Advocate in Washington

Several of the messages I received from my last Blog stated clearly that for the aircraft maintenance person to advance in today's socio-economic arenas, there must be an advocacy presence in Washington, D.C. I agree wholeheartedly with this.  I recall my days of roaming the corridors of 800 Independence Ave. looking for knowledge and sometimes support for my company. As an unofficial advocate for maintenance personnel resulting from my years with PAMA, it was clear to me that the FAA was looking hard for an association to represent the particular interests of the technician. Not anything more.     They were and I believe still are looking for an advocacy group that has a credible, growing membership, no political or commercial axes to grind, and offers professional representation at their offices. I think they know the input they receive from other groups represents only tangentially the interests of the aircraft mechanic. These other groups represent pilots, FBOs MROs, and the like. While maintenance issues, such as how to comply with maintenance-related FARs are on the agenda, there is no one with any clout telling the FAA what the technician thinks and how complying with a particular FAR may effect him or her.    How do you feel about this? Do you have a suggestion(s) on how this situation can be corrected, if at all? Do you agree that aircraft technicians need a single voice with clout representing just their interests in D.C.?  We would like to hear from you on this and please don’t pull any punches.