Congress Click 'n' Call: New App Makes It Possible

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Tuesday December 18, 2007 · 6:35 AM PST

2007/12/18 · 06:35

[Yesterday I posted a comment to a diary on the Dodd filibuster of the FISA bill. I'd like to expand on that here, for your convenience. Note: I am not associated with this web app.]

Have you ever called a Congressman? If so, you know it is probably the most effective way to be heard on just about any issue. A personal phone call delivers more bang for the buck than email, fax or even a personal letter. And when lots of people do it at the same time...well, yesterday's outcome on the FISA bill is a good illustration of what I'm talking about.

Recently, I came across a new web application that makes it very easy to make these calls.

Committee Caller is an automated web service that will connect you, by phone, to the front office of the Congressional committee of your choice.

Committee Caller automatically retrieves the correct phone numbers of the congressional committee members and then calls you, in sequence, when you are ready to talk to these congressmen.

No more fumbling for the phone numbers; in fact you don't even have to dial any numbers at all; Committee Caller will call you, in sequence, and patch you in to each of the offices -- when you are ready.

It is not robo-calling: YOU talk to the person on the other end of the line. The automation occurs before you even pick up the phone.

Here's how it works:

Visit CommitteeCaller.com.
Select the committee that you want to talk to from the lists on the web page -- they're all there. I called the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (see below).
Enter your phone number in the form provided.
Click the 'Put me in touch with democracy!' button. (yeah, it's corny ... but effective)
Wait for Committee Caller's automated voice application to call you. When I used it, it called almost instantly after I finished step 4.
Pick up the phone and stay on the line while Committee Caller starts connecting you to the members on the committee you selected -- in sequence.

Once connected, Committee Caller will tell you which Senator you're calling, who their legislative director or chief of staff is, etc. At any point you can use the asterisk-key on your phone to hang up the call and move on to the next one. After each call you will have the opportunity to rate how your call went.

I used it to contact the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I urged them to vote against retroactive amnesty for the phone companies as set forth in S. 2248, the FISA Amendments Act. I also left a comment on Kagro X's diary to that effect -- so perhaps a number of you also did the same thing.

Anyway, pass the word along -- and definitely check it out whenever we get to crunch time again. It is super easy to use.

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