Here in our corner of the internet, we see many diaries, messages, and e-mails calling on people to contact their Congressional representatives, to encourage them to vote one way or another on an upcoming issue. Usually, these messages are very urgent, so getting your message across as clearly and quickly as possible is of the utmost importance.
However, Congress is a strange organization with many internal rules and procedures. There are 435 members of the House of Representatives, each with eight to twelve staff members in DC as well as up to six interns. In the Senate, Senators are given budgets for their staffers that corresponds with the size of the state. So Chuck Schumer can hire many more staffers than Bernie Sanders. Large Senate offices in DC can have up to 35 staffers with 8 interns. Of course, all these numbers are up to the discretion of the members and their Chiefs of Staff.
When we want to exercise our rights as constituents and tell our members of Congress how we feel on a certain issue, it can sometimes be a hassle. How do we know our message got through? How long will it take? And what is honestly the best way to communicate with our representatives?
Follow me across the fold for the answers...
When I first began working on Capitol Hill, I quickly became accustomed to how the offices are run. Granted, each congressional office is a unique snowflake that reflects the attitudes and managerial style of the member and his top staffers. However, there are many similarities that run through every office.
Snail Mail
One way to contact your Senator or House member is through the mail. Simply write a letter, put on the postage, and mail it to your Senator or House member.
I must discourage you from using this, though. When mail arrives on the Capitol complex, it is screened and radiated. All in all, it will take at least four week for your letter to reach the office. Then it is sorted and given to the staffer who handles that particular issue. They tally the letters received on a given subject, then find the appropriate form letter to mail you in response. If there is no such form letter, than the staffer will write his own letter and get it approved by the member of Congress. In most offices, even form letters get a written response. Letters have physical impact, of course, but they take so long to arrive that the issue may have already been dealt with by the time it reaches the office. Furthermore, there is an ecological impact to consider with all that wasted paper. Finally, in most offices e-mails are treated the same as letters and have the exact same impact on a member’s decision.
E-Mail
I highly recommend that you instead send an e-mail to your representative. Every Senator and House member has a contact form on their website that allows you to instantly send them a message. These messages are either forwarded to the appropriate staffer or printed out by the interns and handed to them. Non-form e-mails are then replied to via snail mail, using the same procedures that go into responding to a physical letter. A hundred unique e-mails on a subject would usually have the same impact on a member’s decision as a hundred physical letters. The advantage here is that the turn-around time from sending the message until you receive a response is much faster.
However, if you send an e-mail, there are a few words of advice you should heed:
Never use form e-mails. In most offices, these simply get deleted. Do not even use part of a form letter, as that may get your entire message deleted. Usually, simply stating your position on an issue in a short paragraph or two is the best way to get your point across and it also helps out the interns and staffers who handle the response.
Give your house address. If you leave off your address, the staffer will most likely treat your message as "low-priority," as there is no response to send out. Filling in the form for your house address will ensure that your e-mail gets noticed. At worst, your address will be used to respond to your letter, and you might get a newsletter from your Congressperson later in the year outlining his or her accomplishments. Members of Congress take personal information very seriously. They may anger you with their votes, but they would never anger you with junk mail.
Finally, be kind! Interns and staffers will probably delete your e-mail without even reading the whole thing as soon as you drop the F-bomb or threaten their boss with bodily harm. They don’t want to read that and, like it or not, they are the gatekeepers between you and your Congressional representative. You can disagree with the member and be firm in your reasons why, but don’t resort to name-calling or bad language.
Phone Calls
Third, there are the phone calls. This is one way to instantly get your point across with minimal effort. When you call your representative about a public policy issue or an upcoming vote, be sure to call the DC office. If you call a local office, they will just direct you to the Washington office. Save the staffers and yourself some time and call the (202) number first.
Secondly, no matter how angry you are, be nice to the person who answers the phone. They are almost always an intern who is a starry-eyed youth. These are high school or college kids who are trying to get their foot in the door. Many of them are very involved in politics, volunteering for campaigns, giving what little money they have, or posting right here at Daily Kos. These kids are not responsible for the vote their boss just cast giving Bush more money or more executive power. Yelling or swearing at them accomplishes nothing, except ensuring that they will not write down your message.
Interns are usually taught a simple lessen when they begin answering the phones on their first day: They have great power over the callers. The Congressperson may need that person’s vote, but they are only one out of six hundred thousand. The intern, on the other hand, has the power to hang up on them if they become obnoxiously rude. The caller needs the intern more than the Congressperson needs the caller.
Interns are also taught to be nice to the callers at all times. "Sir" and "ma’am" are commonplace. They will almost always thank you for your call and pass your message on to a staffer. Really, the only time an intern will hang up on you or be rude is when the caller is swearing, threatening, or yelling at him. Be nice to the interns, and they will be nice to you.
When the intern asks you for your personal information, feel free to ask them why. Some of the larger Senate offices collect the zip code or the area code of the caller just so the office has an idea of where the issue is most relevant. If they take your entire address, then the office is going to send you a physical letter back, explaining the position of the representative and any action they’ve taken. It is best to go along with this and just give them your address.
The people who answer the phones do not know all of the member’s positions. If an intern doesn’t know where a member stands on an issue, they will either put you on hold as they ask a superior, or they will tell you that the member hasn’t made up his/her mind yet. Don’t get angry with them if they can’t give you an answer. These kids do enough grunt work around the office, so they do not have time to read every speech and learn every position their boss has ever taken. Their job is just to take down your position on an issue and pass it along to the appropriate staffer.
If you are asking about the status of an upcoming piece of legislation, the intern will either quickly IM the staffer in charge of that issue, or they will quickly go to Congress.gov and try to find the bill. Nine times out of ten you will receive no new information on a bill that you couldn’t get from looking at the Senate Calendar or the House Floor Schedule. If you would be so kind, save yourself some time and look it up online.
Also, if you are any sort of elected official yourself to any office, or if you are in the leadership of any community, state, or national organization pertaining to the issue at hand, give your message to the intern who answers the phone, and ask to be transferred to the staffer who handles that issue category. Chances are you’ll be put through to voicemail, but at least you’ll get the chance to leave a message and possibly have a greater impact on the member’s decision.
If you do call an office, please keep the call short. You are probably not the only one calling about that issue on that day, so don’t explain to the intern in great detail why you believe the way you do. If you call around noon, they most likely have many other calls to get to. And all they will pass on is a short message like so:
Mrs. Donna Roberts
123 Main Street
Chicago 12345
Immigration: anti-border fence
Finally, whatever you do, do not tell the intern that you pay his or her salary with your taxes. That line is especially hilarious considering that interns are unpaid.
In summary, the best way to contact your representative with your opinion on an upcoming issue is through a unique, polite, short e-mail with your home address included. Running a close second is by phone, especially if you are kind to the person who answers the phone, leave a short message, and give the information they need to tally your opinion. Finally, if you must, send a physical letter and include your full address for a response, but don’t be surprised if you don’t receive a response for two months or more.
[EDIT]One small thing I forgot to mention: It is truly pointless to contact a member who is not yours, as they will almost always ignore your phone call, delete your e-mail, or forward your letters to your actual representative. The only exception to this guideline is if the member your contacting is in the leadership (limited mostly to Hoyer, Pelosi, Durbin, and Reid).
If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them and I will try to get to them tonight. Keep in mind that these are general recommendations, and every Congressional office is unique. But if you follow these guidelines, the interns and staffers will be very appreciative and your message will be much more likely to have an impact on your elected official.
