Is Your Congressional Representative Listening?

By Andrea W. Lorenz

Few things are more exhilarating than discussing an issue one cares about deeply with one's congressional representative. Yet many citizens concerned about Middle East issues assume that the letters they post to their representatives will never be read, and, if they happen to visit Washington, many are too shy to schedule meetings on Capitol Hill. On April 22, however, members of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, many of whom had traveled from as far as California and Oregon, visited Congress to apprise their congress members and senators of their concerns.

The ADC members had made their appointments well ahead of time. After a morning briefing at which National Association of Arab Americans lobbyist Randa Fahmy advised them, "Don't underestimate the power of grassroots requests," they spread out to the offices of their individual representatives armed with briefing packets prepared by ADC. Among issues they discussed with their representatives were: more stringent oversight of aid to Israel; the need to support the "FBI First Amendment Protection Act of 1989,"—which would regulate the conduct of FBI investigators; the need for increased assistance to Lebanon; and investigation of Israel's arrest without charges or trial of American citizens Mohammed Salah, Anwar Hamdan, and Mohammad Jarad.

The writer accompanied Dr. Robert Ashmore, a professor of philosophy and ethics at Marquette University in Wisconsin, on his well-prepared visits to both Wisconsin senators. Prior to his appointments, Professor Ashmore, who is director of Marquette's Center for Ethics Studies, had written to Senators Herbert Kohl and Russ Feingold introducing himself and explaining that he was recently elected an alderman (city council member) in his community of Mequon, Wisconsin. He also described his involvement in a local Arab-Jewish dialogue group and enclosed an editorial entitled "Local Arabs and Jews Set Fine Example," which appeared in the Milwaukee Journal. The editorial quotes Professor Ashmore describing how Arab-American and Milwaukee Jewish Council leaders, after meeting for the past two years behind closed doors to discuss "the issues that divide us," recently had hammered out a mutually agreed-upon public position statement incorporating the principles of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.

Accompanying Professor Ashmore was Israeli human rights lawyer Lynda Brayer, who was in Washington to accept an ADC achievement award. She is executive legal director of the Society of Saint Yves, a Jerusalem-based organization committed to the defense of Palestinian human rights (see article on page 57). In the meetings, Dr. Ashmore and Ms. Brayer explained their concerns about the deteriorating conditions in the West Bank and Gaza. They asked Senator Kohl and Senator Feingold's aide (Feingold had been called away on urgent business) to press for a more balanced U.S. policy on human rights.

Some suggestions for conducting effective meetings with congressional representatives emerged from Dr. Ashmore's carefully prepared visits and the briefings conducted by ADC and NAAA personnel for all participants in ADC's 1993 "Congressional Contact Day":

Whether you wish to visit your representatives in their home district offices or in Washington, DC, make your appointment well ahead of time.
Send the member a brief letter indicating your specific concerns and including information on your community activities.
Reconfirm your appointment a day or two ahead of time.
It is easier to get an appointment for a group than for an individual, but groups can be as small as three to five people. For groups larger than three, it is advisable to appoint a spokesperson to present the group's concerns.
Learn what committees your representative sits on and what issues he or she cares about. Often you can link your own concerns to issues in which your representative takes an active interest.
Bring notes of the points you wish to cover.
If your representative is called away, you may meet with a staff aide instead. Don't underestimate the aide's access to the member.
Present your concerns succinctly and provide specific documentation.
Maintain a gracious manner. As NAAA's handbook, How to Make a Difference With Your Senators and Congressman, advises, "The ability to disagree without being disagreeable is perhaps the most effective of all political skills."
If you are a member of a group or association and your concerns are shared by other members, make that clear.
In initiating a dialogue, give your representative a chance to explain his or her point of view. You might also ask his or her source for information on the issues you are discussing. If you can recommend other sources, offer to send your representative sample copies.
Make a specific request. For example, you may ask your representative or senators to vote yes or no on a bill pending in Congress, to sponsor a sign-on letter, or to initiate a "Sense of Congress" resolution. (For sample sign-on letters or "Sense of Congress" resolutions, contact Randa Fahmy at (202) 842-1840.)
Always follow up your meeting with a hand-written note thanking your representative or the aide for taking time to meet with you.
Don't forget that there are other ways to meet your representative. For example, you may invite him or her to a community picnic, bazaar, or a reception at your home. If the representative already is persuaded to your point of view, a fund-raiser at your home is appropriate. It should be a reward, however, not an attempt to outbid a special interest in hopes of using cash to change the legislator's mind. If your representative is "for rent," you probably should be looking for a challenger who isn't.

When it comes to letters, senators and congress members receive thousands each month on a myriad of issues. Every office employs a platoon of staffers to open mail, sort letters, and draft responses. Their job is to inform the congress member of constituents' concerns. Effective letters, especially if they come from a significant number of individuals and address the same issue, may well persuade a congress member to change his or her vote.

Below are suggestions on how to write an effective letter. The advice was provided by Senator George Mitchell's staff aide, Diane Dewhurst; Senator J. Bennett Johnston's staff aide, Michael Babbin; Congressman Michael Oxley's administrative assistant, Jim Conzelman; and Congressman David Bonior's legislative assistant, Mark Koyanagi.

Take the time to write a thoughtful, legible letter. Staffers said that they take more time with letters from individual constituents than they do with form letters or postcards with identical messages.
Spell out your argument clearly and provide specific information. For example, if you oppose foreign aid without oversight to certain countries, specify the reasons for your opposition. If your letter is vague, your representative's response may not address your real concerns.
Follow up your letter with a telephone call and make it clear that you keep informed on how your representative has voted on the issues that concern you. Make it clear, too, that you are monitoring whether your representative takes money from political action committees (PACs) involved in your issue, and whether that is a significant factor in how you vote.
View communication with your representative as a long-term commitment.

For more information on persuading your congress member of your point of view, contact NAAA's lobbyist Randa Fahmy, tel. (202) 842-1840; the Council for the National Interest's Director of Research Laura Drake, tel. (202) 628-6962 or ADC s Director of Outreach Larry Ekin or Policy Analyst Joan Drake, tel. (202) 244-2990. Two helpful booklets from NAAA are: Citizen's Guide to Political Action and How to Make a Difference with Your Senators and Congressman.