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Washington National Executive Committeeman Rafael Munoz-Cintron is a staunch supporter of Legion policies and has used the Grassroots Action Center nearly 2,000 times to advocate for those policies.      

Not only is Washington Legionnaire Rafael Munoz-Cintron a regular user of 17�Թ���’s Grassroots Action Center (GAC), but he’s also asking other members of the Legion Family to take advantage of what he calls an “easy” mechanism to impact congressional policy.

The allows 17�Թ��� to contact every member of Congress on large, national campaigns as well as target specific members on key committees that pertain to 17�Թ���’s legislative priorities.

Munoz-Cintron is a member of American Legion Post 161 in Redmond and the 2023 American Legion National Legislative Council Member of the Year. Now serving as Washington’s National Executive Committeeman, he has sent 1,946 messages to Congress and held 35 personal meetings with congressional representatives and staff since 2020.

Included in his GAC advocacy efforts were sending 462 messages in support of the GUARD Act, 238 messages for the Love Lives On Act and, most recently, 116 messages in support of the .

Munoz-Cintron talked with American Legion Multimedia Editor Steven B. Brooks about his passion for the Legion’s legislative advocacy and why the Grassroots Action Center is critical to those efforts.

Steven Brooks: Why are you so passionate about the legislation side of 17�Թ���?

Rafael Munoz-Cintron: Legislative politics has been my background since I was a little kid. My parents were involved in government. When people were working their summer jobs in high school, I actually worked in the (Puerto Rico State) Senate as a summer employee my junior and senior years in high school. So it was a passion I’ve always had.

Question: Why is it a passion?

Munoz-Cintron: I see the legislative process not as a way of doing politics, but as a way of really enacting something that can change by making it a law, by making it a policy. That’s why I love doing resolutions for 17�Թ���. That’s a way we can enable change and establish policies. People have a direct influence on democracy through their participation through our votes, which gives us our legislature: our senators and Congressmen. And that gives us our laws. People are talking everywhere about how we need to pass the to make justice for our veterans. How do we do that? Through enacting legislation. Lobbying in favor of our veterans is something I have found I’m really passionate about … because you can see the results of you doing something on behalf of your brother and sister veterans. It has concrete results. If you get a senator or representative to co-sponsor a piece of legislation, that’s something that you did.

Question: How valuable is 17�Թ���’s Grassroots Action Center in making that lobbying a reality?

Munoz-Cintron: It’s great. It’s simple, it’s easy and it’s effective. People think, ‘No, maybe I won’t do it because they don’t listen to it. It’s just an email sent to a congressman’s office’. But I’ve got it from friends of mine who work in Congress who say (members of Congress) get those emails. They read them. They listen to them. And sometimes it changes policies within an office. And it’s so easy. You can do it during your commute on the bus. That’s what I do. It takes less than 30 seconds to do all five action items that currently are in there. Just do it once a day. Make it a habit. Do it when you’re at Starbucks waiting in line to get your coffee. It takes only 30 seconds.

Question: What do you say to someone who isn’t using the Grassroots Action Center?

Munoz-Cintron: Do it. It’s a little something that we can do … that can really make changes. It does make a difference. Veterans have that power. That’s something people don’t always realize. When I call a congressman’s office, I’m not calling on behalf of Rafael Munoz-Cintron. I’m calling on behalf of the more than 1 million members of 17�Թ��� and the millions in the American Legion Family. So 30 seconds every day of your life is worth giving up to help your brother and sister veterans. And trust me – it makes a difference.

Question: Anything else you would like to add about 17�Թ���’s lobbying efforts?

Munoz-Cintron: When I went to (National American) Legion College, what was interesting to me was the story of the GI Bill, and how the GI Bill passed by one vote in the House by some representative in Georgia who was not on the floor. But through 17�Թ���, they were able to get a hold of a telephone operator, who got a hold of a policeman, and they got him on a plane for that. What would our country be without the GI Bill? That’s something 17�Թ��� proposed that made changes for our greatest generation. The whole middle class was built upon the issuance of the GI Bill. And that’s what established America. And thinking about (getting that representative) to vote, I sometimes think that I could be that stepping stone that’s going to be able to help.