Frank Orto walked metaphorically in the footsteps of Jimmy Stewart from the classic movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. While he did not arrive in Washington, D.C. at Union Station, as did the character played by Jimmy Stewart in the film, he did follow the example that the character played in the film. The character that Jimmy Stewart played in the movie believed in the idea that individual citizens of a large country like the United States can potentially make a contribution and even a difference from participating in our system of representative democracy. Frank Orto believed in that principle and, accompanied by Ann Wechsler of Utah, put it to the test with a lobby visit to D.C. in June, 2007.

Frank Orto of Illinois, a member of the National Water Committee of the Sierra Club, was concerned about how the Clean Water Act passed in 1972 had become weakened with recent federal court rulings. As a result of two federal rulings (SWANCC in 2001 and Rapanos in 2006), many of the rivers and waterways of the United States that were originally covered by this 1972 landmark legislation were no longer protected. The original 1972 landmark legislation used the words "navigable waters" to described the rivers and waterways of the United States. Recent federal court rulings have exempted isolated wetlands, rivers, and streams that did not flow into navigable watersheds. Furthermore, many streams in the western part of the United States that do not flow all year long were also included in the list of "not protected" under the 1972 landmark legislation.

As a result of these recent federal court rulings, many of our wetlands, streams, rivers, and seasonal streams in the western part of the United States were now threatened. Potentially planned development activities could impair these waterways and have a significant impact on the plants and wildlife that depend on healthy wetlands, streams, and rivers. Furthermore, many of these wetlands served as a natural storm management system in parts of the country. For some drier parts of the country, these waterways were important sources of drinking water for human habitation.

The Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007 (H.R. 2421) was introduced in the House of Representatives as a means to restore the intent of the original 1972 landmark legislation. This bill would replace the term "navigable waters" with "waters of the United States" as the statutory definition of which waterways were covered. "Waters of the United States" was based on the longstanding definition in the Army Corps of Engineers regulations (33CFR328.3).

Another important piece of water legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives. The Clean Water Protection Act (H.R. 2169), commonly known as the "mountain top removal bill", would forbid the practice of dumping industrial and construction waste into our nation's waterways. Currently, some coal companies in Appalachia have been blowing off the tops of mountains to mine coal and dumping the waste into the nearby rivers and streams of Appalachia. Because of the recent Bush Administration directive to the Army Corps of Engineers allowing the Corps to permit the use of dumping waste in our nation's waterways, the concern is that this practice could be followed in places outside of Appalachia where construction is occurring. Potentially the waste from the construction of a strip mall or a new Home Depot along the East Branch of the DuPage River or the Fox River could be permitted by the Corp. This potential practice could have a devastating impact on the water quality and aquatic life of these rivers.

Frank's mission was to meet with as many environmental aides from the congressional delegation of Illinois over a three day period in June. Frank contacted the DC office staffs to set up meetings. Along with three from Utah, 23 appointments were scheduled.

The lobby visits were very cordial. Frank presented the Illinois environmental aides with a complimentary issue of this newsletter (The Lake & Prairie/DuPage Sierran). Each bill was briefly discussed. Next, Frank would directly ask the aide if that member of Congress would become a cosponsor of the legislation. By becoming a cosponsor, the member of Congress would add his/her name to the bill. The goal was to build momentum for the eventual passage of these bills with the addition of more members of Congress signing on as cosponsors.

On Thursday morning, the Sierra Club members attended the Thursday morning coffee session with Senators Durbin and Obama of Illinois. The public is always invited and no reservations are required. During the question period, Frank asked Senator Obama if he would become a cosponsor of the Clean Water Restoration bill when a companion bill was introduced in the Senate. (At the time of writing this article, the legislation had only been introduced in the House, but it was expected that a companion bill would shortly be introduced in the Senate.) Senator Obama stated publicly that he would become a cosponsor. Afterwards, Elizabeth Olson (Senator Obama's environmental aide that Ann and Frank had met the previous day) approached them and said she would remind the senator of his pledge when she met with him the following week.

Frank Orto took his cue from the Jimmy Stewart character and organized this experiment in citizen democracy. He was well received as an Illinois constituent, and feels the effort provides opportunities for follow-up by other Club members on this important legislation. In fact, one aide suggested, “get your members to flood our office with phone calls (asking the representative to co-sponsor the legislation), and it will help me make the case!”

As of the writing of this article the following members of the House of Representatives have become cosponsors. From Illinois for H.R. 2421: Guiterrez, Jackson, Schakowsky, Rush, Emmanuel, Kirk, Bean, and Davis. From Illinois for H.R. 2169: Guiterrez, Schakowsky, Rush, Emanuel, Kirk, Hare, and Davis.

What can you do as concerned citizen? Find out who is your congressman/woman. Go to www.illinois.sierraclub.org/rpg and click onto the left-hand side "Find Your Elected Legislators." Follow the prompts. This link will give you the names, addresses, and phone numbers of your elected officials for state and federal offices. If your member of Congress has already become a cosponsor of H.R. 2421 and/or H.R. 2169, call and thank him or her. If they have not, call and ask them to become cosponsors. Also, call both Senator Obama and Senator Durbin's offices and ask them to become cosponsors when companion bills are introduced in the senate. Lastly, if you are interested in participating in local lobbying activities here at home in Illinois with state representatives and senators, contact Linda Sullivan at lsullivan23@hotmail.com for more information. Likewise, for lobbying activities with DuPage County officials, contact Frank Orto at forto@aol.com.