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Working With Your Member of Congress

(Adapted from materials developed by RESULTS in Washington, DC)

Downloadable Worksheets (Microsoft Word documents) Meeting with your members of Congress Developing a relationship with Congressional staff

Contents:
Principles and Goal
How to set up a successful meeting
Meeting format
Tips for building relationships

Principles

1. Developing a relationship with a Member of Congress (MoC) is one of the most important and effective tools that UFE activists can use

2. Get as many people as possible involved in the process

Goal

Develop the leadership of your MoC on UFE issues

How to set up a successful meeting with your MoC

1. Prepare to make the appointment. Information you will need:

a. Information about your MoC, including their past votes on UFE issues and committee assignments

b. Reasons for the meeting

c. How much time you will need

d. Who will attend (approximate number of partners and community allies)

2. Call the Appointment Scheduler to set up the meeting

3. Plan for the meeting

a. Select the topics for the meeting

b. Bring materials, including specific requests, to leave behind about each topic

c. Create an agenda for the meeting

d. Assign roles: get every partner involved in a part of the meeting

4. Practice for the meeting

5. Confirm the meeting with the Scheduler:

a. One week before the meeting and the morning of the meeting

The meeting itself — a typical format:

1. Introductions.

a. Who you are and what you do in the community

b. Explain what RESULTS is and why you are involved

c. Give the MoC and aides a typed agenda and requests for the meeting

2. Acknowledge your MoC for any previous actions

3. Issues presentation

a. Involve all your partners

b. Perhaps show a video

4. Make specific requests and ask for their answer right then

a. If they are unwilling to make a commitment, set a date to follow up

b. Carefully record any questions/ objections/ concerns

5. Make a plan for the next step/ follow up

6. The next day, send a "Thank You" letter

7. Follow up with the MoC or aides

Tips for building relationships with Members of Congress

Members of Congress are people just like us. They feel the same stress, and struggle with the same issues as we do. Their days are filled from morning to often late night with meetings, hearings, markups, and public speaking. In between that, they are expected to consider and vote on legislation constantly being brought up in committees and on the House floor.

Members make many sacrifices to serve the public. They spend much of their week away from their family and friends, and when they are not in Washington or in their districts, they spend their time traveling between the two. Try to imagine the life of Neil Abercrombie, for instance, who travels all the way to Hawaii every two weeks, having to deal with being away from his family, the time change, jet lag, and everything else that comes with such a trip.

One of the best ways to reach a Member of Congress is to acknowledge what they have done. Simply noticing the positive actions they have taken and thanking them can be very powerful for members, who often feel overworked and unappreciated. Another way to emphasize your "thank yous" is to make them public. Members of Congress, just like us, want to be held in high regard. They are sensitive to the press that they get, and thanking them with a letter to the Editor, editorial, or op-ed is a great way to impress upon them the difference they make to us. Speaking up at a public event of some sort and thanking the Congressperson in front of a number of /her constituents

Tips for building relationships with congressional aides

For the most part, congressional staff are good people who are extremely overburdened with work. They lead stressful lives — working very long hours for little pay, and often receive little in the way of thanks or acknowledgement for their efforts. While our issues are very important to us, (and probably to them too), we should keep in mind that most staffers have far too much on their plates on any given day. They may not act on your request right away, not because they don't intend to do so, but because of the staggering volume of work (often emergency requests from the Member for speaking points, floor speeches, etc.) with which they are faced.

The best avenue to take with these harried people is to be friendly, respectful, knowledgeable and time-efficient with your requests. Given that congressional staff have so little time with which to complete their mountain of work, the best way to endear yourself to them is by not taking up a lot of their day with repeated and long phone calls. This does not mean that you shouldn't follow up if an aide hasn't gotten back to you as promised, but give him or her a reasonable amount of time to follow through. Ask the aide about his/her schedules and try to work out a time for following up that you both can agree on, rather than automatically calling back two days later. Let him/her know you understand that he/she is very busy, and that you want to find a time that will work.

Writing them thank you notes and expressing your appreciation for their efforts when they do produce results is a great thing to do. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and respected, and these staffers are no different. Think of them and talk to them as if they were our allies in the fight against hunger and poverty. Know that mostly they are not trying to be obstructionist, they're just struggling with a myriad of other problems and drains on their time.

If we take the time to get to know our congressional aides and inquire about the pressures that they face in their jobs everyday, they'll sense our understanding and be less resistant to what we want to accomplish through them. They'll also be more willing to work with us when we have an emergency request.