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and she told me that they DO take note of the phone calls and they aren't disregarded as I thought they were. Even during times of heavy call volume they make notes of the issues and if you want a response they try to follow up. I get a lot of replies from my emails and the petitions that I sign too and they are often specific to my concerns. Of course this is true of only Dem reps since I don't give the GOP reps my info for a reply. I do NOT want to hear their BS. I did get replies from them until I realized that their replies didn't address the specific issues that I had addressed when I contacted them. My favorite replies are "thanks you's" from the fucking moron when I write him long, nasty letters. I only do that to vent and let off steam.

Looks like phone calls to the STATE office is best.
https://lifehacker.com/the-best-ways-to-contact-your-congress-people-from-a-f-1788990839

Most people are at work so he gets the retired geezer crowd (like me) who mostly support him.
I don't.

I probably found it on here. But the woman said that calling is the best and email is the worst.

numerous (10 or 12) faxes plus several emails, most of which requested a response. In return, I received maybe three letters which in no way responded to my concern but, rather, were nothing more than regurgitations of the party line. He would stand in line to breathe in Trump's flatulence and is PROUD of it.

I even went to his regional office and requested to know when he would next be there as I wanted an appointment to speak with him. His office manager said he'd be sure to pass my request on to his aide who would then contact me to arrange a convenient meeting. That was 3 or 4 months ago and since then------------crickets!

Do ya think he's avoiding me?

A couple of times in emails I've asked him for a simple yes or no.
Is your first allegiance to your party or your constituents?
zip zero zed nada


I already knew the answer, I just wanted to either see him lie or admit it.

reliable way to get a mule's attention. Just sayin'.

Especially since the two possible results are either lying or admitting to something depressing.

to his staff and ask for an appointment. Get as many people together as you can. You'll likely get 10 minutes if you're lucky. You'll do better if you leave your materials with the staffers, first. They'll ask you about your concern before making the appointment.

Just count on it taking some serious determination.

You can always try to volunteer to work for him/her if you have the time.

I would be the asp at his bosom.

They work for us. Don’t hesitate to approach them.

and crank a steamer on the carpet. (Mine are all GOP)

Be quick about it. Little extra fiber the night before helps.

When they are back in their home office, make an appointment to see them. If you have a small group, it may be easier to get an appointment because they can claim more contact in a shorter time period.

Have a small agenda for the meeting. Appoint an articulate person to present your case. Find something positive (preferably on topic) that you can praise them for.

Make your points, if you can manage it have them rephrase what they heard in their own words.

ALWAYS be scrupulous with the facts. Use them, but don't abuse them. You want to become the "go to" person on a particular issue - a constituent with whom they may disagree on a solution, but who can be trusted to speak honestly even when it may not help the point you want to make.

Thank them for their time.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

Get to know their staffers on particular issues. They will have far more influence than you will - and they will often welcome concrete information from people they come to trust. (They are also more likely be familiar with the details of the particular piece of legislation.)

Contact them between visits. Handwritten notes, if possible. Reference prior conversations (continuing the relationship theme).

When you are in DC (if you ever are) find out when they have constituent meetings - and attend. Sherrod Brown, for example, has a standing breakfast at the Capitol Visitor Center for anyone from Ohio on Thursday mornings from 8:30 - 9:15. The last time I attended, I got there slightly early - as did Sherrod - and I had his undivided attention for about 15 minutes.

Align with a trusted lobby group & add to their power. I am associated with FCNL (Quaker lobby group - I'm on the national governing body). They have two lobby sessions for constituents every year. One in the fall (in connection with their annual meeting), and one in the Spring (March 17-20 this year). Participants go with a small group of other constituents to meet with congress-critters. This year's focus is on immigration: Build bridges, not walls. You don't have to be Quaker to participant - just agree with the goals of this particular session. The Spring group is primarily for young adults - but I don't believe you have to be a young adult to participate (I regularly do the fall lobby day, but haven't done the spring one.)

volunteer for the campaign in the next election and take every opportunity to meet the representative. They remember who helped them get elected. Then, after the election, start a regular communication with the representative and staff. Regularly comment on issues that are current and ask questions. Refer to your meetings with the house member as introductory matter in your emails or snail mail letters and be concise and clear in what you have to say.

Does that sound like a lot of work? It is. But, once you become known to the office-holder and have supported that person through campaign work, you'll discover that you are remembered and your communications will become priority matters.

That's really the only way to effectively communicate with office-holders. Unless you are known to the person, your communications will not be paid much attention. They'll just be added to the yes or no pile.

If your representative is a Republican, forget about it. There's no point.

Short of that, he is impervious to the will and wishes of Pennsylvanians.

1) Method of delivery

Congressmen and women have a statistical formula to assess how many people feel the same way as you do but didn't bother to communicate. For example a phone call might have a factor of 50 while a hand written note will have a factor of 2000 on the logic that the more labor intensive the way that the message was crafted the more people who feel strongly about this but didn't have the time to respond.

A type written or even better hand written note will have the most impact.

2) The amount of impact

Congressmen and women divide communications from their constituents into two groups: policy issues and assisting on personal matters. A friend of mine who had called their congressperson many times in anger was having problems getting visas for his fiancé's parents to come to his wedding. I told him to call his congressman and he objected saying that they knew him by name. I told him that made him an even more important person to help. He called and got the visas in 2 weeks.

The reason for this is that Congressmen and women know that the passion for policies will fade to some degree but if they assist a constituent with a personal problem that person will tell all of their friends about it and will remain passionate about it for years and may say something like "I don't agree with the SOB on anything but when I needed help on X he fixed it for me". It is, by far, the most effective PR tool that any Congressman or woman has. Sen. Kennedy was famous for having the best constituent assistance response of any Congressman or Senator and that allowed him to take political positions that were actually more to the left than his state.

Example:

Let's say that you are a federal employee and the budget includes a change in the calculation of retirement benefits from the high 5 years to the high 3 years. Doesn't seem like a big deal but it is possible that it might cost you $ 2,000 a year in retirement benefits. If you call and say that you are against the bill it would have an impact but if you write a personal letter indicating that it is going to affect you personally and while it doesn't seem like a lot it will mean that you will have to reduce your trips to see your grandchildren by 50% it will have 10 times the impact.

In the first case they know that you are angry but and probably never vote for them but in the latter they know that you are likely to stay really pissed for 10 years and be vocal to your friends about it at every opportunity.

So if you can take an issue and explain briefly how it will affect your life in a personal way it will have about 50 times the impact of a phone call, the more personal the better.

And in reality... they SHOULDN'T care.

If Troglodytes call Pelosi's office to support Trump they should be ignored. It's not Trump supporters that elected her.

wedding. We connected a few times when I first moved to Boston, but I haven't seen her in a while. I should really offer to work for her campaign. I work a lot, so I don't have a lot of time, but she is someone who is really worth supporting. She's a great person!

I have gotten so harsh with mine on a fb post that he sent me a letter to my home address though. Be firm and tell them how it is.

I think you're in my state if my memory is right. Make sure you remind the representatives all have their elections coming up and they all have dem opposition as of yesterday.

if this is about giving your feedback on an issue or asking them to support a cause, I think that their aids usually just keep a tally and take messages - in other words, i wouldn't count on a reply unless it is a very high profile situation.

If it is a complaint about treatment from a representative of a government agency: part of my job is to receive letters from Veterans who have contacted their congressmen/senators. We usually receive a form that is completed by the Veterans with the complaint (if they went to the office in person) that would contain any back up material. If they email their complaint, we receive a copy of that email with the complaint from the congressperson's or senator's office. We have a time limit to resolve the issue to the best of our ability and that includes trying at least three times to personally call and resolve the issue. All complaints receive attention by us and we do our best to resolve what are in many cases, very difficult situations..

finally - if it is a congressman who you would like to speak to or support, find out where they are doing meet and greets and go. I've met many congressmen who have had "town hall" type meetings to open their new offices, etc. its actually very very nice to be in a large group of people who are of like minds - everyone is excited and talking about what they have done in the past and what they plan to do in the future.

I hope this helps
Annette