Influencing Congress

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Influencing Congress

• Adopt-a-Congressperson Program

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Program Overview

• What is the Adopt-a-Congressperson?
• Why is it important to the overall strategy of
  the Campus Climate Challenge?
• How does it connect to the Week of Action?

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Where to Start?

• Identify your Congressperson
• www.congress.org
• Background research
• www.lcv.org
• Invite Staff to come to Week of Action events
• Schedule a meeting with them
• Send Press clippings to their office
• Build the relationship
• Invite Congressperson to Campus during the next
  Congressional Recess (Feb. 19th-23rd)

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What does it mean to Adopt-a-Congressperson?

• Build a relationship
• Maintain contact with Congressperson on a regular
  basis
• Cultivate them as a Climate Champion
• Apply pressure to take action on Global Warming
• Let them know that Youth are rising to the
  challenge of Global Warming and they should too.

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How do you do it?

• Invite them to your events
• Write letters to them
• Call about upcoming legislation
• Make an appointment (Lobby)
• Send them press clippings
• Use your events to encourage other people to call
  write
• Use the media to carry your message

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What should your message be?

• Ask them to make Climate Change a priority
• Encourage them to Rise to the Climate Challenge
• Urge them to take the Challenge to the national
  level
• Ask for their leadership in adopting a bold,
  comprehensive, science-based policy to
  immediately address the climate challenge.
• Talk about the week of action, both what youre
  doing on your campus AND the fact that there over
  570 campuses participating across the nation.

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Tactics Toolbox

• Have a letter writing party
• Schedule a meeting to lobby
• Invite Congresspersons staff to events on campus
• Host a welcome party for new Congressperson
• Bring coalition partners with you to lobby
• Write a letter to the editor
• Photo petitions

• Be creative, brainstorm with your group for fun
  things you can do!

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When should you lobby your elected officials?

• As a part of a strong campaign
• When an important issue or bill is up in the
  current session
• To begin to develop a relationship to promote
  action on global warming

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Prep Work

• Learn everything you can about the issue and how
  it affects you.
• Know your officials background
• Anticipate questions and have the answers ready.
• Know the strengths and weaknesses of your
  opponents arguments.
• Contact the Sierra Club and other allies working
  on the issue in advance of your meeting we might
  know of recent developments or have suggestions
  for your plan
• Prepare what youre going to say and who will say
  it.
• Know what you are asking them for.

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Setting Up an Appointment

• Call the office and ask for the meeting.
• Tell the secretary
• What you will talk about
• Who will attend the meeting and what
  organizations will be represented
• How long the meeting will be (you may not have
  any control over this)

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Legislative Assistants

• You probably will not get to meet with the
  elected official.
• Dont be disappointed - LAs have a lot of power.
• A normal LAs portfolio includes multiple issues.
  Be aware that he/she may not be an expert in
  your area. You must be respectful, they are
  intelligent people.
• It can be very helpful to build a personal
  relationship with an LAs working on environmental
  issues if youll be back to talk about future
  issues. Connect to them on a personal level.

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The Meeting

• What to Bring
• 2-4 people
• Visual Aids/Pictures
• Press clippings
• Letters of support from constituents

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The Meeting

• Have a conversation
• and an Agenda
• Introduce yourself
• Thank them
• Introduce your issue
• Make your argument
• Ask
• Listen and Answer Questions
• Establish Next Steps
• Follow Up
• Thank them again.

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• 1. Introduce yourself and your organization
• Mention that you are from the officials district
  
• Try to make a connection (i.e. maybe you went to
  the same high school as the Congressperson)
• 2. Thank them
• For taking the time to meet with you
• For previous support of environmental issues (be
  specific and mention a vote, if possible)

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• 3. Introduce your Issue
• Stick to one topic, be specific
• Talk about your campus campaign
• 4. Make your Argument
• Focus on 1- 3 key points, dont overload them
  with facts
• Illustrate your point with graphs or pictures.
• Hold onto your materials, dont just give them
  away. Use them to make your point and engage
  them in a conversation
• I care tell them why and use a brief story to
  illustrate your passion and connection to the
  issue

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• 5. ASK
• Assign one person to make a clear and direct
  request.
• Will you support a strong, science-based policy
  to achieve 80 reduction in greenhouse gas
  emission below 1990 levels by 2050? Will you be
  a champion on climate change by supporting
  _______ bill?
• Make them say no twice.
• 6. Listen and Answer any questions
• Do not lie or make anything up. If youre not
  sure say I dont know the answer to that
  questions, but Id be happy to find out and get
  back to you with that information.
• Dont be afraid to interrupt if they get off
  topic, you only have short amount of time with
  them. If you must, do it politely.

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• 7. Establish Next Steps
• Find out a timeline for what happens next
• When do you think youll have a chance to talk
  with the Senator about this? Thursday? Great,
  Ill give you a call on Friday and talk about the
  Senators response to this.
• Write down what agree upon
• Ask for their card
• Ask for a photo you give this to media to use
  in an article about the issue.

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• 8. Follow Up
• Write down what youve learned as soon as you
  leave.
• Share the information with allies coordinating
  the campaign. Give any staff who helped you
  prepare a call and let them know how it went!
• Send a thank-you note to the LA or official
  restating your arguments and any commitments that
  were made.
• Follow through with any commitments you made
  during the meeting.
• Think about you next step in influencing your
  Congressperson

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Be Strategic

• Everything you do should be part of an overall
  plan to achieve the goals of your campaign.

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Questions?