A District Visit with My Congressional Representative

This post is from Jason Steffen, the Lindheimer Fellow and a research professor at Northwestern University. Jason has worked for NASA's Kepler mission since 2008, studying the dynamics and architectures of extrasolar planetary systems. Here Jason describes his recent local visit with his House representative, Randy Hultgren (R-IL). With Congress in recess again through the elections in mid-November, now is a good time to explore doing a visit of your own!

— Joshua H. Shiode, John Bahcall Public Policy Fellow

I can think of few other times in recent memory when having regular conversations with our congressional representatives has been more important than it is today. I decided to meet with my congressman, Randy Hultgren (R-IL), while he was home in Illinois during the August recess, regarding the dismal state of science funding in the US. (Seriously, grant acceptance rates pushing 10%, NASA funding at a 50-year low as a fraction of the federal budget, not to mention…well, not to mention a lot of things.) Ultimately, the meeting took less than 10 minutes to set up and required only ~10 sentences in a few emails to arrange.

Congressman Hultgren’s website — like most of his colleagues’ — has an online scheduling tool where you enter who you are and what you want to talk about (I think I also had to type in my address to verify that I have the right guy). I filled this out in early August, near the beginning of the five-week recess. A couple of days later I received an email from the "scheduler" stating that she would let me know as the time grew closer when the congressman was available. She mentioned that the notice might be relatively short. A few weeks passed without any contact, so I wrote a follow-up email. The response came back fairly quickly — was I available the following Tuesday? 

I spent a couple of days collecting my thoughts and formulating my statement and my "ask" — what I wanted him to do as my representative. Ultimately, I felt that the meeting went very well. I ended up with about 40 minutes of the congressman’s time, during which we discussed the challenges of obtaining funding for research, how that distracts from advancing America's scientific agenda (as highly trained people spin their wheels writing multiple grant proposals instead of scientific literature), and how it negatively impacts our students, future educators, and future innovators. 

Some of his comments were enlightening. He believes strongly that Congress needs more representatives who have science and science funding as one of their top priorities (note that Rep. Hultgren is one of the strongest supporters of science in the House). Along those lines he said, "You would be surprised how much of an effect a phone call or letter can have." He stressed how important it is that representatives have a connection with constituents at universities or research institutions: "When Nigel (the Fermilab Director) calls me, I pick up the phone." We can, and should, communicate regularly with our representatives so that they can understand how important these issues are to us — their constituents — and to the nation as a whole. 

Here are a few important points (in my opinion) for setting up and making a visit to your congressman's office:

1) Be persistent. Members of Congress are busy and have a lot of demands on their time (not unlike many of us), but with even a small amount of persistence you will get through. Meeting or arranging a phone call with a staffer (the "science advisor") is probably the most common outcome, which is fine — they are the people in that member’s office who know the most about what is going on as it relates to science policy. The staff do communicate with each other regularly (at least in my case). If you want to meet directly with your representative, I've found it easier to schedule the meeting when they are in their home district.

2) Don't make science funding a partisan issue — make it a local issue. You already have an important institution of higher learning that is impacted by your message: "Science funding directly affects me and my students." Check their committee assignments and say how science funding applies to their committee. If you have a tech firm in your district, you can mention the importance of science in advancing technology. If you want to focus on schools in your district you can talk about STEM education and the message delivered to the rising generation. Consulting firm = producing problem solvers and "big data" analysts; hospital = medical imaging technology; military base = national security; power plant = energy independence; etc. Just as a good theory solves multiple problems, a good pitch will positively affect multiple institutions. Remember that many astronomers transition into other fields and that these colleagues are among our most important contributions to society.

3) Don't make science funding a partisan issue (did I say this already?). A young staffer may occasionally try to pin the blame for the current state of affairs on someone else — don't fall for it. Regardless of how you voted or how they voted, your congressman represents you, and you have a message that affects their district. Make your points clearly and courteously and stay above the fray. There are people in Congress from both parties who are strong supporters of science — Hultgren (R-IL) and former Fermilab physicist Bill Foster (D-IL) are just two examples — so your representative can find allies on this issue.

4) Ask for something. I always put together a few-paragraph "one-pager" (e.g., ours) that outlines the points that I'm making. At the end of the document, and at the end of the conversation, I state what I want my representative to do. An easy default "ask" is for them to vote to implement the tenets of the America COMPETES Act, which includes large increases to science funding at the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Department of Energy Office of Science, as well as for STEM education programs throughout the government. You might also urge them to support a strong NASA authorization bill that sets growing funding targets for science at the agency. 

5) Say "thank you." Being in Congress is pretty thankless. Even if their time is the only thing you are capable of thanking them for, say "thank you." I have always felt respected by the congressional offices that I've visited. This is especially true when, instead of coming as a lobbyist from some institutional third party, I come as a concerned citizen from their district (or representing my parents, who are concerned citizens from their district — e.g., when I visited Sen. Hatch, R-UT). Having good visits with your representatives' offices is the best way to establish the kinds of connections that we need as scientists in order to ensure the vitality of our profession and ultimately the future of our nation. Believe it or not, one or two exchanges a year, whether a short email, a 10-minute phone call, or a 15-minute face-to-face visit, will make a significant difference.