Policy Brief: Economic Impact of Diabetes

2023 Policy Briefing Report Form

Students will select and watch committee hearings of the US Congress being held online and covered / or recorded by C-SPAN or Congress.gov You are encouraged to attend the hearings if your schedule allows!

You may pick any hearing from any committee during the 118th Congress (Jan 2023- December 2024). Please note hearings are different from business meetings. A hearing is a meeting or session of a Senate, House, joint, or special committee of Congress, usually open to the public, to obtain information and opinions on proposed legislation, conduct an investigation, or evaluate/oversee the activities of a government department or the implementation of a Federal law. A Hearing is typically 2 hours in length. As if you had travel to Washington, DC for the hearing, you are expected to watch the entire session to observe the dynamic interplay of committee members and those providing testimony.

Your Policy Briefing Report should include:

1. Hearing Title:

2. House or Senate / Committee / date of event

3. URL link to the Hearing on C-span.org or Congress.gov

4. Formal name describing the bill’s intent:

5. Primary Sponsor(s) with state (Congress) or district number (state) and party affiliation (if there is more than one primary sponsor, list both)

6. Current bill status (most recent milestone). This may include the name of the committee to which the bill has been referred. Federal bills enacted and signed into law should include the public law number. If the bill is still in process, add the last hearing date, as appropriate

7. Presenter(s):

8. Briefing Summary (6-8 sentences):

9. Lessons Learned

10. Attach any handouts that might be useful to share. For example, transcripts may be available to help you find the website for written testimonies provided.

• The public policy meeting. Indicate the policy body, or lawmaker name, and the place of the meeting. Describe how the meeting fits into the government structure; that is, if you attended a state legislative committee hearing, which committee? House or Senate? Who presided as chair? Does the minority party have a leader/representative on the committee (often called a “ranking member”)? Describe the structure and provide a summary of the agenda.

• Who were the key stakeholders? For example, if you attended a legislative committee meeting, provide an overview of the makeup of the committee members. Were there any “visiting” law- makers, such as a bill sponsor, giving first/sponsor testimony on a bill being heard for the first time in committee? Also describe, to the best of your ability, the makeup of the gallery/audience, as applicable. Note persons representing organizations, or private citizens, who attended to listen at the meeting or to provide testimony.

• Describe key elements of the meeting and any outcomes, considering what you’ve learned about the policy process. Were controversial issues discussed? If so, what were they? Were they resolved? If so, in what way? Was testimony provided by witnesses? If there was testimony or discussion, would you consider those providing testimony/discussion proponents of the agenda item? Opponents? Experts providing information? A combination? Did key stakeholders in decision-making positions ask clarifying questions? If you met individually with a lawmaker, how was your agenda and “ask” received? Was there an outcome to your meeting, and if so, how would you describe that outcome?

You do not need to respond to all questions in all elements; use the questions to stimulate your thinking about your reflection, and add any other elements required in earlier steps 1-10.

You may post anytime in the first forum. Students in your policy council will be able to see the forum after they post.

Additional information on C-SPAN and Congress.gov

C-SPAN is a multi-platform public service with offerings on television, online, radio and social media. It is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1979 by the cable television industry to provide long-form, unfiltered and balanced public affairs programming. C-SPAN receives no government funding, funding comes through license fees paid by television providers — the cable and satellite companies that offer C-SPAN to their customers as a public service — and through advertisements on our digital platforms. C-SPAN's mission is to provide our audience with access to the live, gavel-to-gavel proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and to the other forums where public policy is discussed, debated and decided — all without editing, commentary or analysis, and with a balanced presentation of points of view. With three television networks, C-SPAN covers the House of Representatives,C-SPAN2 covers the Senate and on the weekends becomes Book TV,and C-SPAN3 provides additional public affairs programming — including press briefings, congressional hearings and speeches — and on the weekends becomes American History TV. All C-SPAN television programs are available online on C-SPAN.org, archived in the C-SPAN Video Library for free on-demand viewing anytime.

What is the C-SPAN Video Library?The C-SPAN Video Library is an archive of all programming that has aired on C-SPAN since 1987. Type into the search bar at the top of any page on C-SPAN.org to search for programs, dates, people and events to watch, clip and share.

Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC's Congressional Research Service.

Congress.gov is usually updated the morning after a session adjourns. Consult Coverage Dates for Legislative Information for the specific update schedules and start date for each collection.