How to Contact Congress
Contact Congress via Phone
You can call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senator’s or Representative’s office. A staff member will pick up the phone. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issues you wish to comment about.
There is also an app called 5 calls that helps you contact Congress.
Identify yourself and mention you would like to leave a brief comment, such as: “Please tell Senator/Representative (Name) that I support/oppose (S.__/H.R.__) because (state your reason).” Ask for the Senator or Representative’s position on the bill.
Note: Don’t call if you are not from the state or district of the person you are calling. Use Social Media to influence Congress members outside your district or state.
Contact Congress via Mail or eMail
Identify your senator or representative here.
Each member of Congress establishes their office’s policy related to the processing and management of e-mail. Generally, if a member has a public e-mail address, it can be found on the member’s website.
When you contact Congress, the email coming from a real person results in 46% more opens and a whopping seven times more clicks than a newsletter-style email. So it seems that policymakers prefer emails and stories from real people rather than newsletters from organizations. https://www.quorum.us/blog/emailing-capitol-hill/
Tips for Sending Effective mail or E-mail to Congress
Addressing Mail:
To a Senator
The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator:
To a Representative
The Honorable (full name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative:
Address the Chair of a Committee or the Speaker of the House as:
Dear Mr. Chairman or Madam Chairwoman:
Dear Madam Speaker or Mr. Speaker:
Note: Don’t email if you are not from the state or district of the person you are contacting. Use Social Media to influence Congress members outside your district or state.
Letters are a popular and effective way to communicate with a congressional office. Include your purpose for writing, including the specific bill or issue. Be courteous and brief. Include examples to support your position. Address only one issue in each letter and keep the letter to one page, if possible.
- Put Your Name and Address at the Top of the Message.
The first thing your representative wants to determine is if you live in his or her district. If you don’t … delete. Representatives and staff do not have any obligation and little time to read messages from people who are not constituents, so it is vital that you make it clear that you live in the district. - Humanize Your Message.
This is one of the most important things you can do to ensure your e-mail makes an impact. Many people are uncomfortable sharing their feelings or talking about their own experiences, or believe that such information is inappropriate to the legislative process. Yet, it is this information that separates one’s message from the standardized, bulk messages drafted by interest groups. These messages are more likely to be read than simply tallied. - Be Brief.
Members of Congress and their staff are extremely busy. Respect their time and try to tell them only what they need to know. Two or three paragraphs should be sufficient. Do not feel that you have to make every single argument that relates to the issue, only the strongest points you can make. - Be Clear About Your Position.
Your request should be stated as a concrete, actionable item, e.g., “I would like you to support H.R. 100.” - Make Your Message Timely.
Send your message when the legislation is being considered. Your message is worthless is it arrives after a critical vote. Look to APA to keep you informed about the timing of critical stages in the legislative process. - Don’t “Flame.”
You are allowed to disagree with your members of Congress, but you will not be effective if you abuse or threaten them. Abusive letters seem more desperate than intimidating to the recipient, and they are seldom taken seriously. - Avoid Attachments.
Congressional offices rarely print or read attachments to e-mail. Offer to provide supporting documents on request, but avoid sending attached files. - Don’t Become “Spam.”
Do not send Congress a message every single day about every issue you read about or develop an opinion on. An office that receives numerous messages from a single person quickly loses sight of the urgency or expertise that the constituent can bring to a specific issue. - Establish Your Credibility.
Explain if you are an expert in some area. Also, do not shy away from saying that you are either a personal supporter or a party supporter (but never imply that because you voted for somebody or contributed money to their campaign they owe you a vote). - Don’t Lie.
Political professionals are adept at spotting a tall tale. Any story that sounds too perfect or any statistic that is not substantiated will not bolster your position. - Don’t cc Everybody.
Resist the urge to send a copy of your message to every member of Congress. You will persuade no one and annoy everybody. A legislative office wants to know that you have appealed to them for specific action, not just sent them a copy of a memo distributed to all. - Proofread Your E-mail.
Too often the speed and ease of sending e-mail is reflected in poor grammar and sloppy spelling. Even if a congressional staffer is able to determine your meaning, such errors reflect badly on your overall argument. Take a break before you press “send,” and proof your message. - SOURCE: https://www.planning.org/advocacy/toolbox/emails.htm
Contact Congress via Social Media
What makes social media an effective medium for interacting with members of Congress is the public nature of the communications. A message that you post on a member of Congress’ Facebook page or in a Tweet that you tag them in will be publicly viewable and will show up in the feeds of those to whom you and the member of Congress are connected. Because of the public nature of social media and the immediacy of this platform, congressional offices will often reply more quickly to a Facebook or Twitter message than they would to a letter or email. This makes social media especially useful when communicating something that is time-sensitive – for instance, if a vote is about to take place.
