e EDrroRrAL #,,-

lf You Elon't Tell 'Em, Who Will?

IfZOU'VE heard the refrain all your life."Those I clowns is Coneress dont have a clue as to what's going on out hJre. They're just not responsible to the real needs of the people." Et cetera. Yet too often the most frequent complainers are the people who never call or write their Congressmen and, most definitely, never go to Washington to see them.

The Conference With Congress, organized several years ago by the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association in conjunction with the various federated associations throughout the country, is an admirable effort to improve the flow of communications between citizen and govemment. Being held this year March 17-19, the Conference provides the sfructure for each association to send a delegation to our national capital to directly inform the Congress of our industry's views on lien laws, codes, energy imports, tax bills, workers' comp., you name it. State goups tour Congressional ofhces, often meeting in penon with their senator or rcpresentative. It's a one-on-one charrce to tell your elected official what you think.

Conference organizers are the first to point out that no guaranteed solutions to the nation's problems are included. It is an exercise in the intangible. Yet like so many intangibles in life, the contacts. inqeased understanding and communications can pay offhandsomely.

Unfornrnately, the lumber dealen and horne centers of America have been very sparing in their sup port of the Conferenie With Congress. Generally speaking, the delegations are small, a mete handful of people. Sometimes it's ttrc same people year after year, with new additions to the goup rare. For all the talk, when it comes time to actually go to Washington, 98Vc of the complainers remain in ttteir hometowns, no doubt complaining all the time about "those clowns in Washington."