9-1-1 Leaders and Friends:
Supporting public safety and 9-1-1, the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus is perhaps one of our most high profile opportunities to work with government leaders in Washington. As a voice within Congress, it will help set the tone, message and validation in all that we do as professionals, as an association, and as leaders. An important milestone in our growing presence in government, the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus is an opportunity to be heard in a collective voice like never before.
We need your help!
Supporting the formation of the caucus and our activities in Washington, we are asking each and every one of you to promote awareness through a recruitment letter writing campaign to Congress.
Below is a form letter to send to your individual congressional members. The following are detailed instructions on how to write your Congressional Members and help you get started in the process.
1. Find out who represents you.
If you are not aware who they are, there are several resources to gather this information.
Phone Book
Your local telephone book most likely will have the listing in the government pages. Find the appropriate listings for US Representatives (note: the phone book will often list state representatives as well).
Internet
There are several web sites which will allow you to insert your information in order to determine the identity of your representative or senator. The most popular is: thomas.loc.gov/.
On the page that you see, there is a heading in the middle of the page Quicklinks”; to the right of Quicklinks, you can choose House Directory or Senate Directory. From there, you only have to enter your state to determine your senator or representative (you need to know which district you are in for the representative).
A second web site to help in finding your representative is as follows:
http://www.house.gov/Welcome.htmlLibrary and City Hall
Your local city hall or library should have the information readily available.
Once you locate the information, make sure to take note of the senator/representatives addresses and phone numbers in Washington along with the local office.
2. Send a letter.
Ok, so now you know who represents you in Washington. Now its time to contact them.
Below this information is a sample letter we have prepared to introduce NENA to your Senators/Representative. This letter indicates that you are supporting the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus and would like them to join.
First, save the letter to your computer. Then copy it onto your letterhead. Edit and add any additional information that you feel the staff should know about regarding 9-1-1 in your community. Then simply print it, sign it and send it by fax, email and regular U.S. Mail to the senator or representatives office. We would also request that you send a digital copy by email to [email protected]. This allows us to follow up where necessary and keeps an active file once contact has been made.
3. Follow up with a phone call.
Using the information you gather in Step 1, make a call to the Washington office of your elected official.
When you contact the Senator/Representatives office, explain who you are. Indicate that you sent a letter and would like the Senator/Representative to support 9-1-1 by joining the Congressional E9-1-1 Caucus.
4. Troubleshooting.
If you are not successful in any of these activities, and have additional questions regarding any of the above, please feel free to contact NENA Headquarters for assistance. We will be more than happy to assist you in these most important endeavors.