SORROW  TO STRENGTH

How to meet with your congressperson and have your views heard

When to start: You will want to begin calling (or faxing ) Congressional offices at least 2 weeks prior to your arrival in D.C.

How to start: It is customary to send a letter first, identifying yourself as a truck crash survivor and requesting a meeting with the Member to discuss a specific truck safety issue. State that you will follow-up with a phone call later. You will be surprised, some offices may call you back immediately while others may never call you back! Fax your request rather than using the mail if possible as it will speed-up the process. We do not recommend using e-mail to schedule meetings.

If they call you back: They (probably the Scheduler) will list available times for you to meet with either the Member or if the Member is completely unavailable at that time, with the Transportation Aide. If the Scheduler does not suggest this - be ready to request it!

If they don't call you back after your initial letter/fax be prepared to call the office and ask to speak with the Scheduler. Tell them that you are following up on a request that you previously faxed or mailed to their office a week (or a few days) ago and that you would like to set up an appointment with the Member or his/her Transportation Aide.

When leaving a voice mail message, make it brief, but indicate some time slots that you are available on particular days so that the Scheduler can check availability before calling you back.

If you are not sending a letter ahead of time and prefer to call: that's fine. It may be easier and faster for you to arrange it that way. However, some offices may still require a letter or faxed request ahead of time.

Important!  If you are a constituent of a particular Member be sure to state this in your written request, as well as on the phone. This will provide extra incentive to get you a meeting with the Member. If you are not a constituent, some offices will be slightly less accommodating but it is OK to be persistent!

Tips on Scheduling your appointments:

You may also want to try scheduling your meetings by office building so you don't have to run between buildings to make meetings within a short amount of time.

Once you have set a time and day with the scheduler, confirm their building and room number as well as the name of the staff person you will be meeting with.

If you are unable to set-up meetings before the conference, you can still try to schedule a meeting while you are at the conference - just be sure to let them know where you are staying and a phone number where you can be reached while you are in D.C. Often meetings are made at the last minute because the staff person or Member may have a last minute opening in their schedule.

If you are still unable to set up a meeting you can always "drop by" the office and leave materials with the person at the front desk. Be sure to leave your name and contact information for the staffer to follow-up with you and also ask the person at the front desk for the staffer's business card so that you can follow-up with them.

Questions, Problems, Assistance: We will attempt to follow-up with you before the conference to see how the process is going, however, feel free to contact Cathy Chase in the Truck Safety Coalition with your questions. We are here to help!

Survivors Network members' meetings with Members of Congress and staff are the most powerful and persuasive tool we have to advocate for stronger truck safety!