CARE - Writing Elected Officials

Writing a letter is the most common way individual citizens communicate with their members of Congress.  During an average week, each member receives 3,000 letters from citizens on every issue imaginable, and even a few that aren’t. 

A well-written letter is the backbone of every grassroots program.  It is not only easy to create, but, if written correctly, can be surprisingly effective.  No, one letter is not likely to change a Congressman’s mind alone.  But it can have an impact, especially when combined with several other well-written letters from other constituents.  The bottom line is that when you write a good letter to a Congressional office, you know it will be read by someone who could, potentially, have an impact on legislation.   The trick is writing a “good” letter.

The 3 Commandments

Writing a good letter is not that difficult.  There are only three basic rules that you need to follow.  These are:

1.      Be respectful.

2.      Be honest.

3.      Be a voter.

1.      Be respectful.  Politics can provoke strong emotions in many people.  A letter to your Member of Congress is not the right time to express these emotions.  Good letters are rational, reasonable, and respectful.  Emotions are better expressed by shouting at the TV or the newspaper than at your Congressman.  These individuals have been selected by the American people to participate in the greatest Democracy in history.  For this they deserve your respect, even if you have to fake it. 

2.      Be honest.  Congress runs on trust.  As an advocate of your position, your letter is only going to be given as much weight as you have credibility.  Don’t ruin this credibility by not being completely honest in all communications with elected officials.  Lies, exaggerations, and other un-truths will discredit both you and your position faster than just about anything else.  Plus, you will have tainted any other communication you may want to have with your Congressional office in the future.  If you can’t make your point honestly, then perhaps you shouldn’t be making your point at all.   

3.      Be a voter.  Members of Congress are not elected by the entire country.  They are elected by only a small part of the country: one state for Senators, and one Congressional district for Representatives.  Therefore, Members of Congress don’t represent the entire country; they only represent a small portion of it.  If you don’t live or work in that small portion of the country, then your opinions won’t really count for that much.  Stick to communicating with your elected officials and you will have much more impact.

But living in their district isn’t enough – you also have to be a voter in that district.  That means registering to vote.  Elected officials care about what you think precisely because they are elected.  If you are not registered to vote, you can’t help them become re-elected, and so your opinions will be worth less to them.

Follow these three rules, and your letter will be read, and your opinion recorded.  That’s about the best that you can do most of the time.  But what if you don’t just want to be read?  What if you want to have a significant impact?  That takes a bit more effort.

GREAT LETTERS

If you are going to take the time to write a letter to Congress, chances are you don’t just want it to be read and noted.  You want it to have an impact.  It is difficult for any one letter to be noticed in a flood that flows into Capitol Hill each year, but there are some things that you can do to increase the odds that your letter will be noticed.  We can break these suggestions into two categories: structural and style.

Letter Structure:

1.      Address

2.      Introduction

3.      Request

4.      Length

5.      Attachments

1.      Address:  Most guides to writing Congress go into great detail on how to address your letter.  The reality is that it isn’t all that important.  So long as you spell your Congressman’s name correctly and get the address close, it will get to the correct office and be read.  But remember the rules for writing a good letter.  The format of your letter and its address needs to be respectful.  So long as it is, the specific format is not critical. 

This format works well in all situations:

The Honorable ___________                      The Honorable _________
U.S. House of Representatives                      U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20515                              Washington, D.C. 20510

2.      Introduction:  The first thing your elected official wants to know is - who are you?  Start your letter by telling them.  The single most important piece of information in you letter is that you live in the Member’s district (see The Three Commandments).  After that, briefly tell the office what you do for a living, why you are interested in this particular issue, and anything else about you that is pertinent.  For example, if you also work in the district, mention that as well, especially if the issue in question will affect your company.  Include any professional credentials if you are talking about an issue that you have specialized training in, but just the basics.  You degree in engineering is helpful.  Your coursework is not.

The goal here is to have whoever first reads your letter to see you as a person.  You want to give yourself an identity.  Politicians (and people who work for them) are people persons.  It is important to them that they see you as an individual, not just a name.

3.      Request:  People write to Congress for a reason.  Get right to it.  Why are you writing this letter?  What, specifically, do you want from your elected officials?  Be blunt, be open, and most of all, ASK!  If you want the Congressman’s vote, ask for it.  It you want your Senator to become a cosponsor, ask her to sign on.  The request should be obvious and right up front so that it cannot be missed. 

4.      Length:  Politicians and their staff have very busy schedules.  Most work 10 to 12 hours each day, at least 6 days per week.  Members and their staff don’t have time to read a 20-page letter – so they won’t.  If you want your letter to be read, keep it to one page, two only if absolutely necessary.  Get right to your point, make it, and end the letter.  To do this, your letter should deal with only one issue.  If you have more than one issue to discuss, write more than one letter.

5.   Attachments:  Don’t include them.  They will not be read, not because the staff is mean or lazy, but because they don’t have time.  Summarize whatever the attachment was going to say, and then tell your Member how to get in contact with you if their office needs more information. 

Letter Style:

1.      Timing

2.      Arguments

3.      Emotions

4.      Specifics

1.      Timing:  In politics, timing is everything.  Fortunately, in grassroots politics, it isn’t.  There is no “wrong” time to write a letter to your Members of Congress (although after the vote has been taken, your letter probably won’t do much good).  Each time you communicate with your Members you build a relationship with them and their staff, so each letter is helpful.  That being said, some times are more helpful than others.  You can work with the IEEE-USA staff in Washington to time your letter to arrive on the most effective day.  Or you can send the letter when it is ready, and still have an impact.

2.      Arguments:  This is the most difficult part of your letter to write.  This is where you explain why your Congressman should vote a particular way.  You probably have dozens of reasons, stories, and statistics that prove your case, and want the Member to see all of them.  But you only have one page to do it.  How do you decide what to keep?

The trick is to focus on the two or three arguments that are vital to your position, and exclude those that are merely helpful.  The letter you are writing is not a thesis.  It is not a definitive analysis of the problem at hand.  Rather, it is a personal note from you to your elected official asking for their help.  Focus on the personal.  Why does this issue interest you?  How will it affect you?  Your family? Your company?  Again, politicians deal with people, so make the appeal abut the personal affect the issue has had on you.

3.      Emotion:  While your arguments should be personal, your appeal should not be.  Your letter should be logical and reasonable at all times.  Politics often provokes strong emotions in people.  Your letter is not the place to express those emotions.  Yell at your TV or newspaper if you must, but don’t put it in your letter.

You should also not put any threats or promises in your letter.  Telling a Member of Congress that you will (or won’t) vote for them if they vote a specific way will not help.  Members of Congress know that for every person who votes against them for a given position, one will vote for them, so a promise to do so will have little effect.  Nor will promises of campaign contributions, or reminders of past contributions.  Such statements are not only offensive, but are also illegal.  Your letter should simply explain why a particular position is a good idea, and then ask for support.  Nothing more is required.

4.      Specifics:  Legislative offices deal with hundreds of issues, bills, votes, and proposals each year.  Don’t expect your member’s office to know what you are talking about when your write regarding the “science funding bill.”  There are probably 50 bills considered each year that deal with science funding.  Refer to the specific bill in question when you write, or at least describe the bill as best you can.  You can go to thomas.loc.gov for detailed information on legislation being considered by Congress, or contact IEEE-USA for assistance.

What to Expect in Response

As mentioned before, Congressional offices receive thousands of letters each week.  Obviously, Congressional offices cannot respond to each of these individually.  Most offices develop standard form letters to respond to constituents on popular issues. Don't be surprised if you get a form letter in response, or if the response is not timely.  Any response at all shows that your letter was read and recorded, which is exactly what you wanted to have happen.

If you don't get any kind of response at all, try calling your Representative's local district office and forward a copy of your original letter if necessary. They can help find out what happened to your letter and should prompt any appropriate follow-ups.

You should be prepared for a response that is non-committal at best and at worst, states the Representative's opposition to what you request. If that is the case, writing again to argue the points raised in the response is usually not a worthwhile investment of your time and energy. It is better to spend your time networking with friends and colleagues and asking them to write letters as well. If the logic of your argument is not persuasive by itself, then the number of individuals (i.e., voters) who say the same thing may be. The one exception regarding responses is where your representative's response contains a technical inaccuracy or shows ignorance of an important fact. In that case, you might consider writing a follow-up letter that points out the inaccuracy. Remember to be respectful, and avoid scornful retorts such as "you idiot, don't you know the laws of physics!"  They may not, but it won’t help your cause to point this out.

Letters vs. E-Mail

Until recently, the majority of letters to Congress were, in fact, letters – pieces of paper sent through regular mail.  Faxes and e-mails were sent, but these were the exception, and were generally not seen as being as powerful as actual mail. 

This changed in late 2001.  Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11^th, someone sent anthrax spores to several members of Congress through the mail.  Some staffers became sick, and a few even died from this attack.  Not surprisingly, Congress is much less enthusiastic about paper mail since that happened.  Regular mail is now de-contaminated outside of Washington before it is delivered to legislators.  This process can take up to six weeks, which means that mail to Congress not only makes them nervous, but it is also not delivered in a timely manner, which makes most messages obsolete before they arrive.  For these reasons, we recommend that you do not send your letters through regular mail, but rather e-mail your elected officials.

When sending e-mail to your elected officials, remember the following:

1.      Treat your e-mail as if it were a formal letter.  Structure your letter as you would an actual letter, and try to convey the same level of seriousness and respect.

2.      Include your name and full address.  Congressional e-mail filters will look for your address, and then match your address to a Congressional district.  If this system cannot determine that you are in your Members district or state, your message will be deleted before it is even delivered.

3.      Do not include attachments.  In addition to raising virus concerns, staff don’t have time to read attached documents.  Offer to provide the information later, if the office wants it.

Writing a letter to your Member of Congress is, and has been, the most common form of communication between citizens and their government.  These letters are an important tool for Congressional Offices as they provide a fairly good barometer of public sentiment in their home district or state.  Because of this, well-written letters are never ignored, and can occasionally have a real impact.  Even more influential are multiple letters making the same arguments.  Few politicians will ignore the voices of dozens of thoughtful constituents, all of whom are saying the same thing.  And if they do, they may not be politicians after the next election.

Updated:  15 May 2007
Contact: Russ Harrison, r.t.harrison@ieee.org