You can help SCA advance secular policies and legislation several ways. The easiest is sending your representatives an email through our Action Center or on your own. The Action Center provides a message for you to send on several current issues and legislation. You just type in your address and the message automatically goes to your representatives.

If you want to send your own message, you can usually do that through a form on your representatives’ websites. If you find out the name of their staff member for a particular issue, the format in the Senate is [email protected]. In the House it is [email protected].

- In your email, outline the issue and why it is important to secular Americans.
- If you are a constituent, include your home address.
- Include a personal story, some data, something relatable to the member (for example, “As a veteran, I know you see the need…”).
- Also include a clear request about what you want the legislator to do. Try to squeeze it into the subject line: “Vote Yes on HR 1378”
- Note that a well-written letter sent through the Post Office can stand out over emails but due to security procedures, letters take at least two weeks to arrive on Capitol Hill.

A phone call to the appropriate staffer in Washington is better than an email. It gets more attention and you can learn about your representative’s positions on the call. The number for the Capitol is 202-224-3121 and they will put you through to your representative. Ask for the staff member who handles your issue, (often for us the one who handles Judiciary issues) and follow the tips below in Steps to Effective Meetings with Members of Congress and Staff. Let them know you are a constituent. BE BRIEF. You may end up with a staff member who is not very familiar with your issue. This is not unusual. Get your point across and let them investigate the issue more when they have time.

It may be easier to get on the phone with someone in your representative’s district office than in the Washington office so give that a try if you can’t contact anyone in Washington. They may not know as much about the specifics of a bill but they can still pass along your thoughts. And they can help connect you with the right staff member in Washington.

Social media is also an important way to contact your Members of Congress. Follow them, see what they are saying, and let them know what you think. Be sure to tag them or post on their page/feed.