By Loren S. Casuto
SAN DIEGO — One of the most common complaints about politics today involves money and influence. Turn on the news and you’ll hear about groups providing millions for access while the individual has little opportunity or weight by comparison to influence their representatives. With all that said, one can believe there’s no opportunity to make your voice heard.
On Tuesday March 28th, I had an opportunity to see the other side of the coin. 18,000 attendees of AIPAC’s National Conference came to Capitol Hill to lobby their representatives. By 10 a.m. nearly every Congressional office building was filled with AIPAC attendees going to and from meetings with their representatives. There were four other groups lobbying members of Congress on that day, but their numbers paled in comparison to the number of AIPAC supporters around. Between meetings I ran across attendees from Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Washington and Illinois discussing their recent meetings. At Noon I stopped at the Rayburn Cafeteria, which serves as a popular lunch spot for those working around the Capitol. Except for a few tables which held Congressmen, staff members or two star Generals, they were filled with AIPAC members.
Tuesday was the culmination of AIPAC’s three-day National Conference where Pro-Israel activists from around the country networked, attended seminars and heard speeches from some of the biggest names in politics. During the day 18,000 attendees filled the entire Washington Convention Center to hear Prime Minister Netanyahu speak via satellite, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leaders Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi as well as members of the Knesset, Congressmen and other dignitaries. AIPAC filled the Verizon Center (home of the NBA’s Wizards and NHL’s Capitals) to hear Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker Paul Ryan, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley (who received multiple prolonged standing ovations for her fantastic work at the UN). In between we attended sessions on foreign affairs, the history of the Middle East, new technology being developed and breakthroughs in areas from defense to agriculture and medicine.
What makes it interesting is that AIPAC isn’t a Political Action Committee, that’s not what PAC implies. It stands for “Public Affairs Committee.” Instead it achieves its goals by establishing relationships with members of the House and Senate on both sides before they consider running for office. AIPACers hold regular meetings not only with staff but volunteers and lay people. They invite them to see Middle East facts on the ground via trips to Israel. Through these actions, support for Israel is one of very few bi-partisan issues. By and large Senators and Congressmen from both parties are strong supporters of the relationship between Israel and the US. To see so many people representing such a wide range of America is rather inspiring; Democrats, Republicans, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Black, White, Latino, Straight, Gay, all were represented in some capacity among the speakers and attendees.
Even if the Pro-Israel movement isn’t a strong cause for you, I highly recommend you attend AIPAC’s national conference at least once in your life. To be in a room filled with that many activists from across the political, social and ethnic spectrum will make you feel in awe. To be able to make your voice heard in the halls of Congress will make you feel like you do matter. And to know that the US-Israel relationship looks ironclad even in this partisan era, will make you feel proud.
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Casuto is a San Diego attorney who serves as director of operations for Rehabilitation Care Coordination.