Make Sure Your Reps in Congress Hear You
Ideas for making sure GOOD legislation passes and BAD legislation dies
Corporations and the ultra-wealthy are controlling our Congress by funding their campaigns and using high-paid lobbyists: writing legislation, pressuring your reps in the Senate and House to sponsor it, and ushering it through Congress. But there are more of us. We don’t have to stay unfocused and disorganized. We can CHANGE THE CONVERSATION to the solutions, and make sure they hear us. Just as urgently, we have to unite at the state level to remove the obstacles to voting out incumbents who don’t work for us.
A little Civics Reminder:
Supervising your reps in the U.S. House and Senate
Share information with your networking powers, and create ways to make this process faster and easier. For example, one person tracks a certain bill and sends action alerts to the group so they can send testimony for or against the bill, before the deadline.
This important both for your state legislators and the US Congress. See links at the bottom for more how-to info.
- Someone (maybe you!) writes a draft bill that will address a problem. It should be vetted by knowledgeable people for effectiveness. It’s by far the best if the bill is presented to the representative by a coalition of supporters, and reflects a consensus opinion. For example, most people want term limits for Supreme Court justices. That’s a good bill.
- For a GOOD bill: Many people from different states (1) tell everyone they know about the bill, and (2) ask them to email or call their representatives (find your reps at GovTrack.us) and ask them to support the bill: to sponsor it, get it heard in committee, and get it passed by the full House and Senate. Bills that make major changes need a LOT of support from the people. See how to track legislation below.
- For a BAD bill: Many people from different states (1) tell everyone they know about the bill, and (2) email or call their representatives (find your reps at GovTrack.us) and ask them to OPPOSE the bill: to prevent it from being introduced or passed by committee. If it passes committee, we can then oppose its passage by the full House and Senate. Bad bills that get awarded a committee hearing need a LOT of opposition from the people. See next steps to track such bills and submit testimony in opposition.
- Get familiar with legislation tracking sites, like the excellent GovTrack.us, and Congress.gov. Look for legislative bills about things you are interested in, who sponsored the bill, any committees it was referred to, and current status.
- If a bill gets a committee hearing, write SHORT testimony and submit it to the committee chair. Long testimony doesn’t get read; nobody has time. So get right to the point. Use a subject line and first words that say either “I SUPPORT” or “I OPPOSE” this bill. Make sure to include the bill number and the bill title. Be aware that slick people who write unpopular bills may use convoluted language so that testimony against something is actually for the unpopular action, etc. Fortunately, activists are on to that trick, and a little searching can help when the language gets really twisted.
- Keep track of how your House and Senate representatives vote on bills that impact the public interest. This information is called Roll Call Votes and you can find links to both the federal House and Senate roll call vote pages here. If they aren’t voting in your best interests, VOTE IN SOMEONE ELSE at the earliest opportunity.
- Get familiar with your state legislature’s website. Each state’s official .gov site has the same tools as the federal site: you can track bills and find out where to send testimony for or against. State legislation matters! You can also attend most state legislative hearings and give testimony in person. See your state’s legislature site for information about how.
A supervisor doesn’t leave staff to figure things out on their own. Be a good boss—communicate with your reps so they know what their tasks are!!!
Last updated 4/27/2025