“To Get Congress’s Ear, Write Don’t Call”

As the end of a rather somber year in science policy analysis approaches, we offer the following column which appeared in the The Washington Post on August 3. It’s lighthearted approach to the usually serious business of communicating with Congress is our contribution for the holiday season. The message of these selected portions of the column by Washington Post Staff Writer Guy Gugliotta is worth remembering as we look to 1994.

Best wishes for the holidays from AIP!

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Contrary to what many Americans may believe, members of Congress care desperately about their constituents. In fact, they hire hundreds of people to read mail, answer phones and write letters to home folks who are angry or concerned about something.

The trick is to get their attention. Options: call them on the phone; send them a letter; chain yourself to the hood of his or her car; throw a tantrum in their offices; mail a dead fish.

In May, Western Union surveyed 79 congressional staffers to find out what really works. Eighty percent said they preferred the written word, and 80 percent gave personal letters “great importance.” Letters, they said, bespoke serious effort and thought unmatched by other, simpler (and sometimes mindless) forms of communication....

...think before you vituperate. One of the things the survey suggested was “don’t threaten.” Those who send fish, throw tantrums or call names are not likely to win a member’s ear or vote: “The constituent should not approach the member or office as a hostile witness,” said one surveyed staffer. “Be reasonable.”

Phone calls are not loved for a variety of reasons -- too many (how would you like to begin work by listening to 45 minutes worth of taped insults?), too abrupt (no food for thought), too easy to make (hence not serious). Lawmakers have also caught on to “constituent call-in campaigns” ginned up by lobbyists and radio talk show hosts.

Thus, when 2,500 “irate” voters telephone in a single day to demand that their member of Congress vote “no” on foghorns for trolley cars, chances are the whoopie-siren industry is paying for the calls. By contrast, “if people write,” said one surveyed staffer, “it means they haven’t been incited.”

The survey also found it was important to “be brief” and “be timely”.... Get your letter...in before the vote, advised one staffer, or “the communication will be a non-issue.”

Beyond this constraint, however, the survey tends to stretch reality. One aide, for instance, contended absurdly that timeliness was important because “things happen very quickly on the Hill.”

In fact, things happen on Capitol Hill about as fast as grass grows. Voters usually have plenty of warning (often months) before a big vote is taken. It’s hard to miss a deadline....

No matter what the subject is and who the constituents are, however, the survey’s most emphatic message was always “write”....

@1993, The Washington Post. Reprinted with Permission.