Why August is a Great Time to Reach Out to Your Member of Congress
"A golden afternoon of August: every breath from the hills so full of life that it seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might revive."
Safe to say Emily Brontë wasn't writing about August in Washington, D.C.
However full of life the Hill might be, the weather could leave you wondering if you'd live to fight another day. And so it is that lawmakers leave D.C. this muggy month for the (usually) more agreeable temperatures of their districts and states.
It is also true that August recess serves as a legislative deadline; leadership can use it to force the hand of obstinate lawmakers holding up bills. Politicians have a special wrath for their peers who stand between them and their flight home. No one likes recess cancelled.
Which makes August recess, when lawmakers aren't up to their eyeballs in press avails and Committee hearings and floor votes, a terrific time for us to reach out.
Most Congressional offices breathe a little easier when the boss is back in the district. They don't have to prepare memos and talking points; sift through a flood of incoming emails, staff their boss in meetings or get work sprung on them after the boss got to chatting with another politician on the House or Senate floor.
Little inside baseball here: if an issue can't get resolved at the staff-level or if one politician's staff isn't responsive to another politician's staff, a Chief of Staff may charge the politician with finding the other politician on the floor during votes to hash it out.
So if there's an issue you care about, here's one approach I like for making our voice heard with one of our Members of Congress.
Step One: Get the Right Contact
- Call one of the politician's district offices, not the D.C. office. You're more likely to get a human being instead of voicemail.
- Ask that human being for the email address of the policy staffer who handles your issue.
- Be friendly and kind with the person you're speaking to. Not only is it the right thing to do, but folks answering phones in Congressional offices likely don't get that much and, like any of us, are more inclined to be helpful when treated with respect.
Step Two: Contact that Contact – Strategically!
- Start with a friendly hello that identifies you're a constituent.
"Ralph Bonamici here, a constituent from INSERT TOWN, and I'm grateful you'd take the time to read my note."
- Make one clear ask and add a short, district specific anecdote (with data, if possible) about why it matters to you.
"I'm writing to ask that the Senator support FY2025 level funding for the National Cancer Institute. I lost my mother to cancer, and too many Mainers are struggling with it. According to the American Cancer Society, Maine had 10,700 new cancer cases in 2024, and we rank 6th in the country for highest cancer rates."
3. Sign off with kindness. As we've hit on, it's a lovely thing to do. It also signals to the staffer that people who care about our issue are good, decent, and worth listening to.
Step Three: Remember that if you don't hear back, it doesn't mean it didn't make an impact
Organizer Saul Alinksy used to say that the action was in the reaction. Sometimes, though, we don't know the reaction. Staffers don't always directly respond. But a friendly, well-informed email can lodge in a staffer's memory and inspire them to share it with their boss. Or reconsider if not the issue itself, the people who advocate for it.
Should you find yourself wondering if your outreach is worth the bother, I can assure you that lobbyists and special interest always reach out. They never leave power on the table.
So by all means, send that note. A government shaped by special interest does not a healthy democracy make. But a government powered by people does.