Effective Influence

We encourage you to reach out to your congressman and senators to state your position and give them direction. The following is a guide to help you influence your congressman and senators in the most effective way. Identify your congressman and senators here.

Give Direction to Your Congressman and Senators:

The most effective letters are brief, firm but polite, and do the following three things: 

1. Clearly state your position and. when possible, reference specific legislation (e.g., I oppose H.R. 240).
2. Provide a reason or two to support why you feel that way.
3. Indicate what you expect of your representative (e.g., Please publicly declare your unequivocal opposition to federal control of health care.)

If you decide to email your congressman, be sure to identify yourself as a constituent by including your return mailing address with zip code. Congressmen give little weight to correspondence from outside their district.

Build Informed Constituent Pressure:

You can achieve even greater impact on Congress by establishing yourself as a local opinion molder:

1. With your letter to your congressman or senators, enclose a page from your local newspaper containing your published letter to the editor on the same topic.
2. Influence others in your community by sharing solid information, such as an article posted on this website, and ask them to contact your representative to express their views, too,
3. Help build local organization for the same objective.

 

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