American Boating Congress sees Advocacy Success Immediately Following Event
Just two weeks ago, 275 attendees gathered on Capitol Hill in support of the American Boating Congress. This was the largest growth in recent history with attendance up 22% from last year. Recreational boating advocates conducted more than 180 meetings with 30-40 of those meetings taking place directly with the Senator or Representative.
Following the conclusion of ABC, and thanks to the face to face conversations there, we welcome 5 new members of the Congressional Boating Caucus with more in the pipeline!
- Rep. John Moolenar
- Rep. Randy Weber
- Rep. Debbie Dingell
- Rep. Chris Collins
- Rep. Don Beyer
Not only has the event grown in size and helped bring attention to the Congressional Boating Caucus, but there has also been movement surrounding some of the industry's policy priorities. Legislative success as a direct result of ABC includes:
- Draft WRDA bill released by the House Transportation committee
- New ethanol bill (HR 5180) introduced to protect against E15
- House version of the REC Act (H.R 4665) received 3 new co-sponsors from members we visited including Rep. Jackie Walorski, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Rep. Paul Costa
- Deferred Importation bill (HR 4065) got 2 new cosponsors from members we visited including Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Rep. Gus Bilirakis
- Bipartisan letter to the EPA on consumer education for E15 misfueling was drafted and signed by more than 29 members and growing
In addition to these highlights, the BoatPAC reception during ABC raised $42,000 with 32 members of Congress in attendance.
We thank all of our ABC attendees, co-hosts and sponsors for another great year of advocacy success and will continue to update readers on progress.