First of all, thanks to all of you for your encouraging words, prayer and support! I really felt it when I was getting ready to speak, and it helped me be a little less nervous!
It was especially nice to meet Laurel of Lucy's Pocket! Etsians sure are wonderful people! :D
We went down a day early (DH, Bro, 2 year old son) so I could drop off copies of my testimony and see the sights of DC.
I barely slept Wednesday night because I was pretty nervous. I didn't get to put my thoughts into bullet points like I wanted to do before the meeting, and was not comfortable about that... My little brother just kept telling me that I was "going to talk to some people about some stuff." and that helped a little bit!
Before the meeting started, I talked to a lot of people, like people from the textile industry lobbying group, different people on the committee's aides, other witnesses, etc. It was a little overwhelming!
The coolest was when we got to meet Nancy Nord, the acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. She has really been a champion for small business in all of this, and is totally getting hit from all sides. She was given an impossible task and has done really well with it. Laurel and I told her how much small business people like us really appreciate her fighting for us, and she seemed to almost tear up and said that she doesn't hear any bit of appreciation in her job lately. It was a neat moment.
Nancy Nord testified first, and then the hearing went into recess so that the members could go vote. The have underground tunnels to the capitol so they can get over there quickly. It took about an hour and a half and we were up!
I felt I stumbled a bit, but I felt pretty good about it, and I felt especially good about the q&a at the end.
The best part of the hearing was that no matter what side of the aisle the members were on, they were all in agreement that something needs to be done. And that they want to work together to make it happen.
The one thing that I took away from this experience was that although we see on TV all the time these polarizing politicians that seem to be so acidic and make it seem impossible for this country to ever move forward on issues that divide us, the real work is done by people like these politicians who aren't on the Sunday news circuit every week blasting the other side. There was a real bi-partisan feel, and it really gave me hope that this law can be amended to keep it from destroying small businesses across the country.
Although I've just read Rep Altmire's press release about the hearing, and it's really nothing like what I thought took place at the meeting. I'm really hoping that he's just doing that for show but will work on this. The evidence is just so overwhelming that this law is flawed! And now it's out in the open...
It was an awesome trip, and I am so happy I had the opportunity to represent my business as well as other small businesses. The subcommittee chair promised more hearings, (fingers crossed) and I'm really looking forward to this law finally changing!
