John Buechner: “The association actually operates as the secretariat for four very special programs where we share legislative ideas…”

“The association actually operates as the secretariat for four very special programs where we share legislative ideas with parliamentarians, our staff to their staffs, in Germany, which is the flagship of our program, and the longest standing one, Turkey, Japan and Mexico. The study group on Germany serves as a model for all the other study groups under the umbrella of the association and it has been in existence for 20 years. It has allowed communication of really an extraordinary status. The study group was founded in 1983 as an informal group and became formal in 1987. Ongoing study group activities include a Distinguished Visitors Program at the U.S. Capitol for guests from Germany; sponsoring annual seminars involving Members of Congress and the Bundestag; providing information about participants in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program; and organizing a senior congressional staff study tour to Germany. The 2007 annual Congress-Bundestag seminar took nine current Members of the House to Hamburg and Berlin for meetings with their peers in the Bundestag.”