2012 British American Parliamentary Group (BAPG) – A Project for the United Kingdom

The 2012 iteration of the British American Parliamentary Group (BAPG) welcomed six Members of Parliament (MP) for a ten day exchange program in the United States. The members were split evenly between the Conservative and Labour parties and were paired with the following Congressional members:

• Representative Charlie Dent (Republican - Pennsylvania, 15th District);
• Representative Betty McCollum (Democrat - Minnesota, 4th District);
• Representative Keith Ellison (Democrat - Minnesota, 5th District);
• Representative Brad Miller (Democrat - North Carolina, 13th District);
• Representative Robert Aderholt (Republican - Alabama, 4th District); and
• Representative Dana Rohrabacher (Republican - California, 48th District).

In Washington, the Parliamentarians were welcomed at a reception hosted by Congressman John Campbell (Republican - California, 48th District), the U.K. Congressional Caucus, and the British Embassy. Following this, they had a meeting at the British Embassy with Ambassador Peter Westmacott and appointments with both the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office. Three of the MP's were then individually assigned congressional members to shadow throughout the day while the others met with the Congressional Research Service and various other offices. Participants in the day's itineraries included Rep. James Cooper (Democrat - Tennessee, 5th District), Rep. Lee Terry (Republican - Nebraska, 2nd District), and Rep. Adam Schiff (California, Democrat - 29th District).

After a day on the Hill and a self-guided tour of the White House, the MP's traveled to their respective Congressional hosts' districts, which included Allentown, PA; St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN; Huntsville, AL; Huntington Beach, CA; and Raleigh, NC. Their experiences varied from going to campaign events in Allentown and attending several local parades in St. Paul to meetings with local business leaders in Minneapolis and participating in a NAACP sponsored banquet hosted in Raleigh.

Following a weekend of activities, the MP's regrouped for their final stop in Boston, MA. Professional appointments were confirmed with the Massachusetts Secretary of Business Development, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson at the Harvard University Institute of Politics, and the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis. The program came to a conclusion shortly thereafter, with flights back to the U.K. on Tuesday evening.

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