Suppose you open the newspaper today and find that Congress is debating a new piece of legislation that will have a major impact on your life, one that would wreak economic catastrophe on your small family business and other businesses like it across the nation.
You might think to yourself, Perhaps Representative Knowsalot, who is sponsoring this bill, hasn’t considered the impact this will have on my industry. I really should contact him and explain our position.
So, like a good, responsible member of a democracy, you go to your computer, Google the website of the representative sponsoring this bill, and attempt to send him an e-mail.
And you find out you can’t.
You can easily contact your OWN Representative. But if you try to contact a Representative from another state, you will likely encounter a message like this:
XYZ District residents only: This webform is for XYZ residents only.
If you do not live in the XYZ district you can look up your own member online at the U.S. House of Representatives.
Of course, you could always send a letter to this representative through the regular mail, but you notice that they are debating this particular bill right now, and by the time your letter gets to him, the debate will be over.
You might think, Surely there is some workaround – another e-mail address I can use. And you might pick up the phone and actually take the time to call the Representative’s office asking how to contact him.
The conversation might sound something like this:
YOU: I’m wondering how to contact Representative Knowsalot about the legislation he is sponsoring.
SOMEWHAT-PRETENTIOUS INTERN: Do you live in the XYZ district?
YOU: No, but this legislation will have a direct impact on my business and on the industry nationwide.
SOMEWHAT-PRETENTIOUS INTERN: You need to contact your own Representative.
YOU: My own Representative isn’t writing this legislation. Representative Knowsalot is writing it. I feel like he needs to hear from the people he will be impacting.
SOMEWHAT-PRETENTIOUS INTERN: We don’t accept e-mail from out-of-district residents.
YOU: But you’re writing a law that will affect the entire nation.
SOMEWHAT-PRETENTIOUS INTERN: You need to contact your own Representative about this, ma’am.
YOU: Is there a way I can relay a comment by phone?
SOMEWHAT-PRETENTIOUS INTERN: You need to contact your own Representative, ma’am.
Google any Senator and Representative. You might find that some accept e-mails from out of their states or districts, but every single site will most likely include a message like this:
“Senator Gladtoserve is always eager to hear from all of her neighbors in HER STATE.
Because of the high volume of mail that Senator Gladtoserve receives, she regrets that she can only respond to HER STATE’S residents.”
Suddenly, you might have a new understanding of why Senators and Representatives seem so partisan, so hellbent on passing pork legislation that benefits only their state or district, so unable to look beyond the interests of their own constituents to the needs of the nation as a whole. It’s not only because they are most interested in the people who directly vote for them.
It’s also because they are only HEARING from the people who directly vote for them.
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Comments
I think the reason U.S. legislators don't care to hear from people in other states is because we don't vote for them, so in terms of getting reelected we don't really matter. (If a legislator has political ambitions beyond her/his state, however, it very much does matter.)
And that leads to an interesting question: why do we have state representatives at the national level at all, given how much closer states' economies and the national power of legislation have grown? This practice started as a way of making sure that the whole country, not just the most populous states/regions, were represented and part of nation-wide decision making, but it has devolved into lack of accountability to the rest of the country, regardless of where a representative is from. Does this mean we should have national elections for legislators? I don't think so, because that would be, pardon my French, a clusterfuck of epic proportions! So what's the answer? I don't know, and I'm excited to read other comments.
Awesome post, thanks for writing it. Rated.
Why remove the names and web site links? They're public anyway. I say put all the info in there and thus Out there for all to see.
Here's what I do (and I have to do this for my job, but also as a citizen I do it on my own): still contact your own Senator/Rep. Ask them to take the message forward for you. Or, ask them what committee is dealing with the bill and contact the committee. (Most have a way to submit public testimony.) Probably the most effective thing is to find out who the staff person is for the original, out-of-district Rep/Senator you want to reach. Maybe your own Rep/Senator's office can help with that and then work with that staffer. If they are staff assigned to the committee, like Senate Finance, they are less about the state and more about the committee they are assigned to.
Ultimately, I think if you can get your own Rep/Senator to carry the message for you, the better off you are.
peece!
dj
Wakingupslowly – good point about asking my Rep to carry the message. I was thinking in terms of getting them to vote up/down, but will think of that in the future.
Steve, I’m in Texas, I feel your pain!
Appreciate the comments everyone – it really does seem to me that every person should have the option of being heard on legislation that impacts them. Maybe set up general e-mail bank addressed to Congress as a group so at least they would get some exposure to national opinion?
I really don’t have knee jerk disrespect for members of Congress - I even refrained from using a hilarious picture at the top of the “hear no evil” monkey. But really – how ridiculous is it that when a bill directly affects your life, you don’t have an easy way to contact the person writing it?