How to Contact Your Congress and President

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On Monday night, the President asked all of us to make our voices heard by contacting our Congressional representatives to let them know we support a more “balanced approach” to dealing with the nation’s debt ceiling.

Apparently, a lot of us are doing exactly that. From the Wall Street Journal’s live blog on the debt battle:

Telephone calls and email messages are flooding into the Capitol, overwhelming the phone system and computer servers Tuesday morning after President Barack Obama urged voters to call and email Congress last night to support the Democrats’ debt ceiling plan.

An internal email sent to U.S. House Offices noted “House Telephone Circuits Near Capacity” and told users, “Due to the high volume of external calls, House telephone circuits serving 202-225-XXXX phone numbers are near capacity resulting in outside callers occasionally getting busy signals.”

If you’re like me, you’re hopping mad that our elected officials are creating a problem where none need exist. (See my Monday story Follow the Debt Debate.) But maybe you’re not sure how to contact your representatives, or even who they are.

No problem: Uncle Sam has you covered. If you go to this page of USA.gov, you can get contact information for the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives. Not sure who your representatives are? Just input your zip code and the site will tell you.

In addition to offering phone numbers, these links will also allow you to send an email – probably a better idea given the volume of calls flooding in.

This is a big country and it’s easy to feel like a lone voice in the wilderness, but take it from someone who was alive when Viet Nam war protests were sweeping the country: your voice can actually change things. Use it!

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