Board of Advisors: Individuals in three areas - legal, government and research - will be recruited for a Board of Advisors.  They will provide input regarding all aspects of the Citizen Hearing initiative.  However, their most important role will be assisting in assembling, vetting and supporting those witnesses who volunteer to present to the Member committee.

Witnesses: the Citizen Hearing is committed to treating all potential witnesses and presenters with the highest respect and professionalism.   Contact with potential presenters is not expected to begin until the Citizen Hearing initiative is well along in funding and public support.

Project Location: The Citizen Hearing would take place in Washington, D.C., sometime while Congress is in session.  It would be held in a hotel ballroom laid out in such a manner as to resemble a typical Congressional hearing format.

Event Duration:  Five days would be required for presenting testimony and asking questions of approximately 40 witnesses.

Preparation Period:  Once funding is assured, the time needed to setup the hearing would be no less than 3 months, but should not take more than 6 months.

Public Education:  If possible, the Citizen Hearing would be broadcast and/or netcast live via television, radio and the Internet, including audio-visual and written transcripts.  Any coverage, full or in part, by news networks would, of course, be welcomed.

Budget:  the initial proposed budget of $250,000 conservatively covers all aspects of an event to be conducted with an appropriate measure of class and professionalism.  For more details see Budget.   A budget of as much as $300,000 will be required if the CH is to be filmed for live broadcast and rebroadcast as well as a possible documentary.

Funding:  All funding directed into X-PPAC would be subject to the FEC rules for political action committees with contributions limited to $5000 from U.S. citizens and would not be tax deductible.   Paradigm Research Group is a private entity and not subject to contribution limits.  However, larger donations requiring tax deduction could be routed through other sponsors which 501(3)(c) status.

Functions

1. The former U.S. House of Representatives and Senate Members would be recruited to table a Citizen Hearing on a bipartisan basis: ideally three Republican and three Democratic participants and a chairperson noted for bipartisanship and independent thinking.

   -- There are numerous retired or out of office Members available, many with substantial public recognition.

   -- Former Members have participated in such hearings and know exactly how to conduct them.

   -- Former Members would still have relationships to sitting Members, which could help facilitate formal Congressional action.

2. Attorneys would be available of counsel to the Citizen Hearing Committee to advise on what questions to ask and how to interpret answers and other appropriate matters.

3. Attorneys would be available to the witnesses to advise on legal implications of certain testimony and how to properly testify in a manner appropriate to the Citizen Hearing.

4. Additional staff would be provided to the Citizen Hearing Committee to organize, summarize and present documentary evidence, handle requests and all the usual needs an actual Congressional Committee investigating a major issue might require.

5. Seating would be available to the public and press, and meeting decorum would be subject to the customary protocols of an actual Congressional Hearing.

6. Hearing witnesses would testify in groups assembled in logical pairings based on subject matter and points of corroboration.

7. Audio-visual slide, video and computer projection equipment would be available. 

8. Citizen Hearing testimony would be transcribed from the audio/video record, compiled and published in a timely fashion.

9. The Citizen Hearing staff would prepare a Final Report containing recommendations from Committee Members.  The Final Report would be available to the public, and to the United States Congress.

10. The Director would coordinate television, radio and print media coverage.  Educational and political media would be encouraged to broadcast or cover the Citizen Hearing, interview willing witnesses and committee Members regarding the testimonies and impressions of the evidence.

11. All appropriate media involvement including press conferences, private and group interviews, press releases, appropriate to such an event would be organized and implemented. 

12. The setting of the Citizen Hearing would be in Washington, DC.

Benefits

1. This effort may trigger formal congressional hearings.  In that event, all work done for the Citizen Hearing would have immediate application to the formal hearings.

2. A Citizen Hearing would be fast-paced, flexible, conducive to television and radio broadcast, and easier for an educated and interested public to access.

3. The presence of former Members of the U.S. Congress would provide needed gravitas for the issues and recommendations.

4. A Citizen Hearing process could easily be extended by holding further hearings on particular aspects of the issues, depending upon the nature of the first event testimonies.  In this case, specific retired Members can be matched up to the particular issue based upon their background.

5. There is a greater level of public support to the "fact gathering" approach as opposed to the "litigious" approach to public policy making.  On the other hand, public interest litigation may well be launched, depending on the outcome of the Citizen Hearing and the response, or lack thereof, from the sitting Congress.

6. The cost and logistical degree of difficulty of a Citizen Hearing would be modest in contrast with its potential impact.

Copyright X-PPAC 2003