Good Morning, Last week, Chris Imlay and I visited 25 Senate and Congressional offices. The one common thread throughout all our visits was the need for constituent input. Each and every office asked to hear from our members directly, and a many said that they would only consider the bill if they had constituent interest. As you know, CAI is starting to gear up their response, and we fully expect that they will start to make their move after the summer recess. Quite frankly, the time for us to get out in front of their expected campaign is now! I just sent the following email to my members who live in Congressional districts in which their Representative has not yet joined our bill. While I will continue to solicit printed letters at Hamfests and Conventions, I believe that now is the time to ratchet up our effort with emails and phone calls. While sitting in various offices waiting to be seen, I saw that phone calls were taken and tallied. Some of the busier offices had the phone going non-stop. The staffers with whom we met told us that emails and phone calls we as effective as hard copy letters. Given the time constraints, I am strongly suggesting to my Division that both avenues be explored. What follows is the template I’m using. Please reach out to your members and ask them to participate. Feel free to use or adapt this template. Just plug in the Representatives name, make the email gender specific, plug in the proper link to the legislator’s email page on their Congressional website, and plug in their office phone numbers (one local number and the DC number). I’ve placed items that need to be examined in red. It will take all of a few minutes to do each one and then email it to the members in a specific Congressional district using the mass-email function available to all Directors. Please get involved. This requires little of your time but has enormous payback to the effort as a whole. Please contact me if you have any questions. 73 de Mike N2YBB = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = SUBJECT: Please Help Us Get HR-1301 Through Congress Hello. It’s crunch time. To date, your Congressman, Representative XXXXX, has not joined the growing list of supporters of the Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR-1301). We expect some pushback from the opposition after the House of Representatives comes back from vacation in September. Now is the time to get out in front of the effort. I am writing to you directly because only you, a constituent of Congressman XXXXX, can email and call his office to put the pressure on. All you need to do is say: "I am a constituent and a federally licensed Amateur Radio Operator. I Support HR-1301, the Amateur Radio Parity Act, and I am asking that Congressman XXXXX support HR-1301 as well." Please do this today. Go to this website: https://xxxxx.house.gov/contact Enter your zip code and follow the prompts. Fill in the form, and either write what I’ve suggested or write whatever moves you. Please also call his District Office at (123)555-5555 AND his Washington Office at (555)555-5555 and say the same thing. Your emails and phone calls will help convince your Representative to support HR-1301. We can’t do this alone. YOU MUST BECOME PART OF THE PROCESS if you haven’t already. Please send these emails and make phone calls even if you have already written to your Congressman about the bill. Let’s work together to get these folks to support us. Let’s do it today. I will also be sending you an email in the near future regarding the Senate version of the bill. Thank you! 73 de Mike N2YBB