July 2005 Mechanical Engineering Departments: Washington Window

Washington Window

Government Relations in the New ASME

by Francis Dietz,
ASME Government Relations

Unless you've been on sabbatical in a far-off land, you've probably heard that ASME is undergoing a reorganization. This reorganization, known as Continuity and Change, is coming to a close, and when this issue arrives in your mailbox, it will have just gone into effect.

The transition to the new organization for the government relations department will be essentially seamless. For one thing, government relations staff and volunteers have always interacted with ASME staff around the country. It has been our job to be a service organization for the Society. The only difference will perhaps be that, like the rest of ASME, we will be more focused, more responsive, and more attuned to the needs of our customers.

That could mean working more closely with standards-writing committees not only to ensure that they're aware of proposed regulations and legislation, but also that we are aware of the projects they're involved with so we can assist them. For example, Government relations, working with a major industry partner, recently persuaded U.S. Senate staff to forgo adding an energy efficiency provision to the comprehensive energy bill that would have been contrary to ASME's escalator code. Another example of working across ASME organizational lines occurred recently, when government relations and engineering staff collaborated on a successful reception for U.S. nuclear industry representatives and Chinese government officials in conjunction with the International Conference on Nuclear Engi- neering held recently in Beijing.

In some areas, the names of the ASME organizations might change, but our interactions will not. For example, ASME Government Relations has been working extensively with the Council on Engineering for many years. That cooperation will continue when the technical divisions are incorporated into Knowledge and Community Groups. Similarly, the Energy Committee of the Council on Engineering, which has been staffed by government relations for many years, will be sunset when the new organization takes effect, but will be reformed under the new organization, with new leadership and a new membership. Government relations will continue to staff the new committee, whose primary purpose is to provide energy-related engineering expertise to Congress and the Department of Energy through position statements, testimony, and briefings.

Government relations plans to play a role in ASME Solutions, a new organization.

Government relations activities have long taken advantage of members' expertise. One of the most important things we do is pass along the knowledge and experience of our members to policy makers. Very few members of Congress, and comparatively few congressional staff, possess real-world technical knowledge, and yet they are called upon every day to make policy and funding decisions on complex science, engineering, and technology issues, which can have a wide-ranging effect on the American economy and national security.

ASME's Federal Government Fellow program is an important resource in this effort. With generous support from the ASME Foundation, this, the oldest engineering fellow program in Washington, has successfully placed knowledgeable individuals in key positions on Capitol Hill and in federal agencies.

Another area in which ASME Government Relations plans to play a role is in ASME Solutions, a new customer-focused organization whose purpose is to bring the resources of the Society to bear in providing information to major industries and to bring ASME entities together in an effort to package Society products and services to better serve our industry customers. One of the ways government relations can help in this effort is to make ASME organizations aware of proposed and actual legislation and regulations that affect ASME customers (and ASME itself) and to use government contacts on specific issues. ASME Solutions will focus initially on six industries, all of which depend on the most current information from the legislative and regulatory corridors in Washington.

Finally, there is no area in ASME more important than Codes and Standards. ASME-developed standards are used to enhance the safety of people the world over. ASME Government Relations will continue to play a major role in informing policy makers about the standards development process and the importance of standards to the health, safety, and security of the citizenry. Last year, government relations staff worked successfully with other standards developers in persuading Congress to pass a bill exempting us and them from the treble damages provisions of the nation's anti-trust laws. This year, the same staff is taking that a step further, seeking legislation to exempt voluntary consensus standards developers from liability altogether under most circumstances.

One thing won't change as the reorganization goes into effect: our commitment to you, our members, and your opinions about the issues we should focus on when we work with policy makers in Washington. We will still continue to seek your guidance on issues, and your views will still form our Public Policy Agenda, a biennial compendium of issues important to the Society.