UNIVERSITY COALITIONS for GLOBAL HEALTH

Introduction | Get a Meeting | Call-In Days | Write a Letter | Bird-dogging

Introduction

Contacting government officials, whether it is the U.S. Congress or the prime minister of the United Kingdom, is an important way to influence public policy. In the United States, students have significant power over congressional members because we vote. We elect them and they work for us. All you have to do is make sure your voice is heard.

Ways to Contact Politicians

• Attend a town hall meeting
• Write a letter
• Organize a Call-In Day
• Bird-dogging
• Plan a lobby day in D.C. or your representative’s home office

Get A Meeting

Meeting with a politician or their staff person is one of the best ways of conveying your message. Often when you meet with a politician, it is the first time that they have heard of your issue. So make sure you know your facts and clearly articulate arguments that appeal to them.

• Plan in advance – politicians are busy people
• Know the politicians schedule
  Tip: Members of Congress are usually in their home districts during holidays and congressional recesses, and often on Mondays and Fridays. You can find the congressional schedule by looking at the House or Senate website at www.house.gov or www.senate.gov or by calling the member of Congress’ office.
• Fax a copy of the meeting request
• Schedule Meeting – Ask to speak with the politician or his/her staff member that works on your issue.

Tip: After the meeting has been scheduled, forward any background materials to the Member of Congress’ office with a cover letter restating the time and purpose of the meeting.

• Contact UCGH for background information
• Prepare your group – Be clear on who will speak about which issues. Send background information to everyone attending and give time for people to review the information.

It is more common for constituents to meet with staff members than the elected representative. Do not be disappointed if you are meeting with a staffer instead of a lawmaker.

At the Meeting

• Be prompt and patient. It is not uncommon for a politician to be late.
• Always bring a packet of information to give to the politician or staff person.
• Remember to think about the issue from the politician’s perspective.
• Show the link between your issue and how many people support you.
• Always ask for a commitment – Will you co-sponsor this legislation?
• Be prepared to answer questions. If you do not know the answer, tell them you will follow up.
• Be prepared to succinctly make your case. Your meetings will likely last 10 – 15 minutes. In some cases, you may only have five minutes to make your point.
• Be specific. Explain what you want your lawmaker to do and why. Relate the issue to your personal situation and the impact it has on your community.
• State what the legislation will do and how it will impact your community.
• Get a commitment from them. Where does your lawmaker stand on this issue? Don’t let him or her wiggle out of something. Don’t be put off by smoke screens and long-winded answers. If you are dissatisfied, ask for specific answers. Take notes.
• Write a thank you letter and include any follow up information.

Keep in mind that lawmakers need to be thanked – especially if they stick their necks out on a controversial vote. You could thank them by writing them a letter or writing a letter to the editor of your newspaper.

Follow-up with your legislators and be persistent. Write thank you letters and monitor your lawmaker’s position. For instance, if he/she still has not co-sponsored these bills in month, find out why.

Call-In Days

Organizing a call-in day is a great way to contact your politician and inform the general public. You can call on your own or sit in a popular spot on campus (with cookie and candy incentives) and ask others to join in with you. Be creative in your approach to others.

Know the Numbers

• Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121. The operator will connect you to the appropriate office.
• White House: 202-456-1111. It is likely that you will be asked to leave a message with a secretary.

Tips for calling

• Reserve a table in populated area of campus-preferably during the lunch hour.
• Have multiple cell phones ready-hand the students a ringing phone.
• Clearly state your name and affiliation; indicate that you are a constituent, appropriate.
• Explain briefly why you are calling. Refer to a recent article in the local paper or other relevant event, for example it’s something you learned about in class.
• Add a personal story about why you care.
• Have a specific request – “Please ask Senator X to co-sponsor S.805.”
• Be sure to thank the staffers for their time.
• Contact UCGH for sample call-in sheets and other relevant information.

Key components of a table

• Several copies of the call-in script.
• Information about your organization.
• Fact sheets about your issue.
• Candy/cookies-any sort of fun incentive to get people to make a call.

Creative Call-Ins

• Students at Harvard University held a free concert and required concert goers to make a call before they could enter. Their effort generated over 400 calls in less than two hours!
• View a movie on campus that relates to your issue and have all that show make a call!
• Have students make a craft at the table—like AIDS ribbons

Write a Letter

Writing letters is a great way of communicating with politicians. Emailing letters is an option, but many politicians place priority on individually written letters.

Writing Tips

• Clearly state the purpose in the first sentence.
• State who you are and where you are from.
• Give background information on the issue and tell your personal interest by drawing on past experiences.
• Restate your purpose for writing, in specific, concrete terms.
• Thank the politician and offer to find further information.
• Keep it brief. While you should make all the relevant key points, try to keep the letter short.

Sample Letter

The Honorable (elected official)
(Address)
(Address cont.)

Dear (Senator/Congressman/President),

I am writing to ask for your action to help assure that the global promise of providing universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010 can be achieved. Among the many barriers to reaching this goal is the shortage of health-care workers in Africa, which has reached crisis proportion during the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

The good news is that the United States can help. Senators Durbin and DeWine introduced the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2006 (S. 3775) in August. This bill begins to tackle some of the world’s most pressing needs to recruit, train and support health-care workers in Africa, but it is only a start. The U.S. needs to invest $650 million next year, and I’m asking for your help to support the existing bill and make this a reality.

Today, over 40 million people are living with HIV and AIDS around the world, the vast majority of whom lack treatment or care. In the last year the U.S. has helped lead the world by setting the target of universal access to treatment by 2010. I believe deeply in this goal, but I am sad to report that we will never reach it without more health workers.

In sub-Saharan Africa, just over 1 percent of the world’s health-care workers struggle to combat 25 percent of the global burden of disease. Health experts estimate Africa needs 1 million more health-care workers.

This shortage is directly caused by large-scale immigration of foreign health-care workers to the United States and economic policies that impede the construction of effective health systems in the developing world.

Not only is universal access to treatment threatened, but all of the U.S. goals in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief are under threat.

Thank you for your support on these very important issues.

Sincerely,

(name)

Bird-dogging

Bird-dogging is the name given for the tactic of attending public appearances and asking questions about global health issues. This direct interaction between students and politicians rarely happens, but it can have a big impact.

1. Get an Event
   • You can learn about upcoming public events by getting on party and candidate email lists, joining listservs of campus democrats and republicans, and calling campaign headquarters for notice of public events.
   • Ask about the time, place, entry fee/tickets, and most importantly, if there is a question/answer period.
2. Get a Group
   • Gather five or six people with polite questions. You will be surprised how questions can completely alter the topic of a question/answer period and win new commitments from politicians.
3. Get a Plan
   • It is very important to make a plan in advance with your group.
   • Write your questions in advance – create a list of three well prepared questions.
   • Practice: Especially, if you are chanting or shouting questions, it is very important to make sure you are heard.
   • Handshakes: Place members of your group around the edge of the stage and get toward the front of the crowd. It is important to hold onto the politician’s hand and then ask your question.
4. Get Good Seats
   • Arrive Early.
   • Get as close to the action as possible. Depending on the size of your group, split into smaller groups of five or six and place yourselves on both sides of the event stage. Groups sitting together will not be called on more than once.
   • Make eye contact with the politicians during their speech and applaud, this makes it more likely that you will get called on during the question/answer time.
5. Get your hand up FAST
   • This is the real art of bird dogging, you have to be quick to the draw when they open for questions. Make sure your hand is first, fastest, and highest in the air and your chances of getting selected will increase.
6. Good Questions
   • The goal of the questioning is to make them give a yes or no answer. Make the politician feel like meeting your demand is the best answer.
   • A good question is about 15 to 20 seconds long and is constructed like a small narrative: problem, personal interest, solution and demand accompanied by a specific close ended “yes” or “no” answer.

     Example: “Senator (name), there are 40 million people living with HIV worldwide. When I visited Kenya with my school, I was struck by how U.S. AIDS programs are struggling because of the lack of trained health professionals to meet the challenge of the epidemic. As you know Senator, experts estimate that at least $650 million is needed over five years to adequately address the health-care worker shortage necessary to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. Will you lead the fight for $650 million in the coming fiscal year?