Section Navigation
- Communicating with Government Officials
- Introducing Your Coalition to Officials
- Writing to Public Officials
- Calling Public Officials
- Using the Internet
- Communicating with Candidates
- Planning Local Activities with Officials and Candidates
- Checklist: Communicating with Government Officials
- Sample Documents:
Lobbying Tip: Be Included in the Congressional Record
In addition to being the daily record of minutes for the U.S. Congress’ legislative sessions, the Congressional Record also contains hundreds of pages of political speeches, statements, statistics, charts, studies, tributes, newspaper editorials, and news articles. Members of Congress routinely place these items in the Record to help make the case for their views.
Some reasons to seek to have your coalition's views published in the Congressional Record include:
- Reprints of a Congressional Record statement make impressive mailings to supporters and prospective supporters of your coalition;
- Many congressional staffers read the Record;
- It's free.
It's also relatively easy to do. First, prepare the documents you want published. These can include newspaper editorials favorable to your coalition’s position, speeches given by proponents, statements made at congressional hearings and even specially prepared statements by the senator or representative. Check accuracy, draft a one- or two-paragraph introduction that incorporates the Member’s endorsement of the documents, and provide them to the Member (through the appropriate staffer) with a request that they be included in the Congressional Record.
Using the Internet
Many public officials maintain e-mail addresses and Web sites, which are quickly becoming a popular means of communication with government officials. However, most offices still rely mainly on postal mail and personal relationships. Also, some government offices are better able to receive and respond to electronic mail than others. For example, within the U.S. Congress there are great differences in the technical capabilities and policies among Members’ offices.
When using e-mail, we recommend starting your correspondence by identifying yourself as a constitute representing a broad-based coalition of like-minded citizens from the same geographic area. Be sure to give your full name, company, address, phone number and e-mail address, and use the proper salutation in all e-mail correspondence. We suggest you follow the same format for an e-mail as a postal letter.
Officials do not always reply to e-mails unless a personal relationship exists. Many officeholders only take notice of e-mails from constituents; they know that thousands of messages can be generated from locations throughout the country and such messages may not reflect the views of their state, district or city. When an officeholder does respond to an e-mail, it is likely to be by postal mail.