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STEP FIVE: Contact the Power
Brokers. Use the web to reach federal, state, regional,
and local officials. By visiting the web sites of elected leaders, you
can learn their views on current issues and pending legislation.
Although phone conversations with legislative staff and personal visits
will probably still be essential, electronic mail and online feedback forms
allow quick pressure on burning issues. With the rapid spread of the web,
more and more activists find it easier to respond to action alerts by email,
in comparison to writing letters and finding postage stamps. |
Example |
As part of a volunteer program organized in the dormitories,
Marilyn spent several days helping out at a local homeless shelter. She
learned that the maximum length of stay was 60-days, but that some homeless
individuals were unable to find housing or stabilize quickly enough. How
tragic that they ended up back on the streets after two months.
Marilyn used the web to find the National
Coalition for the Homeless site. On the legislative alert page,
she learned about a proposed $50 billion Community Housing Investment Trust
to preserve or build one million units of affordable rental housing.
Marilyn used the web site www.house.gov/writerep/
to find her congresswoman's email address. She also researched which
congressional committees were responsible for the proposed legislation. |
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