Disregard 'Number of Open Seats' information. All students enrolling in this class will be placed on the wait list and notified of their enrollment status 10 weeks prior to the course start date.

The Congressional Operations Seminar provides a tremendous opportunity to observe live House and Senate floor action, to attend Congressional hearings, to meet with Congressional members and their staff, and to gain a better understanding of the FWS authorization, appropriation, and budget processes. This seminar explores various aspects of Congress, Congressional processes and procedures, and how they affect daily FWS operations. To give first-hand understanding of federal law making and 'Congressional culture,' this course is conducted on Capitol Hill where participants hear from and ask questions of: Congressional members and their staffs, political scientists, lobbyists, the media, and FWS legislative affairs and budget office personnel.

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this seminar, participants will be able to:
• Describe House and Senate floor procedures;
• Describe the procedure that is used for a bill to become a law;
• Describe the appropriations process as it relates to the USFWS;
• Describe the internal USFWS budget processes,
• Describe the role of the OMB in the USFWS budget process;
• Describe the role lobbyists play in the legislation process as it pertains to natural resources;
• Describe the role of the USFWS Congressional Affairs offices; and
• Differentiate between lobbying and providing information to Members of Congress.

TARGET AUDIENCE:
FWS employees who deal with Congressional Offices and their staffs or those who, as part of their jobs, need to understand how Congress operates. Open to FWS employees only.

Note: Tuition is not applicable to FWS, BLM and NPS employees