Policy Dialogue Trips – Lebanese Parliament

First Policy Dialogue Trip

Date: July 1994 - New York, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C.

Delegation Members: Vice Speaker of Parliament Elie Ferzli, Secretary General for Foreign Affairs and Advisor to the Speaker of the House Bilal Charara, Director of Parliament’s Information Center Sami Berri, Foreign Affairs Advisor to Parliament Sleiman Ferzli, Project Director Mahmoud Batlouni

The Center organized the first policy dialogue trip, in the summer of 1994 in order to expose Lebanese Parliamentarians to current legislative practices in the U.S. Focusing on issues such as legislative staffing, public policy, constituent services, and bureaucratic oversight, the delegation attended meetings with New York State legislators and their staff in Albany, New York and were given the opportunity to observe the voting process during a session of the legislature. The group traveled to Louisiana and observed the voting process in a session of the Sate legislature there as well, and attended the annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislators in Baton Rouge. The delegation also met with officials at the United Nations in New York and with congressional staff and USAID officials in Washington, D.C.
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Second Policy Dialogue Trip

Date: June 1997 - New York and Washington, D.C.

Delegation: MP Nassib Lahoud, MP Mohammad Beydoun, staff members Nassif Kallouch and Mohammad Moussa, Project Director Mahmoud Batlouni

A second policy dialogue trip for Parliament consisting of two study programs was organized for Members of the Budget and Finance Committee and senior staff. The first program provided participants the opportunity to observe how U.S. legislators implement the budget; the second program was designed to enable participants to appreciate the importance of legislative staff in this process. Members of the Lebanese delegation discussed staffing, public policy, constituent services, and bureaucratic oversight with their U.S. state and federal government counterparts. In addition, they met with New York State Assemblyman Jack McEwen, University at Albany President Karen R. Hitchcock and other members of the university administration. They also attended meetings at the White House, the U.S. Congress, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and were briefed on topics including budget and oversight issues, information systems, legislative executive relations, and legislative management issues.
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Third Policy Dialogue Trip

Date: February 1999 – New York

Delegation: Secretary General for Foreign Affairs Bilal Charara, General Inspector Omar Halablab, Advisor to the Speaker of Parliament Abdallah Mouawad, Project Director Mahmoud Batlouni

A third policy dialogue trip to the U.S. was organized in February of 1999 for several members of Parliament who met their U.S. counterparts in order to discuss modern legislative staffing, public policy, constituent services, bureaucratic oversight, and other topics. They observed how U.S. legislators prepare their budgets, and examined the important role of parliamentary staff in assisting legislators.

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