In July, ACEC’s Advocacy team was in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention (RNC), where political events were held with Republican members of Congress to promote our advocacy priorities on Capitol Hill.
ACEC staff and leadership had the opportunity to spend time with Senate leaders, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC); and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
ACEC also sponsored a golf outing at Erin Hills with Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), and Chris Winkelman, executive director of the NRCC. ACEC Chair-Elect John Rathke participated, along with Executive Committee Vice Chair Dan Meckes, ACEC Executive Vice President Steve Hall, Vice President for Political Affairs Dave Bender, and the presidents of ACEC Wisconsin and ACEC Minnesota—Chris Klein and Jon Curry, respectively.
Allison Schneider, ACEC senior director of communications, fostered national press contacts with influential news outlets and met with Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith and Congressman Darrell Issa from California.
In August, ACEC leadership and staff spent the week in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention (DNC), hosting a suite of events with both House and Senate Democrats, and met with Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.).
ACEC met with members of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and hosted events throughout the week with the Congressional Black Caucus. ACEC Illinois held a fundraiser honoring the chair of the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, and ACEC hosted Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) at the ACEC house in Chicago during the second evening of the DNC to show our appreciation for his leadership and support in fixing the R&D tax issue in the Senate.