An Essay by Representative Jeannette Rankin 1880-1973
The first lesson I learned in Congress was that the members of Congress are more concerned with their re-election than any issue that could come up – even WAR.
Re-election depends on votes, so anyone who can influence voters is of great importance to a Congressman. If you let your Representatives and Senators know you can influence more votes that your own, it will make a difference in their attitude – and in the attitude of the people in their offices who read the mail!
When I was campaigning in Butte, Montana, a little boy jumped up on the running board of my car and said, “There are five votes in my family.” He was after some campaign posters and buttons, and I gave him all he wanted.
The first thing he had done was get my attention, and you’ve got to do the same thing. It’s not so easy when you’re writing a letter, but it can be done. Find out something good about your Congressman, and begin your letter with genuine thanks and a compliment.
The next thing to do is ask him a question: “How much of our military budget goes into Southeast Asia?” “Do you support the direct preferential election of the President?” “Would multiple-member Congressional districts give better representation?” Ask a general question, and be sure to give your own opinion – he’s either not interested, or he’s heard it before – but ask for his opinion.
Your reply will be a short form letter, written by someone in the Congressman’s office. It will read something like this: “I was glad to get your letter and am glad to take your suggestions into consideration. I hope to hear from you again.”
Take him at his word – and write again! Thank him for his reply and apologize for taking up his valuable time. Tell him you know he must be conscious of the serious conditions in the country. And then say, “But you did not answer my question.”
The secret is, you don’t ask the question again, you just refer to it. The aid or secretary will have to look it up by finding your first letter. You still won’t get a definite answer to your question, but this time the reply will be a longer form letter.
Be patient, keep your temper, and write again. Thank him for the reply, apologize for disturbing him, and add that he still has not answered your question.
Even at the point, your Congressman may not see your letter. But keep it up and eventually your persistence will be brought to his attention. After you’ve written five or six letters, you’ll get a personal, handwritten reply from him.
You have convinced him you’re a worker and cannot be ignored, and he’ll be interested in you, because he thinks you might work for him. But you should also convince him that you can influence or control more votes than your own. Remember that little boy in Butte, Montana? He told me there were five votes in his family, so I gave him all the buttons he wanted.
The way to do this with your Congressman is to write him on the stationery of some group or organization. If you don’t have a club, form one. It’s best to have the name of your community in the title and to make it non-partisan. In Watkinsville, Georgia, we organized a group and named ourselves “Oconee County Citizens for a Participatory Democracy”.
Get your neighbors involved, elect officers and heads of committees (such as the Membership Committee), and list these names on your letterhead. You can easily list six or eight names, including some prominent people in your area. In this way, your Congressman will know you’re not alone, and he will also know that a little effort and a single letter on his part may influence a number of votes.
Always write the most polite and honest letter you can. Your patience and persistence are necessary to “break the ice” and open the channels of communication. After this he will pay more attention to your letters. And perhaps he’ll even become interested in your opinions.
Another suggestion for getting action from your Congressman is to get your group together and divide the charges on a person-to-person telephone call. Tell him you’re at a party, discussing whether we should get out of the Vietnam War, and you decided to call and ask his opinion. Don’t tell him what you think, but use this opportunity to draw him put. And then write a letter, mentioning the call and occasion, and thanking him for his consideration.
Whenever you are planning a meeting of your organization, write and invite him to come and speak to the group or send someone to represent him. If you are having a dinner or luncheon or tea, list your Congressman as an invited guest – and keep your local newspapers informed of your activities and guest list!
You don’t have to worry too much about his coming, because he probably won’t make it. But write and tell him you missed him and that you hope he will be able to come next time. After a while, you may arrange a meeting when you know he’s going to be in town. And if he does come, be prepared for him!
Give the relationship time to grow. At first, your Representatives and Senators will not be at all interested in what you think. But your insistence on getting answers to your questions will get their attention, and your use of letterhead stationery, phone calls, and invitations will convince them that you must be reckoned with because you influence votes.
Keep your Congressmen informed of activities in the community without giving a clue to your own thinking on public issues. You will be doing them a service, and when they realize this, they may begin asking for your ideas and suggestions.
Always treat your Congressmen as members of your family, because they represent you, and you are responsible for them.