Do it yourself

Thursday, February 19, 2009

If you think writing to a representative involves a stamp, you have been politically inactive for far too long. Molly Sailors, student senator, says voting is only a step toward action. To be politically active, you must take that next step in reminding elected officials of who they represent.

To e-mail your U.S. representatives, go to http://writerep.house.gov. This site will direct you to a representative’s contact page, which should have a link to his or her e-mail.

Contributed Photo

Yes YOU Can: Take political matters into your own hands by e-mailing your representatives.

To e-mail either of your two U.S. senators, go to www.senate.gov and click on senators. The senators are listed in alphabetical order by last name. Select a senator, and then look for the contact link.

Sailors is familiar with the process. She most recently wrote to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas). She now takes a class in social welfare that covers how to write to representatives. Her tips for sending a more effective message are to be brief (a couple of paragraphs), clear (use no abbreviations), polite and specific (cite an actual bill). Above all, she says, state support or opposition for an issue in the first sentence.

Feel too uninformed to write? To contact representatives and get informed all in one step, sign up for “Congress.org To Go.” The website www.congress.org/congressorg/megavote allows you to sign up for alerts about upcoming votes and provides its own links for sending e-mails to the representatives.

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