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ASQ Goes to Capitol Hill to Break Senate Logjam on Baldrige Expansion

July 23, 2004 - After unanimously clearing the United States House of Representatives in March, legislation to add a not-for-profit category to the Baldrige Award has become bogged down in the Senate. ASQ’s focus in the coming months will be to move the Baldrige expansion bill through the chamber. To that end, ASQ representatives Amy Kimball of Sellery Associates and Dick Sandretti of Sandretti Associates met on July 12 and 13 with the following legislators or their staffs:

Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-ND) Daphna Peled, legislative assistant. Sen. Dorgan is a member of the Senate Appropriations committee. Meeting was held to inform his office of the pending legislation regarding expansion of the Baldrige Award into not-for-profit. We asked Ms. Peled for the Senator’s support in getting the legislation through. She was interested and said she would inform the Senator of our position.

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) Anna Shopen, legislative aide. Sen. Brownback is a member of the Senate Appropriations committee. We meet briefly with the Senator and explained why we were in his office. He said he looked forward to a full report from staff. We then met with Ms. Shopen to inform her of our position on the Baldrige expansion and asked for the Senator’s support in moving the legislation through. She was amenable.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) Bryan Mitchell, legislative assistant. We had two meetings with Mr. Mitchell. Rep. Miller introduced the legislation in the House that passed unanimously in March and is a staunch supporter of the expansion. Mr. Mitchell has been very supportive of our actions. He suggested that he would ask Rep. Miller to speak with Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D- SC), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to attempt to break the log jam that has stymied the bill in the Senate.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Darrell W. Pepper, Ph.D., legislative fellow and Baldrige examiner; J. Christopher Thompson, legislative assistant. Sen. Feinstein is a member of the Senate Appropriations committee. Meeting was held to ask for Sen. Feinstein’s support in moving the Baldrige expansion legislation through the chamber. Mr. Thompson said he did not see the value of the legislation for the people of California. We explained the overall impact of the Baldrige Award on American business, but Mr. Thompson remained skeptical. Dr. Pepper was extremely supportive of our position and expressed his backing for the expansion.

Sen. Conrad Burns (R- MT) Erica Simpson, professional staff. Sen. Burns is a member of the Senate Appropriations committee. Meeting was held to ask for the Senator’s assistance in moving the bill through the Senate. Ms. Simpson was supportive and said she would relay our message to the Senator.

Press contact: Fay Spano at fspano@asq.org