Middlesboro Business and Professional Women's Club members Danielle Bowman and Meryl Ward, with more than 200 workingwomen nationwide, convened in Washington, DC recently to lobby Congress on key issues affecting women. They also attended campaign skills workshops to learn how to elect more women to public office, or get elected themselves.

Business and Professional Women/USA (BPW/USA) 2005 Policy & Action Conference was held in February at the Wyndham Washington on Capitol Hill.

Women from across the country took time from their jobs, families and busy lives to come to the nation's Capitol to talk with their Congressional Representatives about issues they feel are vital to all women in the United States and workingwomen in particular. Key issues that BPW/USA members will be addressing this year include Social Security, long term care and retirement security.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, BPW members learned about the issues during a lobby training session by Lisa Maatz of the American Association of University Women. They were then transported to the Dirksen Senate Office Building for an issues panel titled "Women Securing their Retirement" featuring Martha Burk, Chair or the National Council of Women's Organizations who spoke about Social Security, and Shannon Hunt of Americans for Secure Retirement who spoke about Retirement Security.

BPW members then moved to the Russell Senate Office Building for a luncheon with Keynote speaker Bonnie Davis, Assistant Vice President of the Long Term Care Benefits Center UnumProvident who spoke about Planning for Long Term Care Needs.

While on Capitol Hill, the BPW/Kentucky members, which included Bowman and Ward, had the opportunity to meet with Kentucky's Congressional delegation to discuss various issues relevant to all women.

On Friday Feb. 4, they attended a networking breakfast where Pat Carpenter of WISH List was the guest speaker. This was followed by Campaign workshops Getting Ready to Run, Grassroots Power - Campaign Volunteers, and Financing Your Campaign and Candidate Message Development. These workshops were conducted by Ann Liston and Kate Coyne-McCoy of Emily's List. They also attended a session on Using the Internet to Reach Voters and Win, which was conducted by Marian Lozano from Capitol Advantage.

BPW/USA, founded in 1919, promotes equality for all women in the workplace through advocacy, education and information.

For information about joining BPW, please contactany Middlesboro BPW member. The Middlesboro BPW meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. at J. Milton's Steakhouse.