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How to Contact Government Officials

Sending letters

When writing to elected officials or government agencies, individual letters are preferable over a generic letter that you merely signed and dated. A government official may take your request more seriously if he or she sees all the time, effort and heart that you put into your own personal letter. This isn't to say that signed and dated generic letters aren't helpful - they definitely are - but if you have the time to write out a unique letter, it is well worth the extra effort.

Here are some specific tips:

• If you aren’t using a sample letter, state your reason for writing in the first paragraph. Stick with one subject or issue. Support your position in the body of the letter.
  
  
• Stick to one typewritten page, two pages at most. If hand-writing, take care to write legibly.
  
  
• Be factual and support your position with information about how the issue is likely to affect you and others.
  
  
• State the likely adverse effects of nuclear power, and suggest a better approach, like investing in energy efficiency measures that are more cost-effective.
  
  
• Ask what the recipient’s position is on nuclear power. This may open the door to future conversations about the issue.
  
  
• Ask the recipient to respond in writing to your concerns. Make sure to include your name and contact information.

Calling

Elected and agency officials may not keep track of all the issues people contact them about. But if enough calls about a particular topic come in, they start to notice. When calling government officials:

• Prepare your top three talking points and remarks using the enclosed information.
  
  
• Keep your comments concise.
  
  
• Insist on giving your name and address and phone number, ask the person to repeat the information to ensure that they wrote it down.
  
  
• Don’t be intimidated—government officials work for you.

Federal government contacts

United States Congress

Letters to your US Senators:

The Honorable (full name)
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator (last name):

Letters to your US Representatives:

The Honorable (full name)
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative (last name):

For email addresses go to these Websites: www.house.gov or www.senate.gov

Telephone: Call the Capitol switchboard toll-free at (877) 762-8762 and ask for your Senators and/or Representative by name.

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