Constituent input lost in mail, David Keene, ACUF, 3-5-04

American Conservative Union Foundation

Constituent input lost in mail
by David A. Keene

March 5, 2004

In the wake of the recent ricin scare, we were all told that once again mail directed to Capitol Hill was being carted off and destroyed for security reasons. This and the fact that the same thing happened after the earlier anthrax scare set me to wondering about just how difficult it is getting to be for the average citizen to contact his or her elected officials.

I'm not talking about those of us who make our living carrying messages to the Hill and who actually know people up there who will take our calls, but rather about the average person who simply wants to make his or her views known in a timely and effective manner.

In the early days of the republic, Congress treated the citizen' rights to "petition" the government very seriously. It is a right specifically protected by the First Amendment. Early Congresses actually set aside one day a week to hear and consider citizens' petitions on various subjects of public concern. As the country grew, petition days became impractical, but their existence at the beginning is testimony to the Founders' belief that government officials have an obligation to listen to the folks who pay their salaries.

Since then, however, it has gotten more and more difficult for the average citizen to be taken seriously, and now it is getting harder and harder for most people even to contact their elected officials.

People rely primarily on the mails to get through to the Congress. Today, in fact, something like a half-million letters, postcards and pleas for assistance are addressed to the Hill every week. Most of these are now often delayed for more than a week for security reasons. So many people urging a vote one way or another on an upcoming bill get there too late with their messages to make any difference.

I doubt this bothers many of the recipients -- but it should. In the past, members were at least able to get staff reports on how the mail was running on issues of concern and many did read and respond to those pulled out by staff members who found them particularly persuasive. Now, some offices simply trash mail that has gone through the security processing facilities in New Jersey with its attendant delays.

Assume you really care about an issue coming up in the Congress soon and realize that your letter is not likely to make it in time. If you aren't ready to give up yet, what can you do?

You might send an e-mail message, but congressional management experts have been putting software in place to screen out much of what arrives that way so you don't really know if yours will get through. Many offices, like that of Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), will simply bounce your message back with the warning that "due to the high volume of e-mail traffic our office receives, we no longer accept incoming e-mail." Nice.

So you call and get a very pleasant receptionist who assures you that she wants to help but that the issue you are concerned about is one being handled by a legislative staffer currently unavailable, in a meeting or out of the office. She puts you through to the staffer's voice mail. If you're lucky, you'll be able to leave a message, but in many instances, a mechanical voice will inform you that the staffer's voice mailbox is full and that you ought to try again some time.

You can, of course, keep calling, but after the third or fourth call you will probably be dismissed as a crank and future calls will get you nowhere.

You could fax your letter, but the fax numbers likely to get your message to the staffer or staffers whom you need to contact are usually unavailable to outsiders and much of what comes in on the general number is, in all too many offices, treated like spam and trashed.

So, let's assume that you are in Washington. You can hop in a cab and head for the Hill. But when you get there you will discover, again, that the person you need to see is busy and that waiting won't help. You may have prepared for this eventuality by bringing a copy of the letter you hoped you could get through via the mails, but security measures prohibit your dropping it off.

To their credit, some are concerned about this isolation. Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), the minority leader, for example, says, "To be cut off from your mail is really a major impediment to the way any Senate or House office works."

That may be, but little is being done to make it easier for real people who can't afford to hire a Washington lobbyist to be heard by the people they send to Washington.

David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, is a managing associate with the Carmen Group, a D.C.-based governmental affairs firm