The 99ers Petition Goes to Washington

Tonight we got word from Issa Decker, the creator of one of the most popular petitions on Change.org, that the petition was delivered to Washington, D.C. last week. The petition, called "The 99ers Need a Tier V Added to Unemployment Benenefits," has almost 30,000 signatures.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office is beginning the process of validating the signatures on the petition. As Issa learned, an official petition goes into the Library of Congress and can be quoted on the Senate floor.

Issa's message is printed here in its entirety. It can also be found on 99erspetition.com.

As many people know, when I saw that Congress would be debating the Unemployment Extender bill that did not include the 99ers, I decided it might be a good time to submit the petition to Senator Reid. I knew that many in Congress supported us, and I wanted to put some ammunition into their hands.

Many people also know that I requested volunteers in the Washington, D.C. area to print and deliver the petition. I called Senator Durbin's and Senator Reid's office late on Friday to ask how I should go about the delivery because, obviously, the volunteers couldn't just walk into the Senate Office Building. A staffer in Senator Durbin's office told me that they "would always send someone outside the building to receive something like this," but there would be no opportunity to speak to anyone about the issue. Senator Reid's office promised to get back to me on Monday.

Sometime on the weekend, as word was getting out about the petition delivery, WorldNewsVine contacted me and asked if I would like their assistance. They were the first and biggest supporter of the petition from the outset. By the time they contacted me only one person had volunteered that they could "for sure" both print and make the delivery. I was disappointed because I was hoping for a pool of several people who could take over if one person couldn't complete the task at the last moment. It wouldn't be cool to have a staffer standing on the front steps waiting for someone who couldn't make it. Of course, this is no offense to the one volunteer. I was grateful for the one, and I would have gone ahead with it if WorldNewsVine hadn't offered what I believe to be a better alternative.

Although, [the editor of WorldNewsVine] and I discussed the thought of my going to Washington, I believed that being represented by WorldNewsVine would give our efforts greater legitimacy. This proved to be correct as they were able to secure a "sit-down" with Senator Reid's political advisers that very week. I had been told that an appointment for me to meet with someone, probably just a staffer, would take at least three weeks. I thought it was important to try to make the delivery while the debate was happening. I never felt that the petition had the power to affect a congressional change in itself because it represents less than 1 percent of the jobless who have exhausted unemployment benefits. I do feel it could be a significant tool for the senators to use to make our case. If not now, it will be there for them to use in the future. The day may yet come when we hear our words read from the Senate floor.

I'm very glad I made the decision to join efforts with WNV. The campaign of raising money to send a representative of the press enhanced our grassroots effort. The Political Communications Executive, Vaughn Bray, who called me on Monday from Senator Reid's office, was clearly impressed when I told him what was happening. He knew of WorldNewsVine and told me he would offer them whatever support he could, including a meeting with political advisers and the press office. I put him in touch with the owner of WorldNewsVine, Robert Grone, and they made arrangements for an appointment for a sit-down in Senator Reid's offices with his political advisers and his press office.

Here's a note about Senator Reid's "press office." Sometimes you don't know what you don't know. The title sounded to me and others like that's where the press is. Actually, these are people who work for Senator Reid. They control the news that comes out of the senator's office. At the last minute, they weren't able to attend the meeting because the senator called them to the Senate to await a possible cloture on the Finance Bill. However, out of respect for Mr. Grone, WorldNewsVine and our petition, they agreed to hold the meeting as planned. Since the "press control" wasn't there and Mr. Grone is "the press," he had to agree to keep their meeting off the record until the press office gets back to him. The questions submitted by WNV and those submitted by me were discussed during the meeting. At the end of the meeting, Mr. Grone submitted the questions from him and from me in writing, and we are now awaiting the answers from the press office. If you have been following the news, you know they have been busier than usual this week and last.

Because the questions were asked in the name of the petitioners, the petition has to be validated before the questions can be answered in the name of the petitioners. Change.org was not comfortable with the idea of sending the complete data base to me or WNV because it contains complete home and email addresses. They did, however, agree to send it to Senator Reid's office. I believe it was on Thursday when they sent it to Vaughn Bray. In order to expedite things, Senator Reid's office is first validating the names in his home state of Nevada. This means contacting those who signed or maybe a percentage of them, I don't really know. When one state is validated we hope they feel they can answer the questions on the record in the name of that state.

More on the petition: Change.org sent a list of the petitioners to me and to WorldNewsVine that included the names, home towns, and zip codes of the signers. Both WNV and Change.org each culled the list for invalid signatures. This turned out to be thousands of signatures. People who I'm sure believed they were helping the cause, signed multiple times. Others entered quaint names like "I am Unemployed." In their vast experience and wisdom Congress has learned not to take petitions at face value until they are validated. That's why they have all the rules regarding petitions. Another thing I've learned is that an officially submitted petition ends up in the Library of Congress. It may also be quoted on the floor of Congress by some of the members. They want to make absolutely sure it truly represents the people it says it does. If it were a letter from a constituent, they could call or email the person before quoting it. This is a letter from thousands.

The fact that we haven't gotten what we want yet does not mean Mr. Grone misspent the money WNV raised. He did exactly what he said he would do, which is what I asked him to do. He delivered the petition to Senator Reid's office which is located in one of the most expensive cities in the world. He did this at a time when every lobbyist from the financial industry, and there are thousands of them, were booked into the entire D.C. area. I'm glad he was able to find a room and willing to buck the crowds, and a bonus for us was that he actually got to speak to knowledgeable people. They and he will answer our questions; however, I doubt the press office will answer them in writing until they feel they won't jeopardize the bill that extends filing deadlines, even when Nevada signers are validated. If you have been following the news you know what I mean. I had hoped something could be added to that bill for us, but they're having great difficulty passing it as it is. I'm disappointed, but I still believe our time will come.

WorldNewsVine, Robert Grone, and [WorldNewsVine writer] Theresa Cahill have my greatest apprieciation for the lengths they have gone to help us.

Here's another note: it would be a tragedy for us if legitimate online newspapers and news sources decline to write about the petition or the 99ers. They read the blogs and the comments, and it's easy for them to not enter a fray. They can simply report on unemployment without mentioning our petition. Remember how much work it took for us to get them to start noticing us for the right reasons? 

I know I have a lot of support, I hear from you all the time, and I thank you. I know you are concerned about me because you haven't heard from me in a few days. I'm here and I'm fine. I stay this way by not reading the comments. I've just heard about them from you! So, don't feel you have to defend me. That just keeps the fray going. I am going to take a break for awhile, though. I need to focus on personal things I've neglected for the past three weeks.

Finally, we have to keep our priorities straight. Getting an unemployment extension for those of us who have exhausted ours has to be our focus. We need to keep emailing and faxing our personal situations and request help, and not just to Democrats. They hear us, but they still have to work around the party of No.

Though it looks like a real unemployment extension — a Tier V — won't make it into the latest bill, the fight for the 99ers continues. Share your opinions and ideas here.

Photo credit: chris5aw