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CHAPTER�S� NEWSLETTER � 1 |
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To Contact us: |
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Phone: 803-786-1783 Email: Paul D. Donahue |
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Quarterly��� Autumn���� 2007� Newsletter� Volume 3, Issue 4 |
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President�s Message Tom Castelluccio
This will be my last newsletter article, since my term ends this December. It has been a good three years of serving as your president. Thank you to all who have served with me. The Nominating Committee is at work now, filling our officers for 2008. A HUGE thank you to all who have said, "Yes, I will serve in 2008." We have a lot to do. On the legislative end, we need to work with our representatives to hear our voice on Capitol Hill. As the number of retirees grow, we are more at risk of loosing what we have. At our last meeting a question came up as to what can we do to retain our members? The answer is dues withholding. If you sign up for dues withholding you save $4.40 a year and you don't have to remember to pay your yearly dues. This year we had a great turn out of our members to the State Convention we hosted. I would like to see the same turn out for the 2008 Convention at Hickory Knob State Resort Park in McCormick, SC. The park is only 90 miles from Columbia and is sponsored by the Aiken Chapter. For your information, District Two is made up of our chapter, Aiken and Orangeburg. We need to help out with a good showing of our members at the Convention. This opportunity also provides a great insight to the workings of NARFE, beyond our chapter level. On August 2, NARFE President, Margaret Baptiste, testified before the House subcommittee on the Federal workers. Her statement sums up what we are all about, "Our primary legislative objective is to preserve the retirement and insurance benefits we earn as part of the total compensation package of careers in Federal service." I know we do a lot for Alzheimers, and it would be sad to see that hurt by any reductions in our benefit package. Again, thanks to everyone who has worked with me during my three years as president.
During the month of August I visited the offices of Jim Clyburn, Lindsey Graham and Joe Wilson. I have recently found out from� the NARFE headquarters that Lindsey Graham has signed on to the premium conversion legislation sponsored in the senate by Sen. John Warner of� Virginia. This has proven to me that a visit or phone call can have an impact on our issues. I have written Senator Graham and thanked him for� his support. If each of you who read this newsletter could do the same� it would make the Senator aware of the fact that we do follow this type� of action on his part. Please remind each of the Congressmen or� Senators |
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Legislative�������������������� Fred Williams |