HOW TO CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES: A how-to guide for the socially anxious and politically disengaged.

In this thread, I’m going to go over some basic info for calling your representatives in Congress including what number(s) to call, how to find contact info, and what to say.

FINDING YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:

To find your House representative, please visit this website and enter your zip code: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

(You may also have to enter your address if several members represent your zip code.)

To find your US Senators, visit this website and sort by state: https://www.senate.gov/senators/index.htm

WHAT NUMBER(S) TO CALL:

Your representatives may have several different offices include satellite offices in your state as well as a Washington DC office.

To connect directly to the Congressional switchboard, call 202-224-3121 and you will be directed to the proper avenue.

Call every office! If your Senators have satellite offices across your state, call them all. You don’t have to call just the city you live in or the one closest to you! You can even call Congresspeople who don’t represent you if their vote will have broader impact.

Calling the Washington DC office will likely be your best bet. Never send an email, as you will usually just wait a few days to get a generic letter back. Staffers often listen to voicemails every day and are supposed to relay the feelings of constituents to the representative.

You can use those links to find your reps to navigate to their contact page, where you will find all the phone numbers you can call to contact them. CALL THEM OFTEN. Remember, lots of people call representatives every day to voice support for issues you may not agree with.

It’s good to make your voice heard and your presence felt, and it’s best to do so in numbers—make your friends call every day. The calls only take a few minutes and you will RARELY talk to a real person instead of getting a voicemail. So don’t be too nervous.

If you do get a live staffer, they may ask your name and city and then ask for your message. BE. HONEST. WITH. THEM. It is their job. They work for YOU. Be brutal & unrelenting. Let them know that their boss has made a constituent angry. Politicians respond to electoral pressure.

WHAT TO SAY:

As previously mentioned, you can be as polite or as harsh as you want. If you get a voicemail, you may want to say “Hello, this is [name] from [city] and i’m calling to voice my opinion on [issue]” and then explain why you feel strongly enough to call.

You may not want to ramble on for too long, but definitely make your feelings known and let your rep know that you’re not alone in your feelings—and that you will be voting based on how they respond. Let them know you’re paying attention and your friends are paying attention too.

It’s a super simple process and it is the EASIEST way to partake in democracy. It’s your right to hold your reps accountable and, frankly, the best way to do it.

This doesn’t just apply to the opposite party, by the way. If you’re a Democrat and are disappointed in your Democrat Senator, CALL THEM. Tell them you’re disappointed and they may need to earn your vote if they want to keep their job.

Additionally, you can visit https://votesaveamerica.com/  to find more info about voting, contacting your reps, and how YOU can help save America.

Please RT if you found this valuable or know someone who might find this valuable, and remember—YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. Not the other way around.