In the last few months, we showed Congress just how powerful our voices are. Now that we have their attention, it’s important that we keep speaking out on issues that affect us – whether it’s healthcare, education, or another policy issue. Right now, our Senators and Representatives are in their home states on a recess until the end of August. This is a great time to show them that the people they represent care about disability rights – and they should too.
Here’s what you can do:
- Attend a public event. Your Members of Congress might be holding town hall meetings or other public events. To find out if there’s a town hall or other public event coming up near you, visit TownHallProject.com and type in your zip code. You might also consider finding out whether you can sign up to speak beforehand to ensure that your voice is heard.
- Set up a meeting. Face-to-face meetings have the biggest impact on Members of Congress and their staff. To find your Members of Congress’ local offices and make an appointment, visit ContactingCongress.org and type in your ZIP code. Under the contact information for each Representative or Senator, there is a list of their local offices.You can go by yourself, or go with a group.
You can use this script to set up your meeting:
Script for setting up meetings
“My name is [Your Name] and I am a constituent of [Representative/Senator] [Name]. I would like to meet with the [Representative/Senator] or their staff during Congressional recess, to talk about [name one or two issues that matter to you]. Can we set up a time?”