Service) to get her eye and wave at her. She spoke to the crowd expressing President Obama’s support of Domestic Workers. Then after Valerie Jarrett in walked another lady. When Gustavo Torres introduced this lady it was the Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. I was so amazed at the level of speakers this Congress brought!

In the afternoon of the second day, I went to visit members of Congress on Capital Hill. Since the Lord let me know when I was returning from Washington in April that I would be returning, I really spent a lot of time praying after I found out that I was returning to Washington. I prayed that the anointing would be strong and that the Lord would fill my mouth with the words that I needed when I met with the members of Congress. The Lord did just that! He filled with my mouth with the words that He wanted me to express. I really felt that our words that we shared made a difference. One of the ladies that accompanied us to one the offices made the following statement in a follow-up email; And can I just add that it was a deep honor and a genuine delight to spend time and get to know all of you. It was wonderful to see Cindia and Nancy in Rep. Barrow’s office, calmly but doggedly making the case for Paid Sick Days. And what a treat and an education to witness Charmaine, Rev. Harriet and Ms. Claudia preaching it to Rep. Woodall’s aide. Wow!

It was an honor to be part of “The government for the people and by the people.” But most of all I was honored to be a witness for the Lord. It was amazing to pray in the hall of the Senators’ office building and then see God do what we asked! Our government in America isn’t perfect but I love being an American. My experience on Captial Hill has really taught me to appreciate the laws and regulations that we have. I have found out that much money, time and people power makes those laws become a reality.

I have provided links from my Facebook page of pictures from my last trip to Washington, D.C. One of the exciting extras was to ride the “Members Only” train system on Capital Hill that takes you from either the offices buildings to or from the Senate and House of Rep offices going through the Capital Building. We were given official “visitors’ badges that gave us permission to ride the train!

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