Government Relations
NCABR encourages members of the bioscience community to keep in touch with their elected officials. Legislators are very sensitive to vocal advocacy from constituents. NCABR encourages members of the bioscience community to utilize the expertise of their organization’s government relations office for assistance in writing letters, planning a site visit and scheduling a meeting with elected officials.
- Congressional Visits*
- Writing Your Member of Congress*
I. Congressional Visits*
According to Congressional staff members, no method of communication has more impact on an elected official than a personal visit from one of his or her constituents. Stakeholders in research should routinely visit their members of Congress (at home and in Washington) and encourage friends and colleagues to do the same.
To have a successful Congressional visit, the visit should not be the first time your member of Congress and her/his staff has heard from you.
What to Do:
- Begin cultivating a relationship with your Congressperson and his/her staff by sending letters of introduction, a newsletter about your organization and medical research facts. Let them know the importance of your research to human and animal health and to the state’s economy.
- Call two or three weeks before you would like for the visit to take place. It is entirely possible that your Senator or Representative will be unable to meet with you personally. However, legislative aides provide valuable opportunities because these staff persons research the issues and make recommendations to the Congressperson. Keep in mind that you can visit your Congressperson at his/her office in Washington, D.C., or at the district office, where he/she will have a more flexible schedule.
- Prepare talking points that you would like to make. It will help keep you on track and serve as a "leave behind" for the legislator and staff members.
- Be concise and be brief. You may have no more than 15 minutes to state your case.
- Open the dialogue with information about the value of medial research to the community/state. Your audience may not know the extent to which medical research affects the economy and health of your community. Invite others involved in research in your area to attend the meeting and share what they are doing and the potential impact it will have.
- Write a thank you note immediately after the visit and ask the legislator to keep you informed about the action he or she is taking.
- Challenge colleagues to make similar visits — the more visits, the more impact!
Other Tips:
- It is particularly important to quickly establish a relationship with first term Congresspersons — they are looking for people to serve as resources in fields they may have never encountered legislatively.
- Always leave materials with them after your visit. If you are in Washington, D.C., but aren’t able to schedule an appointment, at least drop by your Congressperson’s office and leave your card and/or materials.
- As a way of maintaining the relationship, send letters to legislators as soon as an issue comes up and offer yourself or your organization as a resource for him/her and staff, as well as for constituents who may call up with questions.
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II. Writing Your Member of Congress*
According to Congressional staff, few methods of communication have more impact on an elected official than a personal letter from one of his or her constituents (only phone calls and visits rank higher). As a result, stakeholders in research should routinely send letters to Congress and encourage friends and colleagues to do the same.
Here’s How:
- Use letterhead with your home (voting) address — this caries more weight with an elected official — unless you are in a position to speak for your institution (CEO, chancellor, president).
- Tips to keep in mind when writing a letter to a member of Congress:
- Keep the letter focused on one specific topic; Make reference to past support of a related issue to show you have an ongoing interest in your elected official’s issues;
- Don’t attack your legislator or make him/her feel defensive;
- Provide supporting information (Research!America public opinion poll results are ideal bullets to drop into the letter);
- And if writing in reference to specific legislation, give the name of the bill and its number.
- Distribute template letters to members of your local community (university faculty, steering committee, civic club members, Boards of Trustees, etc.) to be put on their own letterhead.
- Ask those sending letters out to then forward the call to action to their own mailing list. Remember that your advocacy does make a difference: One letter carries the weight of 400 voters.
- To locate the addresses of your member of Congress, see http://www.congress.org.
- Contact your institution's government relations office for assistance in writing letters, planning a site visit and scheduling a meeting with your elected officials.
- When you do receive federal funding, write your House and Senate members to thank them for their help in bringing tax dollars into their district. Tell them what they're "buying" with those dollars: jobs, health care savings, and most important, a contribution to the health and well-being of people in their home district, the nation and perhaps the world.
- For more information on working with Congress, see the AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress at.
* Source: Modified from "Keys to Advocacy: Working with the Media and Building Strong Partnerships," Research America, April 1999.
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