Thread by @MatthewWolfff

Thread: Contacting your reps.

With so many calls to contact your reps on so many issues these days, it’s easy to be overwhelmed.

Here is a short primer on how to best contact them, and the most effective ways to go about doing that.

👉Calling your reps is best.

There are many ways to contact reps. Mail, email, social media and online petitions are supplementary, but staffers agree that calling is the best way to get attention. Other methods are often ignored, but calls must be answered.

👉Contact only your reps.

It can be tempting to contact reps who are not yours, especially leadership, but reps are only accountable to their own constituents. Those are the people who vote for them.

Remember, you have 2 Senators and 1 Congressman.

👉Know who your reps are, and their numbers.

With your zip code, you can find out who your reps are and their various numbers at 💻 CallYourRep.co

While they have DC offices, it’s better to call them at their District offices.

👉You can also call the Capitol Switchboard.

Once you know who your reps are, you can contact them at their Capitol offices.

☎️ 202-225-3121 (House)
☎️ 202-224-3121 (Senate)

Both get you through to either house, but call volume can be large. Good to know both numbers.

👉Be polite, and direct.

You want your call to be as short and direct as possible. When they ask you if you need a response, it’s best to say “no.” Gets you on their tally quickest.

You want to take up as little of the staffer’s time as you can, so they get to more calls.

👉Be prepared. Have a script.

“Hello, my name is Matthew Wolff. I live in New York, in 10001. I don’t need a response. I strongly support the Dreamers, and would like Senator Schumer to oppose any funding bill that doesn’t include protection for them. Thanks for your hard work.”

👉Call your State reps as well!

Democrats often ignore local issues and their State legislatures, and that has to change!

A simple google search will provide you with tools to find out who your State reps are, and their numbers. Learn about your reps and Governors.

👉Call as often as you can!

If you are in #TheResistance you should make a routine of calling your reps as often as you can.

Can you call once a week? How about more? Can you call every day?

Aside from getting out the vote, this is the most important thing for resisters to do.

👉Attend Town Hall meetings.

Find out when and where your reps have scheduled town hall meetings. You can find a schedule of events on their websites. This is likely the only way you will have to interact with them directly.

Town halls often have less than 50 in attendance!

👉Get the message out!

Tweet about important issues your followers should call their reps about. I always include the following:

☎️ 202-225-3121 (H)
☎️ 202-224-3121 (S)
💻 CallYourRep.co

Report on town halls you plan to attend, and what was discussed there.

IMPORTANT ISSUES WE SHOULD BE CALLING ABOUT:

Most important in the next couple of weeks is the #DREAMers.

On Feb 8, short term funding for the Gov runs out. This is likely the last chance we have to fulfill America’s promise and keep 800,000 Americans from being deported.

SENATE CRA TO PROTECT #NetNeutrality

We still need 1 more Republican Senator’s vote for @SenMarkey’s CRA to PASS the Senate. Assuming we can rely on @SenatorCollins support, @funder has a list of Republican Senators to concentrate on.

HOUSE CRA TO PROTECT #NetNeutrality

@USRepMikeDoyle ‘s CRA has 151 cosponsors, listed below. 👇

If we can rely on all Democrats to vote for it, we have 193 out of 215 needed. 15 Republicans already voted against their repeal of Broadband privacy rules. Can we get the other 10?

#ProtectMueller AT ALL COST

We all know that Trump tried to fire Mueller in June. Many Republicans have been calling for an end to the Special Investigation.

There are now MULTIPLE bills being held up to #ProtectMueller. Is your rep @SpeakerRyan or @SenateMajLdr?

Are there any other issues we should be calling our reps about? Reply here and tell us about them!