Planning a Meeting with Your Elected Officials

From your local city council to your Senators in Washington, meeting with your elected officials about Pakistani American community issues is a lot easier than most people think. Remember, your legislators work for you!

What is a lobby visit?

A lobby visit is merely a meeting for you to tell your elected representative what you think about a certain issue or bill, and to try to get him or her to take action on that issue.

Where can you meet?

It's not necessary to travel to Washington, DC - every Member of Congress also has one or more offices in their congressional district. Even though the Member is not in the local office(s) very much, there is a permanent staff member at each office with whom you can meet. The upcoming day on the hill on June 10th will actually be in Washington DC.

Requesting Your Meeting

•Make your request in writing and follow up with a call to the Appointment Secretary/Scheduler.
•Suggest specific times and dates for your meeting.
•Let them know what issue and legislation (by bill number, if it has one) you wish to discuss.
•Make sure they know that you are a constituent.

Prepare for Your Meeting

•Please review the details of the planned event:
Read background info on issues
Read details of the talking points
Read detail and understand the view of your Members of Congress regarding the issues.