Since 2010, NAFUSA has sent a committee at least once a year to meet at Main Justice with the Attorney General and the Attorney General’s Advisory Council (AGAC). On June 25, 2019, NAFUSA President Terry Flynn led this year’s Liaison Committee, composed of Paul Coggins, Karen Hewitt, Bob Balfe, Donna Bucella, Catherine Hanaway and Rich Rossman.

Here is how Terry described the day:

This year’s visit to Washington, DC was action packed! We met with Attorney General Barr, AGAC Chairwoman Jessie Liu, and all the members of the AGAC. It was a great opportunity for us to discuss the ongoing activities and goals of NAFUSA while hearing from Department leaders on the work and issues facing the Department of Justice. As an added bonus to our visit to Main Justice, the full USA community was in town for their annual conference. So we were even able to meet with some other former colleagues/Department leaders like US Attorney Gretchen Shappert, who is now the US Attorney for the Virgin Islands, and previously served as the US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

We then took a walk and met with our former colleagues/NAFUSA members at the Capitol. Congressman John Ratcliffe gave us a grand tour of the Capitol which included a visit to the Speaker’s Balcony. John, a lifetime NAFUSA member, is currently serving on the House’s Justice, Intelligence, Homeland Security and Ethics Committees. After spending time with John, we then joined our other NAFUSA colleague and former officer, Senator Doug Jones, for lunch in the Senate Dining Room. Doug is serving on the Senate’s Banking/Housing/Urban Affairs, Health/Education/Labor/Pensions, Armed Services, and Aging Committees. With such important committee assignments, both John and Doug were able to describe for us the many issues currently being faced by them in Congress. We were even able to meet the night before with another of our esteemed colleagues, Congresswoman Susan Brooks. Susan currently serves on the Energy/Commerce, Ethics (past Chairwoman), Bipartisan Caucus on Women’s Issues. As an added bonus to the visit we had a chance meeting with Congressman John Lewis and Senator John Cornyn! Everywhere we went people were kind enough to thank us for our members’ public service as US Attorneys.

It was truly humbling for us to see so many of our colleagues serving in such leadership capacities. Such yearly visits provide us with a great opportunity to highlight NAFUSA’s growing membership while discussing the activities and goals of NAFUSA!