Veteran Washington reporter Craig Crawford offers some tips on how to write an effective letter to Congress. (Transcription available here. )
Members of Congress prefer to hear from their constituents by e-mail. It's faster, easier to sort and doesn't present any security risks. (Read more here.) In order to avoid having their in boxes flooded with spam and letters from people in other states, Senators and Representatives require people e-mailing them to supply an address and other information before sending an e-mail. Because of these requirements, however, you cannot e-mail more than one of your elected officials at the same time through their Web sites.
You can write them all through Congress.org however. Simply go to our registration page, and enter a valid e-mail address and ZIP code and you can register to write all of your state or federal officials at one time. We'll help you figure out who represents you in Congress and in your state government and make it easy for you to send them letters in the future with just one click.
There are other benefits to registration. You can also post up to four Soapboxes a month to encourage other voters to contact Congress about issues that are important to you. And you can sign up for a weekly e-mail called MegaVote to help you keep track of how your Members of Congress voted on key legislation, a weekly newsletter about important issues to activists like yourself and two newsletters about health care and the environment.
You can also send letters to your elected officials through Congress.org.
Just follow the procedure for sending an e-mail, but select "Printed Letter" for your delivery option. When you're done, click "Print Letter" and we'll format a document you can print on your home computer, including the correct address for your officials. Don't forget a stamp!
Calling Congress
To find your senators' and representative's phone numbers, you may use our searchable online congressional directory or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202)224-3121 and ask for your senators' and/or representative's office.
Remember that telephone calls are usually taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress. Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue about which you wish to comment.
After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: "Please tell Senator/Representative (Name) that I support/oppose (S.___/H.R.___)."
You will also want to state reasons for your support or opposition to the bill. Ask for your senators' or representative's position on the bill. You may also request a written response to your telephone call.