Member of Congress welcome feedback from their constituents. Making appointments in Washington, DC or in local Congressional offices is one way to provide that feedback.

Congressional Offices

U.S. Senators and Representatives maintain offices in Washington DC and in their home states and allow their constituents to meet with them or their staff. A Congressional office will have a range of professionals who assist your Senator or Representative.

• Legislative Staff are professionals who cover specific policy areas. They have enormous expertise and can be highly influential with your member of Congress.
• Congressional interns handle mail and manage phone calls, attend briefings, write memos, draft constituent correspondence, and work with the state offices and assist with community outreach and constituents

Making an appointment

Find your members of Congress, their contact information and their offices at https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member and visit their websites.

Once you have identified who your legislators are, contact their office to schedule a meeting. There are a variety of issues to consider:

• Where do you want to meet in Washington or locally?
• If locally find out when they will be back in your district. You can check your senators’ and representative’s websites to find out when they are on recess and therefore back in their districts. It is easier for most to request a meeting with a lawmaker is when they are back home in the district.

Request a Meeting

There are several options available to requesting a meeting

• Most legislators’ websites include a “Request for Meeting” form that you can fill out online. Once completed send electronically for the person in charge of scheduling their appointments
• Call the office you wish to visit. You can also provide the completed form Including your information
• Send an email request for a meeting. If you are sending an email, it should contain the following:
  • Your name and address
  • The issues you wish to discuss
  • The local office you wish to visit
  • The date options when you can meet

Following Up With a Phone Call.

After a few days, follow up with a phone call to your legislator’s office. Ask for the person in charge of scheduling your lawmaker’s appointments.

• It is perfectly acceptable, and sometimes preferable, to be scheduled to meet with a member of your legislator’s staff as many times legislators are not available
• This is still a great opportunity! Legislators rely heavily on their aides to make decisions as aides are policy experts.
• Your meeting with a staff member can inform his/her recommendations to your legislator and build an important relationship with your lawmakers’ office.

A few days before your meeting, call your legislator’s local office to confirm your appointment. Provide the names of everyone attending the meeting so they will be prepared for just you or a group as meeting space can be limited.

Follow-Up with a Thank You

After your meeting, be sure to send a thank you note/email to your legislator and/or the staff member that you met with for taking the time to meet with you and/or your team.

• This is a good opportunity to restate the asks that you made in your meeting.
• This interaction will help you to start to build a relationship with the office staff and to provide a reminder about your requests.