By Bob Bauman (former U.S. Congressman)
Just a word of advice: As a former Member of Congress
myself, I can tell you
that volume mail, (or email) on an issue counts for far less than a
well-written
personal letter or email, however brief. It's OK to use the ACLU letter
[form letter]
as a guide, but personal letters or emails are far more impressive than
a copy-
cat message that comes in by the hundreds. Such messages are usually
tied
in a stack with a "total received" number on them, or just summarized as
a
number on a mail tally sheet. Even more impressive is a visit to the
congressman's home district office, or a phone call to that office and
to
Washington. If the call is made to the Washington office, a person
should ask
for the congressman's "Legislative Affairs Assistance" who handles the
.....
issue. The caller should state that he or she is a registered voter in
the
(whatever) district of (state) and wants the congressman to support the
bill.
They should also ask for a written reply from the congressman in which
he
states his position.
You can find your representatives address at the
following site:
The Electronic Activist
http://www.berkshire.net/~ifas/activist/index.html
Go on to The Customer Is (usually) Wrong
Return to 13 June 1999 Issue
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