Write a Letter to Your United States Senator

Each state has two senators. Your senators vote on bills and approve or reject the President’s cabinet and Supreme Court nominees. To write your Senator, you should find their address and spend some time thinking about what you want to say. Remember to keep your letter as brief as possible and to check grammar and spelling. Although you might intend to send your letter through the mail, you should consider faxing it instead. Faxes will arrive faster than regular mail.

Steps

Planning Your Letter

  1. Identify why you are writing your Senator. There are many reasons why you might contact your Senator. However, most people write because they want to share their opinion on something. For example, many constituents write their representatives for the following reasons:
    • You want them to vote yes or no on a bill under consideration in the Senate.
    • You want them to introduce a bill or hold hearings on a topic.
    • You want them to approve or vote against the President’s appointees to the Supreme Court or cabinet.
  2. Do some research. You will appear credible if you can speak confidently and accurately about an issue. If possible, you should find facts or statistics that you can cite in the letter. Remember to write down your sources, because you will want to list them in the letter.[1] You should also know the name and number of the bill you are writing about.
    • A good place to start with research is to do a basic Internet search. Spend an hour or so getting a general feel for the issue.
    • If you need help, you can visit your local library and ask a librarian.
    • Not all sources are the same. You want to use unbiased sources, such as government reports. University websites are another good source of credible information.
  3. Find your Senator’s address. Visit this website: https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?OrderBy=state. You can search by state if you don’t know your Senator’s name.
    • To get your Senator’s email address or fax number, click on their name. You will be taken to their website, which should contain this information.

Drafting Your Letter

  1. Format your document. You should type the letter instead of writing it in longhand. Open a blank word processing document and set the font to something readable, such as Times New Roman or Arial.[1] Set the font to 12 point size.
    • Use block-style paragraphing, which looks more professional. With block style, you don’t indent for each paragraph. Instead, you put a blank line between each paragraph.
  2. Insert the date. You should put the date in the upper left-hand corner. Write out the month, e.g., “January 12, 2017.”
  3. Add your Senator’s address. Move down two lines and insert your Senator’s name and address. You should spell out your Senator’s full name in the address block. For example, “Honorable Susan Collins.”
    • You have the option of putting a bolded title after the Senator’s address. The title would be centered between the left-and right-hand margins. For example, you could write “Re: Neil Gorsuch Nomination to the Supreme Court.” A title might be helpful if your letter is very lengthy. Otherwise, you won’t need one.
  4. Type your salutation. Move down two more lines and insert your salutation: “Dear Senator” is standard.[1] You could also write “Dear Senator Collins.” Put a colon after the name.
  5. Explain why you are writing. In the first paragraph, explicitly state why you are writing to your Senator. You can also introduce yourself, especially if your job is related to why you are writing.
    • For example, you can write: “I am writing to urge you to vote against Judge Neil Gorsuch, who is President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. I do not believe he respects the role our judiciary plays in protecting civil liberties. For that reason, he could imperil freedoms all Americans cherish.”
    • Alternately, you could write, “I am a lawyer in southern Maine. I am writing to encourage you to support Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court. As a practicing attorney, I had the pleasure of meeting Judge Gorsuch at an ABA conference a couple years ago and was immediately impressed with his integrity and intelligence.”
  6. Support your opinion. Usually, you will write a letter to ask your Senator to vote a certain way. In the second paragraph, explain why. Remember to maintain a professional tone and avoid profanity or displays of anger.[1] Mention specifics, if possible.
    • For example, you could write: “I believe Judge Gorsuch is the wrong choice for the Supreme Court. The more I have read about Judge Gorsuch, the more worried I am that he will overturn long-standing precedents in the Supreme Court, involving such issues as freedom of speech and protections for criminal defendants. These civil liberties are the cornerstone of a functioning democracy.”
    • Avoid relying on arguments made in a form letter. For example, you might belong to a reproductive rights group, which sends out a form letter telling you what to say and what sources to cite. You should make your own argument.
    • You can use more than one paragraph to make your argument, if necessary. However, try to keep your letter to one page.
  7. Add personal details. Another good idea is to explain how the issue will touch you personally.[1] For example, if the Senate is considering a farm bill, you can explain how not passing the bill will affect your family farm.
    • You don’t need a sob story. Instead, you need a few personal details that let your Senator know how their vote will have real-world consequences.
  8. Thank your Senator for their time. In the final paragraph, you want to thank them for reading your letter and considering your viewpoint. Also reiterate that the issue is important to you.
    • Sample language might read: “Thank you for hearing my point of view on the Gorsuch nomination. The Supreme Court is a critical institution, and I hope you will vote against his nomination to maintain the independence of the judicial branch.”
  9. Include a signature block. You should type “Sincerely,” and then leave four lines of blank space. You will put your name, address, phone number, and email address in a block.[2]
    • Remember to sign in the blank space using a dark ink pen.

Editing and Sending Your Letter

  1. Revise your letter. Put your letter aside for a day or so and look at it with fresh eyes. Does your letter make sense? Have you said something in an unclear manner? If so, tinker with your sentences and paragraphs so that you are clearer.
    • Also revise to make the letter as brief as possible.[1] People are very busy. You might be able to combine sentences or paragraphs. Cut any unnecessary words.
  2. Edit the letter. Typos, missing words, and other errors will reduce your credibility. Read over the letter to find these errors before sending. You can edit your letter by doing the following:[1]
    • Ask another person to read the letter to find mistakes.
    • Read the letter backwards. Start with the final sentence. Read it and then move to the sentence before. In this way, you’ll focus carefully on each sentence and find any errors.
    • Read the letter out loud. Our eyes tend to correct errors when we read silently to ourselves. By reading out loud, you might stumble over an error.
  3. Send the letter. Make a copy of the letter for your records. You can mail the original letter using regular mail. However, you may want to use certified mail, return receipt requested. The receipt will serve as proof that it was delivered.
    • You might want to email or fax the letter instead. If time is of the essence, fax the letter instead of mailing it or sending an email.[1] Regular snail mail will take too long, and Senator’s in-boxes are usually flooded with emails. Remember to include a cover sheet with your fax.
  4. Read your response. Often, Senators won’t respond to letters. However, when they do, they send standardized responses. Don’t be offended.[1]
    • Remember to check if your Senator voted how you wanted. If they did, send a quick email thanking them. Senators usually receive nothing but negative mail from their constituents. They will appreciate a positive response.


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Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 http://bebusinessed.com/congress-fax-numbers/
  2. ↑ http://www.altaread.org/letter-senator.asp
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