What you can do
There are many ways you can get involved and the advent of the internet and computer systems makes it much easier these days. You can e-mail, fax, call, or mail letters to your representatives. You can also visit their web pages and submit comment forms.
However the number one thing you can do is to pick a mechanism that works for you, stay informed, and be involved. When communicating to your representatives it is often the quantity of communication they receive as opposed to Quality. A simple e-mail saying “Please oppose the expansion of Federally managed health care programs.” will get tallied into the statistics the same way a three paragraph explanation of why you think they need to oppose it. It is more effective to send the same communication via several different media types.
Hints:
1. Draft your message on your computer, You can then use copy and paste commands to submit it to multiple representatives easily, You can also forward it via different media types such as e-mail, submit it via your representatives website, and even fax it using your word programs “Print ->to fax” function.
2. Send it more than once. Once you have the letter or comment drafted on you computer you can save it for later use. You may edit it slightly, or simply resend it on a different day. As stated above, the Quantity of communications matters, Much of what your representatives receives gets distilled down to statistical information prior to your representative seeing it.
3. Know what the issue are. There is a wealth of information regarding what congress and Washington DC are doing at any given time. Search for topics you care about in the news and don’t veer away from smaller news outlets. These smaller outlets often are more willing to ask the all important question of “Why” things are happening that the larger Mega-Media outlets have cast to side due to time constraints, and advertising needs.
4. Track your Representatives votes and hold them accountable come voting time. Do remember, that there are more political parties out there than the Republicans and Democrats, and though they often seem distinctly different, in practice they are often both heading in the same direction, just at different speeds. A good quote to remember is “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.” - Jerry Garcia
The following can be used to track what your Representatives are doing.
Track your Senators’ and Representative’s votes by e-mail
You can find out who your representatives are using this capwiz tool
Other Resources
These Sites allow you to submit letters on any topic to your Senators online.
Find your Congressman’s Fax Number
