Former Members of Congress (FMC) is a bipartisan membership organization composed of both current and former members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate. FMC was chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1983 and offers bipartisan programming including forums for former and current members of congress, congressional visits to college campuses, events for congressional district directors, and international outreach focused on civil discourse, democracy, and current political issues. FMC is largely supported by corporate sponsors and nonprofit foundations. ^{1 1 2 3 4 5}

History and Activities

Former Members of Congress is a bipartisan membership organization composed of over 800 current and former members of the United States Congress. The organization is a nonprofit chartered by Congress in 1983, although it is supported without government funding. The organization is supported by membership dues, an annual fundraising dinner, foundation grants, sponsor programs, and donations from businesses and individuals. ¹

The organization provides a forum for current members of Congress to engage across the aisle on issues such as energy, trade, national security, and transportation. Members of the organization also offer programs in the United States and abroad. ¹

FMC’s primary program is Congress to Campus, through which a bipartisan group of former members of congress, Congressional staff, and American diplomats are sent to college campuses or meet virtually with students to discuss political issues, partisanship, and civil disagreement. Through the Congress to Campus program, FMC claims to have reached 183 college campuses in 43 states and seven countries meeting with anywhere from 150 to 800 students at each campus. FMC claims to have reached 57,000 students through this program. The co-chairs of the Congress to Campus program are former U.S. Representatives Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Tom Petri (R-WI). ²

Another FMC program is District Director Study Tours, which focuses on building relationships across party lines among district directors of members of Congress as well as among similar staff in the legislatures of Canada, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, and Korea. Other district-focused programming includes District Director Fly-Ins, where congressional district directors are brought to Washington to meet peers within their own party and share best practices; Congressional district visits, where a current, bipartisan group of U.S. Representatives visits the district of one of their colleagues; Symposiums, where district and state directors who participated in the Study Tour program discuss current issues in a bipartisan forum; and monthly teleconferences for state and district directors to meet. ³

FMC’s Insights into Congress program brings bipartisan members of Congress to businesses to discuss national political issues and talk with employees about democracy and civic participation. Sponsors of the Insights into Congress Program include Bayer, Braun, Hitachi, Panasonic, Samsung, and Volkswagen ⁶

Additionally, FMC hosts Congressional Study Groups, a legislative exchange program that hosts travel for U.S. and international legislators as well as senior legislative staff both within America and abroad to cultivate international relationship and promote education of parliamentary and democratic government. This program focuses on four primary allies and aligned regions: Europe, Germany, Japan, and Korea. ⁴

People

The executive committee of Former Members of Congress is comprised of former U.S. Representatives, including FMC’s president L.F. Payne (D-VA), president-elect Barbara Comstock (R-VA), vice president Donna Edwards (D-MD), vice president Dennis Ross (R-FL), and immediate past president Charles Boustany (R-LA). ⁷

The CEO of FMC is Peter Weichlein. Weichlein was formerly assistant counsel at the United States Senate and a paralegal at Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP. ^{8 9}

Partners

Former Members of Congress has a Diplomatic Advisory Council consisting of an informal body of current foreign ambassadors to the United States, including ambassadors from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, the European Union, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. ¹⁰

FMC also has a Business Advisory Council consisting of representatives from businesses including Aflac, Bayer, Mercedez Benz, DHL, Hitachi, Hyundai Motor Company, LG, Lockheed Martin, Lufthansa, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Panasonic, Samsung, Toyota, UPS, and Volkswagen. ¹¹

Financials

According to tax filings, Former Members of Congress reported $3,123,082 in revenue and held $5,702,598 in assets in 2022. That same year, the organization reported $3,001,089 in expenses, $132,086 of which was spent on international study groups, $659,819 of which was spent on program services like sending former members of Congress to college campuses and foreign countries to discuss democracy, $136,400 of which was spent to provide a forum for former members of congress to discuss current events, $936,912 of which was spent on travel and $510,581 of which was spent on salaries. In 2022, $2,999,964 of the organization’s $3,123,082 in revenue was received from gifts, grants and contributions, and membership fees. ¹²

Financial supporters of FMC include Carnegie Corporation of New York, Charles F. Kettering Foundation, German Marshall Fund, Willim and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission, Korea Foundation, the Korea Society, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Sasakawa USA, Stennis Center for Public Service, and the embassies of Germany, Japan, and Switzerland. ⁵

1. “About FMC.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/about-us.
2. “Congress to Campus.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed Jun 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/congress-to-campus.
3. “Congressional District Engagement.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/district-engagement.
4. “Congressional Study Groups.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/csg.
5. “Institutional Partners.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/institutional-partners.
6. “Insights into Congress.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/insights.
7. “Leadership.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/leadership.
8. “Meet the Staff.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/meet-the-staff.
9. “Peter Weichlein.” LinkedIn. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/pweichlein/.
10. “Diplomatic Advisory Council. Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/dac.
11. “Business Advisory Council.” Former Members of Congress. Accessed June 7, 2024. https://www.usafmc.org/bac.
12.  Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Former Members of Congress. 2024.