Supporting History at the Federal Level

Ready to contact your Congressional representatives? Use the website Plural to identify your representatives and access their contact information.

When contacting your members of Congress, consider the following:

• Your message may determine the most effective medium. The most effective method for reaching elected officials likely depends on what you have to say and the profile of the policy in question.
  • In-person visits by constituents can be especially effective. Schedule a meeting with your Congressional representatives in their DC or district office.
  • Phone calls and video messages are generally more effective than letters or emails. Congressional offices take notes of the content of the calls and details about the callers, and staffers often find conversations more memorable. Emails and letters will be similarly marked down in a file, but they are easier to ignore.
  • Coordinate with others in your community to amplify your message. Let your network know that you’re writing to your legislator and why, and encourage them to share their thoughts and concerns with their representatives too.
• Focus on your own representatives. As email filtering systems get more sophisticated, they may filter out emails from nonconstituents. If you are emailing a representative in whose district you do not reside (perhaps because they serve on a committee relevant to the issue at hand), your message may be automatically disregarded. A paper letter would at least have to be manually reviewed by a staffer before it can be filed as being from a nonconstituent.
• Learn about your Congressional representatives before contacting them. Check if they serve on Congressional committees that are relevant to the issue you wish to discuss.
  • House of Representatives Directory
  • House Appropriations Committee
  • House Education and Workforce Committee
  • House Foreign Affairs Committee
  • United States Senate Directory
  • Senate Appropriations Committee
  • Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee
• Highlight a personal connection your representative may share with the issue. For example, if you’re advocating for funding for international education, find out if they have study abroad experience, such as a Fulbright or Rhodes scholarship, to use as a point of connection. Research what they studied in school; if they studied history or a related field, that could be another point of connection.
• Reach out often. Elected officials tend to defer to the preferences of more active constituencies, both because they have made their concerns known and because they have demonstrated investment in the outcome of policy decisions. Congressional representatives have offices located in their state/district and in DC; contacting both offices may prove useful, especially for issues that directly impact your home district.
• Share your affiliation, if you’re comfortable doing so. Your institution could be another potential connection point.
• Use your title when introducing yourself, if appropriate. Staffers tend to respect titles, including academic titles like “professor” or “dean” or organizational titles like “director” or “president.”