Communicating With Congress
The following information, in question & answer
format, is based on information from the Congressional Management
Foundation, an organization working to improve communications
between citizens and Congress. They recently conducted interviews,
surverys, and focus groups with House and Senate staff, and published
their findings in July 2005. We've also included other information
that NETWORK has learned from our experience over the last
few years.
Click on a question below to find the answer. Or scroll through
the entire list.
General Information
What is the most effective way to influence my members
of Congress?
How much communication does Congress have to deal
with?
How can I increase the chances that my Members of
Congress will pay attention to my communications with them?
When should I communicate with my Members
of Congress?
E-mail and postal mail
What should I include in my letters or
e-mails to my Representatives and Senators?
Is e-mail effective?
How long does it take for postal mail to get to Congressional
offices?
Should I send postal mail to Congressional district
offices or the Washington offices?
Beyond e-mail and letters
How can I use the media
to communicate with Congress?
Can I call my Representative and Senators?
How can I meet with my Members of Congress if I can't
come to Washington?
Finding Information
How can I find information about a specific bill in
Congress?
How can I find information about my members of Congress?
How can I find out how my members of Congress voted
on issues of interest to me?
General Information
What is the most effective way to influence my members
of Congress?
Surveys of congressional staff show
the following rankings of ways to influence decisions of members
who have not already made up their minds:
- In-person issue visits from constituents
- Individualized postal letters
- Contact from a person who represents many constituents
- Individualized e-mail messages
- Visit from a lobbyist
- Individualized faxes
- Form letters, e-mails, faxes
How much communication does Congress
have to deal with?
- There are over 9000 organizations lobbying Congress.
- Congress received 182 million e-mails in 2004, and 18 million
pieces of postal mail.
- There is no such thing as an average congressional office—in
terms of how much mail they get, and how they handle it—individuals/organizations
should check with individual offices to see how they
handle constituent communications.
How can I increase the chances that my Members of
Congress will pay attention to my communications with them?
- Communications that include some unique
or individualized information has significantly more impact on the
decision-making of Members of Congress than identical form messages.
- When sending e-mail messages based on sample messages from
an organization, such as NETWORK's Legislative Action
Center, you should personalize the message by adding your own
words. Your e-mail is twice as likely to be read if you include
one or two personal lines at the beginning.
- Using multiple modes of communication increases your impact.
After you send an e-mail, consider calling, writing,
and/or visiting your Member of Congress. Also consider writing
a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.
When should I communicate with my Members
of Congress?
- Constituent communications are particularly influential early
in the decision-making process.
- Communication is more effective when a particular bill that
addresses your issue has been introduced and is ready to be considered
by Congress.
- Organizations such as NETWORK can help you determine the best
time to communicate with Congress on a particular issue or bill.
E-mail and postal mail
What should I include in my letters or
e-mails to my Representatives and Senators?
Surveys of congressional staff show the following rankings
of the things that staff want to see in constituent communications:
- Name, address & zip code of sender
- Reference to specific legislation
- Bill number and title
- Information about the impact the bill would have on the
district or state
- Constituent’s reasons for supporting/opposing the
bill or issue
- Name of the organization generating a campaign/letter
Staff say they appreciate letters/e-mails that are:
- Thoughtful and personalized
- Short (no more than 2 paragraphs/8 sentences)
- Timely (after a bill is introduced and before a vote)
- Show some knowledge of the Member’s position on the
issue (e.g. don’t ask them to co-sponsor a bill
that they are already co-sponsoring.)
Is e-mail effective?
E-mail can be effective if it is personalized.
E-mails that are generated by organizations may be treated as form
letters if they are not individualized at the beginning.
Many congressional offices are learning how to use technology
to handle e-mail, and many actually prefer
e-mail to postal mail. Ask your particular Representatives and
Senators how they handle e-mail.
How long does it take for postal mail to get to Congressional
offices?
Postal mail takes an average of 8 days to reach Washington
offices. Some are pulled out for additional screening (like
people at airports) and may take 2-to-3 weeks.
Should I send postal mail to Congressional district
offices or the Washington offices?
In most cases, it is better to send mail
about legislation to the Washington offices. The staff people who
work on policy and legislation are in the Washington offices.
The staff people who work on constituent services are in the
district offices.
Each congressional office is unique. You should ask your particular
Representatives and Senators about the most effective way to
communicate with them.
Beyond e-mail and letters
How can I use the media
to communicate with Congress?
Letters to the editor and op-ed articles in your local newspaper
can be very effective. Members of Congress read their
district papers to find out what their constituents are thinking.
In addition to reaching the Members of Congress, you also reach
a large local audience that may start a conversation on the issue!
See NETWORK's
tips for writing letters to the editor  .
You can also invite
the local press to any event that you might have to raise awareness
about a particular issue.
Can I call my Representative and Senators?
You can call their offices and talk to staff aides who work for
them. It is unlikely that you will be able to talk directly to
the Representative or Senator, but their aides are there to let
them know what their constituents are thinking, so it is good to
make a personal connection with the aides. For matters of legislation
or public policy, it is best to call the Washington office. See NETWORK's
tips on calling your Members of Congress .
How can I meet with my Members of Congress if I can't
come to Washington?
You can meet with them in their local office! All Representatives
have an office in their district, and most Senators have multiple
offices in their states. Find out when Congress is in recess—they
usually recess for a week around all federal holidays as well
as the month of August. Call the local office to make an appointment
during a recess time, and/or ask if they have scheduled town hall
meetings that you can attend.
Finding Information
How can I find information about a specific bill in
Congress?
The Library of Congress web site thomas.loc.gov has
extensive information about all bills that are introduced in Congress.
You can search by keyword(s) or bill number. You can get the entire
text of the bill, see who the co-sponsors are, find out the status
of the bill, and more. Interesting tidbit: the Library
of Congress named their web site after their founder, Thomas Jefferson.
How can I find information about my members of Congress?
You can start with the Elected
Officials section
of NETWORK’s
web-based Legislative Action Center. You
can search by state or zip code to get information on
your particular members of Congress. You can get biographical
and contact information, find out what committees they
are on, see if they are co-sponsors of legislation on
NETWORK’s
agenda, and see how they voted on bills that NETWORK
is concerned about.
For more information, you can go to the web site for the individual
members of Congress. You can get there through NETWORK Legislative
Action Center (as described above) or go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov and
search for your Representative and Senators. Browsing the web
sites of members of Congress, especially their press releases,
can give you a good idea of what issues are important to them
and where they stand.
How can I find out how my members of Congress voted
on issues of interest to me?
For issues on NETWORK’s agenda, you can get NETWORK’s
annual voting record from the January/February issues of
our Connection magazine. The lastest issues
of Connection are
on our web site.
Information on votes in the current session of Congress, for
bills on NETWORK’s agenda, is in
the “key
votes” section of NETWORK’s Legislative Action
Center.
For votes on other issues, check with organizations who track
voting records for issues you are concerned about.
You can always call your congressional offices to find out
how your representative and senators voted on a particular
bill.
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