Engineer's Guide to Influencing Public PolicyWriting Your Member of CongressBy Chris Brantley, IEEE-USAWhy should I write to Congress? This rhetorical question really has two facets. The first concerns the motivation to write and the second, why writing a letter is still one of the most effective means of influencing your representatives in Congress in this age of electronic communications. As for motivation, the simple fact of the matter is that sooner or later Congress or your state legislature, or even your county or city council, is going to consider a law (or the executive is going to propose a regulation or ordinance) that affects a career, community, professional, and/or some other regional or national interest that is important to you. Whether it's your retirement security, the quality of health care, K-12 math and science education, funding for research, or restrictions on the practice of engineering, you can be sure that someone, somewhere is looking at it this very moment with an eye to passing legislation. It may be a positive change that you want to encourage. It may be a negative change that you hope to avoid. In either case, it is in your self-interest to make your views heard. If you don't exercise your voice, then your interests will be represented by others who have taken the time to speak out and who may not have your best interests at heart. Prospective letter writers should also note that their letters can be influential. Each letter represents a motivated voter. For every voter motivated enough to write there are hundreds more who share similar concerns, which they will express on Election Day. Congress understands this. Letter writing can be particularly influential on engineering issues, especially those with a technical component, because so few are written that they tend to stand out. IEEE-USA has been told several times by various members of Congress that they would co-sponsor legislation that we were advocating if we could get just 8-10 constituents to write a letter asking them to do so. So now to the nitty-gritty--what makes a letter to Congress effective? Here are a series of tips designed to make sure your letter is as influential as possible. Timing, Timing, Timing Unless actively sponsoring a particular bill, most Members of Congress are not aware of, and do not devote much attention to legislation until the point comes for them to take some action on it. That could be a hearing on the bill, a committee mark-up, or a debate/vote on the floor of the House or Senate. A letter sent long before an issue is under active consideration is likely to be forgotten; one sent after Congress has already acted is a missed opportunity. Therefore, before you write, it is important to know when the best time for your letter to arrive is. If your goal is to raise congressional awareness about a particular issue and its impact in your state or district or to tell your representative how you'd like them to vote (and why), then it is best to write so that your letter is received a week or two before the key event (and at least 2-3 business days prior to the vote). Earlier, and it will be forgotten. Later, and your letter will probably be lying unread in someone's inbox even as your legislator is casting that important vote. You can find out when key hearings and votes are scheduled by contacting your representative's office directly, by searching congressional schedules at Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov) and the House (http://www.house.gov) and Senate (http://www.senate.gov) web pages, or by contacting the IEEE-USA Washington office. Identify Yourself as a Constituent Each U.S. Representative answers to approximately half a million people in his or her district; a half million people who know (or can quickly find out) the representative's name, phone number, e-mail address, and office location. Constituents contact their representatives through the Washington and local district offices hundreds of times each day to ask for some action or to complain about some matter. A daunting prospect if you have to answer all those phone calls, e-mails, and letters. And also the reason that most members of their Congress and their staff do everything possible to avoid having to deal with non-constituents, who only add to the burden. It is fairly standard practice on Capitol Hill to trash non-constituent mail (especially form mail) and delete non-constituent e-mail. You may get the benefit of the doubt if you live close to the district, represent an important company or organization, or the reader just isn't sure. But then again, you may not. For these reasons, it is very important to identify yourself as a constituent in the letter. The best way to do that is to include your name, postal address, and a nine-digit zip code. Use the postal address where you actually vote (i.e., usually a home address, rather than a business address or post office box unless you are sure they are in the Representative's district). A note about zip codes. Congressional staffers will usually look at your city, or even your street address and make a snap judgment whether you are a constituent whose letter should be read or a non-constituent whose letter goes in the waste basket. But when they want to be sure, they will look you up in a special zip code directory provided to Congress by the post office, which allows them look at your address and determine whether it falls within the District boundaries. These same directories are also available on-line so that you can look up your representative by zip code. Since most congressional districts tend to fall across several zip codes (especially in urban areas), it is important to include all 9 digits on your zip code. It also doesn't hurt to say (assuming it is true) that you are constituent in the body of your letter. For example, "I am writing as a constituent to ask your support for…." Address Your Letter Properly An accurate mailing address and appropriate salutation is important to make sure the letter gets where you want it to go in a timely fashion and creates the proper impression once it arrives. The post office prefers that you do not use office numbers since they are subject to change. The correct address style is:
When writing to a Member of Congress acting in a capacity as chair of committee or as an officer (e.g. the Speaker of the House, President pro tempore in the Senate) it is proper to address them by title as follows:
Letters to chairs and ranking minority members of committees about committee business should generally be addressed to the committee office. For example:
Letters to other committee members can be addressed to their personal offices, with reference made to the committee business in the body of the letter. One Page/One Subject Several published studies done of congressional schedules confirm what may seem to be an astonishing fact: the average Member of Congress devotes only ten-fifteen minutes a day to office reading and even less time for reflective thinking. The balance of their time is spent interacting with colleagues, staff, constituents and lobbyists, participating in hearings, giving talks and interviews, raising money, casting the odd vote, and doing all the other things that the typical Member must do. The odds that any given piece of constituent mail will end up in their in-box to read are slim. Instead, letters are read and screened first by the legislative staff, who also work under tremendous time and other pressures. For these reasons, it is very important for constituent letters to be as focused and brief as reasonably possible. The rule of thumb is "one page, one subject." The "three paragraph" rule is also a useful way to force yourself to focus your letter:
Identify the Specific Legislation Of Interest or Concern Whenever possible, you should identify the specific bill (by name and bill number) you are urging your representative to take action on. Each Congress, tens of thousands of bills are introduced, many on the same or similar subjects. By providing a bill name and number, you are helping congressional staff by providing a short cut to information they need to research and evaluate your request and proposals. The easier you make it for congressional staff to follow-up on your request with their bosses, the more likely it is that they actually will. If you do not know the bill number, or if the bill has not been introduced, be as specific as possible. For example: "I am writing to ask for your support to permanently extend the research and experimentation tax credit, which is due to expire on June 30, 1999." Provide Your Credentials Where appropriate, include a brief description of yourself and/or the organization or company you are writing on behalf of. A little personal information is both useful and welcome. Credentials cover more than just a job or professional title. It includes anything that adds weight and legitimacy to your perspective. For example, if you're writing about K-12 education, the fact that you are a school teacher, school board member, or an engineer volunteering as a teacher's aide reinforces your observations. There is also such a thing as political credentials. If you worked as a volunteer on your representative's campaign or for the political party as a supporter, find a way to work in a reference. Similarly, if you have some personal relationship with the Representative (e.g., you were classmates or members of the same fraternity/sorority; you were in the army together; you sat next to the Representative on an airplane, etc.), look for a way to work it in if you think it will create a positive association. Offer A Compelling Rationale The most difficult part of letter writing is providing a compelling rationale for the action you are requesting in a one-page letter. It is not only important to make arguments that are supportable, but also to avoid signaling a bias or betray an ignorance of the issues that will undermine your credibility. It is not enough to say something is in the public interest or national interest. You also need to briefly explain why. The most effective letters support your arguments/position by describing the social and economic impact that a particular bill would have on you, your organization, your community and the country if it is passed or defeated. There is an old truism that "All politics is local." Applied to grassroots letter writing, this means you need to explain how this bill will effect you and other constituents in your representative's congressional district. If you are a researcher advocating increases in federal R&D spending for a particular agency or program, for example, try to make a connection between that program or funding and the exciting research happening in your laboratory or your university. Describe the impact of that research funding in terms of jobs created, money brought into the local economy, and students trained. Then remind them why this research is important in promoting U.S. national security or economic competitiveness. Similarly, if you are an engineer concerned about your retirement security, describe why it is that you are concerned. Explain that engineers are mobile and that the typical engineer changes jobs seven or more times in a career, so often in fact that they may fail to accrue adequate pension benefits with any particular employer. Use your own career as an example. Or suppose you would like your representative to support restoration of the tax exclusion for graduate-level employer provided educational assistance. Explain how important continuing education is to staying current as a technical professional. Describe classes that you took that proved critical to your own career and why the tax-exclusion was important. If you are going to cite facts and figures, reference the source so that they can be confirmed. Two things to avoid:
Write With Facts, Not Emotions Writing to Congress is not an everyday activity. Most people don't spend time thinking about their Congress or state legislature unless or until something happens that angers or scares them into action. It's not surprising, therefore, that many people who decide to write letters to their representatives are highly upset, concerned, or antagonized by an issue, piece of legislation, or a position taken by their elected representatives. Strong feelings frequently carry over into letters, which are often highly emotional or even threatening (e.g. "You better vote for S.189 or we're going to get you at election time"). Such threats are usually counterproductive. The fact that your representative would vote one way or another doesn't necessarily make him/her a "good" or "bad" person; just someone with a different understanding of what the best solution to a particular problem is. As a general rule, try to persuade with facts, not emotions. A good letter can demonstrate strong concern without relying on emotionalism. Attachments and Enclosures As a general rule, extensive attachments and enclosures are discouraged. If you have arguments and supporting data that is too long to include in your one page letter, than one option is to prepare a short (1-2 page) enclosure that lists information in bullet format and/or provides a bibliography of key resources that support your position. If the Member of Congress (or more likely the staffer) who reads your letter is interested in these resources, they can ask you to provide copies. What to Expect In The Way of A Response Most congressional offices develop standard form letters that they use to respond to constituent letters on popular issues. Don't be surprised if you get a form letter in response to your letter, or if the response is not timely. The fact that you got a form response, however, does not mean that your letter was ignored. 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. The first job of the District Office is constituent service, and you are more likely to get personal attention there than you will from the Washington office, which is focused on managing the Representative's participation in the legislative process. The District Office will 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 write saying the same or similar things may be. The one exception regarding responses is where your representative's response contains a technical inaccuracy or evidences ignorance of an important fact. In that case, you might consider writing a follow-up letter that references the previous correspondence and points out the inaccuracy or fact. Try to sound helpful and avoid scornful retorts such as "you idiot, don't you know the laws of physics!" Last Updated: April 15, 1999 This section is adapted from a paper submitted for presentation at the 1999 IEEE-USA Professional Development Conference. Copyright © 1999, The
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