A "How To" Guide from
safe minds, national autism association, Defeat Autism Now!

Advocacy 101: The Ins and Outs of Scheduling and Attending a Successful Congressional Visit

Prepared for families and individuals attending the
Defeat Autism Now! Conference, April 20-21, 2007

Introduction

One of the best ways to raise awareness about issues you care about or that affect your community is by meeting and connecting with national and local public policy makers - or in this case, those individuals who are directly responsible for creating rules and regulations about our country's public health system.

Scheduling a meeting with the actual representative is sometimes difficult as schedules can be incredibly hectic when Congress is in session. However, if the representative is not available at the time you plan to visit Washington, keep in mind that it's also useful to schedule visits when the representative may be at home (during winter recess and in late summer). Further, though the representative may not be available at the time of your Washington trip, every member has a staff of experts to keep them well informed on different issues.

If your representative is not available, you will want to meet with his or her Health Legislative Assistant (LA). Meeting with the Health LA will allow you to build an important relationship and will provide the opportunity to make the "critical ask" of your Member of Congress - to take a significant leadership role in securing further funding for research on autism and in removing and prohibiting thimerosal from all future vaccines.

Scheduling a Successful Meeting

The best way to secure a meeting with your Member of Congress or the Health LA is by placing a direct phone call to their office. You can find information on who represents you in your state and district at www.congress.gov. As soon as you know the exact dates for your trip to Washington, DC, you should try to schedule the visit (two to three weeks in advance of the trip is usually an adequate amount of time for scheduling the visit).

Step 1: Preparing to Make the Call

Once you determine who represents you in the House and Senate, do a little "community research" on those Members to determine if you have any kind of personal or professional connection to any of them. For example:

Have you, your family or friends donated to his or her campaign?
Do you, your family or friends have any personal connection to your Member?
Do you, your family or friends know someone who works for your Member?
Do you go to the same church?

If you have a personal connection to your representative, you will have a tremendous advantage by asking that person to help you make an appointment.

Once you determine if you have a personal connection, make sure you have all the information you need to request the meeting. Before making the phone call, write down a list of responses to the following questions that are likely to be asked:

Why do you want to meet with the representative or Health LA?
Who are you representing? Yourself and your family? A larger organization? A coalition of organizations? Are you working with other local and national groups?
Are you in Washington for a specific event? (In this case, having information about the Defeat Autism Now! conference will be important.)
When do you want to meet with the representative or Health LA? Have specific dates, not a general time period.
If you plan on meeting with your representatives in both the House and the Senate, make sure you schedule your Senate meetings close together and your House meetings at a separate time. This will prevent you from having to travel back and forth from the House and Senate side of the Capitol. Make sure to allow at least 30 minutes between each meeting to allow enough time to get around.

Step 2: Making the Appointment

As mentioned previously, a representative's schedule can be hectic (as can the schedule of their Health LA), BUT you should remember that first and foremost, they are here to serve their constituents and meeting with their constituents is a key part of their job. Thus, it should not be a problem to make an appointment, but please keep their hectic schedule in mind and be well prepared for a brief conversation (expect it to last no more than five minutes). Remember: the goal of the call is to make an appointment to discuss the issue-the call is not the time to actually discuss the issue.

Call the office you plan to visit and ask to speak to the Health LA.
Tell the Health LA who you are, where you are from, and briefly describe your organization or the issue you represent (one to two sentences). Then request a meeting with the representative and the Health LA. The more specific you are when describing what you wish to speak to him or her about, the better.
If you get voicemail leave a message with this information with your phone number and email.
If the Health LA informs you that the representative is not available during that time, ask the Health LA for an appointment with him or her alone. If the Health LA can't make an appointment during the call, ask him or her to call you at a more convenient time or to email you.
Remember to thank the LA for their time.
If you left a voicemail or the Health LA was supposed to return your call and you don't hear back within a week, follow up with an email and a phone call.
The day before your meeting, call the representative's office to confirm the meeting time and ask for specific directions to the office. The Senate and House buildings are large and many have had a difficult time finding their way around!

Step 3: Following Up

After the call has ended and you've scheduled an appointment, remember to send a thank you letter to the Health LA and/or the representative's scheduler if he or she was involved. This step is important in that it shows you appreciate your Member of Congress making time for you and your concerns. The thank you should be in letter form and sent directly to the representative's office. The letter should include:

Brief information about the group/organization you will represent (2-3 sentences)
Brief information about you (and your child) and why this meeting is important to you and your organization (2-3 sentences)
Conclude with a brief summary of your itinerary (i.e. the exact date, time, and location you will see them), your expectations for the meeting, and a sincere thank you for making this visit possible (3-4 sentences).

Preparing for the Meeting

Once you have scheduled the meeting, preparing well in advance for your time with the representative and/or Health LA will ensure that the meeting is productive. Above all else, do your homework and have talking points going into the meeting (we have included a list of suggested talking points in Appendix A of this guide).

You should also be aware of your representative's position on your issue and you should have a specific goal in mind for the meeting. What do you want from your representative? It is important to have one specific "ASK"- don't overwhelm them with multiple requests and issues. Do you want your representative to send a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Do you want your Member to sponsor a briefing? Be realistic in your ask-if your Member is new to your issue or has never expressed an interest in your issue, it is unlikely that he or she will sponsor new legislation.

To prepare for your meeting you should follow the proceeding steps.

Step 1: Know Your Representative

Make sure that you have background information on your representative. For example:

What are their positions on key issues related to your visit?
On what committees does your representative serve? Do they serve on the Appropriations Committee (which allocates federal dollars for each government agency) and more importantly, do they serve on the health subcommittee that allocates dollars for the health agencies like CDC and NIH? Do they serve on the Budget Committee which decides the total dollar amount each agency can spend? Do they serve on the House Energy & Commerce Committee or the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which have oversight responsibility for all the health agencies?
How have they voted in the past? You can find this information at the website of Project Vote Smart http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm
What are their political views? What issues matter to them most?
Remember "All Politics is Local." Stress the importance of your issue at the state and local level. How does your issue affect the constituents in your state and district? What is the prevalence of autism in your district and state?
In addition, if your group has a large membership number at the state or district level, make sure to emphasize this point; members equal voters and winning future elections is always in the Representative's interest.

Step 2: Organizing Your Group

If traveling as the representative of an organization or group, remember that the group attending the visit should remain small and ideally no more than five people. Congressional offices and meeting rooms are not usually very large, so you don't want to overwhelm the office. A group spokesperson should also be chosen to lead the discussion and keep the group's message on track.

Step 3: Organizing Your Presentation and Talking Points

Use the suggested talking points included or prepare other talking points to keep your meeting focused and to the point. When developing your talking points, be sure to think about those things that are of utmost importance and which you want brought to your Congressperson's attention. Meetings are usually 20-30 minutes, so your presentation or planned talking points should not be longer than 20 minutes to allow time for questions.

For a truly successful meeting to take place, the following tactics should also be employed:

Decide on your one ASK for each meeting.
Develop your message for the ASK and limit yourself to three key points that need to be made; more than that and you may lose focus.
Decide who in your group will share their personal story about how autism affects their life. The personal story is important to show just how this issue affects their constituents, but remember to keep an eye on the time and limit this part of the discussion in order to make sure you have time to share other information and to make your ASK.
Bring a notepad to take notes on points that are discussed, as well as a digital camera to take pictures with your representative (see more about how pictures can be used to generate coverage in the "Securing Media Coverage" section in Appendix B).
Make sure you practice your presentation and can deliver it in 20 minutes.
Finally, prepare an information packet that includes copies of your organization's brochures, fact sheets, articles or other collateral information. This packet should be left with every Member or Health LA you meet in Washington as it will help them reference your visit later when talking with others about the visit.

Attending the Meeting

The following points are just a few things to keep in mind once you're actually in the meeting:

Thank the representative and/or the Health LA for their time and introduce yourself and other members of your group.
Begin the conversation by sharing the personal story mentioned previously.
Remember that only one person should share his or her story. Sharing this personal information will help grab the Member's and the LA's attention and will give you and your group credibility.
Present your three key talking points and your ASK. Explain why this ASK is important to you, your community and your organization (if you represent one).
If the Health LA responds positively to your ASK, thank them and ask how you can best follow up with them.
If the Health LA doesn't respond positively to your ASK, ask them what additional information they may need and how they might become more willing to engage on your issue.
Ask the Health LA if they have any additional questions.
Thank them for their time and promise to follow up.

Following Up

Remember that meeting with your representative and his or her staff is really just the first step in developing a positive, ongoing relationship. Once you return from Washington, send everyone you met a thank you note that summarizes your meeting and outlines any action steps that were promised or requested in that meeting. Maintain your relationship by adding the representative and his staff to your group's mailing list and be sure to send them relevant studies and articles as they become available. Finally, always make an effort to attend town hall meetings and/or fundraisers for your representative.

APPENDIX B: Bills we are working on now include:

Combating Autism Act Appropriations Bill
The Autism Services Bill
Compounding Pharmacy Bill
HR 881 - Mercury Free Medicines Bill
Vaccine Safety Bill
DOD Appropriations Bill

APPENDIX B: Securing Media Coverage for the Visit

While the purpose of your visit is first and foremost to inform your representative about autism, this meeting may also provide a way to raise visibility for the issue via your local newspaper or radio program. Securing such coverage is important in that your representative and his or her staff pay close attention to the media in your home state or district. Additionally, such coverage often encourages other people in the area to learn more about the issue and to find out how they can get involved, take action, etc.

It is important to keep in mind that the media will be most interested in any meetings you have with actual Members (so if you are only able to meet with your Member's Health LA, it may not be worth the effort of conducting media outreach).

The best way to alert the local newspaper or radio show to your upcoming visit is to send them a press release via e-mail (a sample press release is attached). A sample press release is included in this guide, but at a minimum, it should include when the visit with your representative will occur, the reason for the visit and the "ASK" you are delivering to your representative.

The press release should be sent to the political and community news desks of your local newspaper outlet. It is easy to find out who specifically should receive the release by calling the paper's news desk and asking the receptionist. In terms of local radio programs, always call and ask to whom releases should be sent as it varies from program to program. With both newspaper outlets and radio stations, follow up calls are always a good idea to make sure they received the release and to personally offer quotes, background briefings and photos (when available).

Finally, Congressional visits often provide excellent photo opportunities so remember to bring a digital camera that can take high resolution photographs and be sure to e-mail one or two of the best photographs to your local newspaper after the visit.

For more information about conducting media outreach for your visit, please contact Wendy Fournier at wendy@nationalautism.org or Elizabeth Kilpatrick at eksafeminds@gmail.com

Sample Press Release