Dear Friend,

A friendly reminder: you are invited to attend POGO's next Congressional Oversight Training Series (COTS) seminar, this Friday, October 16 from 12:00 - 1:30 P.M. in the Senate Visitor Center at the Capitol Visitor Center.  Lunch will be provided!  Room number provided upon RSVP.  In case you hadn't seen, we have also announced our remaining panelists for the seminar. Here are the details:

Seminar Topic: Beginning Seminar: How to Prepare For An Oversight Hearing

Presenters:

Linda Gustitus, former Chief of Staff for Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)

Steve Castor, Senior Counsel, House Committee on Oversight and Gov't Reform, Darrell Issa, Ranking Member

Leigh Ann Caldwell, DC Editor and Reporter, Free Speech Radio News (FSRN)/Pacifica

** POGO will be distributing copies of its recently published oversight handbook, The Art of Congressional Oversight: A User's Guide to Doing It Right, to congressional staff. **

To register, simply contact Ingrid by email (idrake@pogo.org) or phone (202-347-1122) and provide your name, title, and contact information.

Please spread the word to other Hill staffers.  And don't forget about our Whistleblower Film Series!  Tonight at 6:30 P.M. we'll be showing Silkwood and holding a panel discussion with Howard Kohn, author of Who Killed Karen Silkwood?, and David Burnham, the New York Times reporter who Silkwood was going to meet on the evening she died.  This week's showing well be in Room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  Hope to see you there!

ABOUT THE COTS TRAINING SERIES: One of the goals of the Congressional Oversight Training Series (COTS) is to educate participants about the true powers of Congress. The training series will include a combination of hands-on training and exercises, mock hearings, case reviews, and lessons from some of the most accomplished current and former Congressional oversight experts and practitioners. Congressional oversight is a bipartisan responsibility and effort. The Honorary Co-Chairs for the series are Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Carl Levin (D-MI), and Representatives Michael Castle (R-DE), Rush Holt (D-NJ), and Carolyn Maloney (D-NY).