{"id":27730,"date":"2017-06-07T13:40:40","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T13:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/\/?page_id=27730"},"modified":"2017-06-22T19:37:50","modified_gmt":"2017-06-22T19:37:50","slug":"contact-your-representatives","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/contact-your-representatives\/","title":{"rendered":"Contact Your Representatives"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter \" src=\"https:\/\/nationalgrange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/usrepsearch.jpg\" width=\"678\" height=\"147\" \/>Find Your Representatives<\/h3>\n<p>If you aren\u2019t sure who your elected officials are, we\u2019re here to help. Simply enter your zip-code below, and our site will let you know exactly who represents your state and district.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.senate.gov\/general\/contact_information\/senators_cfm.cfm\">U.S. Senators<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; Get contact information for your Senators in the U.S. Senate.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.house.gov\/representatives\/\">U.S. Representatives<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; Find the website and contact information for your Representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Meet With Your Representatives<\/h3>\n<p>Meeting with your elected officials is more than just a way to try and explain your opinions- it\u2019s a cornerstone of American life. If you have the opportunity to travel to your state capital or Washington, D.C., the Grange encourages you to reach out and request a meeting with elected officials. This is all easier said than done, however, and it can be a bit difficult to even know where to start.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing you\u2019ll need to do is find who you wish to meet with and what their office email address and phone number are. This can be found via a quick internet search, as most elected officials will have official web pages or facebook pages that has this information public posted. Alternatively, you can follow these links to find your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/senators\/contact\/\">Senators<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.house.gov\/representatives\/\">Representatives<\/a>. Once you\u2019ve found their contact information and decide you\u2019d like to meet, there are some important questions to think about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When should you reach out to schedule?<\/strong> Three weeks or so is the golden window on the hill, and that\u2019s about how early you should first contact the official you want to meet with. Any sooner than three weeks before you want to meet and you run the risk of getting \u2018elbowed out\u2019 in favor of other last minute meetings. Any later than that and you risk reaching out to a representative with a schedule that\u2019s already filled up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>What should I write? <\/strong>Remember to keep your emails and requests concise and clear. Schedulers often get hundreds of emails a day, so it\u2019s important that yours can be read quickly. Be sure to include your name, where you\u2019re from, and what issue you want to talk about with them. It isn\u2019t completely necessary to put your viewpoint or argument in the email- you\u2019ll be able to tell them exactly how you feel when you email them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Should I call them instead? <\/strong>If you\u2019d like, that\u2019s also a fine option. The same rules for calling apply to writing- being clear, concise, polite, and prepared is always a good way to stand above the crowd.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What if I can\u2019t meet with them? <\/strong>As frustrating as it may be, it isn\u2019t uncommon to have to meet with a legislative aide instead of the legislator themselves. If the legislator is busy and unable to meet at a time that works for you, the scheduler will often ask if you\u2019d like to meet with an aide who works with the topics that interest you (which is why telling them what you\u2019d like to talk about in your scheduling call or email is so important). Legislative aides are a core component of the congressional fleet, as they often have the responsibility of reading and explaining bills to legislators, developing and researching policies in their area of expertise, and communicating with those groups closest to their field.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Can I just drop in? <\/strong>On a federal level, you can certainly try it. There\u2019s no guarantee that there will be anyone available in the office, however, so it\u2019s still best to call ahead to schedule something. State capitols may vary on policy, however, so it\u2019s important to research the policies of your specific state\u2019s officials before you try a \u2018drop-in\u2019 appointment on a more local level.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What should I bring? <\/strong>That depends upon what you\u2019d like to get out of the meeting. If you just want to introduce yourself to your legislator and meet them in person, it isn\u2019t necessary to go too overboard in preparations. Oftentimes, \u2018meet and greet\u2019 appointments move very quickly. If you have contacted them about a specific issue, however, it\u2019s important to come prepared to explain your side of the debate and is a good idea to have some notes available. A \u2018leave behind\u2019 is a flyer that summarizes your position and what you stand for- they shouldn\u2019t be longer than a page and should contain an overview of facts and figures that support your side. The Grange has many leave-behind materials that we have produced over the years. \u2018Leave-behinds\u2019 are a good way to make sure that they keep thinking about what you\u2019ve said even after you\u2019ve left.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Extra notes on \u2018Leave Behinds\u2019: <\/strong>If you decide to compose your own \u2018leave-behind\u2019 materials for your issue, keep a few crucial things in mind. They should never be more than one page and ideally should be no longer than one side of one page. Any complicated ideas or acronyms should be spelled out. Remember, there\u2019s a reasonable chance that the person you\u2019re talking to won\u2019t know as much about the issue as you. Keep things as concise, clear, and simple to understand as possible. Don\u2019t be afraid to furnish the \u2018leave-behind\u2019 with hard facts, figures, dates, sources, and other information that you might not have the time to convey in your conversation. The paper should be something they can return to when they\u2019re considering what you\u2019ve said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Other General Advice: <\/strong>Go into your meeting confidently and act naturally. Everyone inside the Beltway is trying to do their job, whether you approve of how they go about it or not, and the best way to be sure that your message rings loud and clear is to be natural, concise, and prepared. A well sourced argument, a friendly handshake, and a memorable \u2018leave-behind\u2019 will always leave more of an impression than a heated argument. Enjoy this most sacred of American rites, fellow Granger, and be sure to take a picture in their office!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Find Your Representatives If you aren\u2019t sure who your elected officials are, we\u2019re here to help. Simply enter your zip-code below, and our site will let you know exactly who represents your state and district. U.S. Senators\u00a0&#8211; Get contact information for your Senators in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Representatives\u00a0&#8211; Find the website and contact information &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/contact-your-representatives\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Contact Your Representatives&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27730","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Contact Your Representatives - The National Grange<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vps70863.inmotionhosting.com\/~nationalgrange\/contact-your-representatives\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Contact Your Representatives - The National Grange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Find Your Representatives If you aren\u2019t sure who your elected officials are, we\u2019re here to help. 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