Thursday, December 19, 2019

FMC Impacts Thousands Of Americans In 2019
Bipartisan congressional education programming provides most successful year in association history.

(Washington, D.C.) -- FMC, the association of former Members of Congress, will enter it’s 50th year (2020) in record-breaking fashion, delivering more programming than ever, furthering its goal of strengthening Congress through civic education and engagement.

Despite a politically poisonous atmosphere in the country, FMC continues to deliver bipartisan, collaborative programming to help students, the business community, foreign legislators and leaders, and others better understand American democracy.

As well, internationally focused programming allows active Members of Congress and their staff to learn more about our trading partners and allies throughout Europe and Asia.

“I am incredibly pleased at the work done by the staff of FMC, and by our members,” said Martin Frost, President of FMC, who served in Congress from 1979 to 2005. “We live in a time when, for too many of our citizens, finding bipartisanship in their own lives is difficult. They firmly believe it is impossible in Washington. We take pride in proving otherwise.”

FMC’s landmark Congress to Campus program delivered bipartisan teams of former Members of Congress to more than two dozen colleges and universities across the United States in 2019, meeting with thousands of students along the way.

When polled, more than 75 percent of the students say their impressions of politics, and of Congress, have been changed by the visits.

“Our bipartisan programming allows young people, who may have been impacted by the cynicism of our time, to learn more about public service and American democracy from the men and women who have lived it,” said Pete Weichlein, FMC CEO. “When someone tells you their story, right in front of you, and you can see that they really cared about our country while they were in Congress, and that they still do, it becomes harder to believe those who would attack democratic government, particularly the branch set up by Article 1 of our Constitution, Congress.”

FMC’s Congressional Study Groups also brought 18 current Members of Congress and 82 congressional staffers on Study Tours of South Korea, Germany, Japan and Canada in 2019. These Study Tours provide the opportunity for Members and their staff to learn firsthand about our trading partners and defense allies overseas.

“As a former Member, I know that the Congressional Study Groups provide an amazing opportunity that Members and staff can get nowhere else,” said Dr. Charles Boustany, Vice President of FMC and former Louisiana Congressman who served from 2005 to 2017. “These tours put Members and staff on the ground, talking one-on-one with people who can really explain a country, its culture and how it interacts with the United States. As well, relationships can be formed, across the aisle, that last forever and help lead to bipartisan solutions when Members and staff come home.”

With dozens of events throughout Washington, D.C. and the United States, and more than 600 former Members donating their time to the association, FMC is stronger than ever and, at this crucial time, ready to help defend and support Congress and our democracy.

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