Washington Update

The following is a summary of meetings and activities held on behalf of ASQ in Washington, DC, July 14-15, 2003. Attending in Washington: Bill Sellery and Amy Kimball of Sellery Associates, Inc., and Dick Sandretti of Sandretti Associates, Inc.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Dr. Bert Coursey, DHS Science and Technology directorate. Dr. Coursey has a long history with ASQ(C), having served at NIST for 30 years while working side by side with Curt Reiman. He said DHS is currently working with ANSI to develop a panel that would create Homeland Security Standards. ASQ is shown as one of 280 "Interested Party" as of July 2, 2003. The first plenary meeting was held June 9-10, 2003 in New York. Dan Bart of the Telecommunications Industry Association and Mary Saunders, NIST chief of Standards Services Division, are the Panel's co-chairs. The interim steering committee comprises some 30 members. It is unclear as to whether or not ASQ was represented. Dr. Coursey suggested that we work with ANSI directly and prepare a summary of capabilities. Dr. Coursey also asked if ASQ would be interested in providing a White House "Fellow" to be attached to the DHS to give the Society a closer tie. He also said there will be considerable down steam quality assurance needs in all the agencies as DHS gets itself organized.

Effort to expand the Baldrige Award into a not-for-profit category

ASQ is leading a federal effort to add a not-for-profit category to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. It has been decided to achieve the additional category first by getting authorization this year and then appropriations for the funding of the category next year for FY 2005. We reconstructed the National Baldrige Coalition to gather support for the new category and to eliminate the cap that currently prevents more than three winners per category. We contacted hundreds of individuals interested in seeing the expansion of the Baldrige award. Many of these contacts were made with the help of ASQ's Baldrige office and Paul Borawski as well as the Quality-New Mexico award program office. We asked these individuals to support a letter to Congress asking for them to authorize the new category.

The timing for the letter corresponded to a mark up planned for July 17 in the Senate Commerce Committee so we had very little time to get this letter and the list of supporters coordinated as this effort began the beginning of July. The response to the request for support for the congressional letter was overwhelming, and from that effort we have brought together a group which will be helpful in the future as the legislation goes forward.

We addressed the letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the authorization committees for NIST in both the House and the Senate including Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Hollings (D-SC) and Reps. Boehlert (R-NY) and Hall (D-TX). Kimball and Sandretti delivered the letter and the list of signers to appropriate congressional committee offices in between the scheduled meetings on Tuesday, July 15. The committee staff who received the letters were extremely impressed with the list of over 400 supporters, including former Baldrige winners, examiners, overseers, judges, and Baldrige Foundation Board members who agreed to be listed on the letter, all who want to make it possible for not-for-profit organizations to apply for the national award.

We have been in contact with each supporter either via phone or email and will continue that contact with reports on the authorization and appropriation processes. We expect the U.S. House of Representatives will take up this legislation later in the year and we are ready to put the Coalition to work on getting support in that Chamber as well. Our Senate contacts assured us that the language will be safe in the Senate bill but the House may be a different story. We are hoping the House will simply take the Senate language and move it swiftly but it may not be that easy. We will continue to discuss the issue with our House and Senate contacts to make sure that the legislation continues to make progress. Many of the supporters with whom we spoke are interested in calling and writing their Members directly in the future and have asked us to let them know how things develop and how they can help.

Council on Competitiveness

Kimberly S. West, director, Policy Studies; and Debra van Opstal, senior vice president, Policy and Programs. The Council is working with the Department of Homeland Security to develop an award for homeland security. Not in any way competitive to the Baldrige, the award is intended to demonstrate the business case for security. It would be an organizational award; as yet the Council is not clear on whether it or DHS would present it. Curt Reiman will help develop criteria for the award. We also suggested that the Council might want to contact Dr. Coursey at DHS for input into the criteria. The Council is seeking outside experts to assist in the development and asked if ASQ would be interested in identifying someone for the advisory committee.

Committee on House Administration

Patrick Leahy, professional staff; Matt Petersen, counsel. Meeting was held to determine status of election reform. Chairman Ney has told ASQ it would play a role in an oversight committee. At this point, the four commissioners have been nominated, but none has been confirmed Nothing of substance has taken place and probably won't until after the confirmation which was supposed to happen by the end of summer, but, according to Leahy, probably won't. He said ASQ has an important advisory role because of its neutrality. He also indicated there may be an opportunity for ASQ to add someone to the staff to ensure it has a presence. He suggested that ASQ review the current legislation, HR 3295, to determine where it would have the greatest impact. He indicated he thought ASQ would have input in five to 10 areas, such as performance measurement and definitions of success.

Office of Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL)

Reg Leichty, counsel. Meeting was held in response to a request from an ASQ member, Marsha Becker, who had a conversation with Sen. Nelson's legislative director about ASQ involvement with the Transportation Security Administration. Additionally, Sen. Nelson serves on the Senate Commerce Committee, the authorizing committee for the Baldrige Award. We informed Mr. Leichty about ASQ's offer of the certification process to TSA and explained its implications. He was unaware of ASQ's efforts and expressed appreciation for the information. We also expressed ASQ's interest in seeing the Baldrige expansion authorization bill passed. He indicated he thought it would have little problem. He indicated that mark up is July 17 and would be sent to the Senate floor shortly thereafter. Subsequent to the meeting, Amy Kimball said she would attend the mark up and relay information back to ASQ.

Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Dr. Roger McClung, deputy director, office of health legislation, and Leo Luberecki, legislative analyst. Discussion centered on presenting ASQ's credentials and background in healthcare legislation. They had not heard of ASQ nor our activities and accepted ASQ's offer of help as sincere. They suggested we initiate discussions with the FDA in their policy office where they handle food inspections and enforcement activities. Also, we discussed activities at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). ASQ has met with officials there in the past and need to meet with that office again to see where ASQ might offer our assistance and resources. Roger and Leo also thought we might be helpful to the Veterans Administration that has its own shop that deals with patient safety in Minneapolis or Chicago. They mentioned a Center on Patient Safety and Quality Issues; Sellery Associates will investigate.

Council of Chief State School Officers

Michael DiMaggio, director, business partners and grant development. Meeting was held to introduce ASQ and to determine if ASQ could attend the data sharing session on July 26. Mr. DiMaggio indicated that the session was closed (that information was relayed to Laurel at 5 p.m., EDT.) Mr. DiMaggio indicated a willingness to have the session chairs available after the conference for a conversation with ASQ. Subsequent email from Mr. DiMaggio to Amy Kimball and Dick Sandretti reiterated that willingness. Background material about CCSSO was provided by Mr.

Next meetings are scheduled for mid-September.