Rob,
Another, really important, channel is the ability of the public to
communicate directly with Members in their capacities as members of
Committees/subcommittees. Several of us keep bringing this up -- and
it keeps being put off. When Reps are on Committees, they do not just
represent their own constituents, they represent the public as a
whole. As currently structured, the House mail systems preclude your
ability to communicate online with a Member unless you are her/his
constituent. I think the ability to communicate directly with Members
in this capacity is among the most important -- as Committees are
where the work of Congress really happens.
So, I would urge you to put the need for this channel at the top of
your list.
Patrice McDermott, Director
OpenTheGovernment.org
On Sep 17, 1:53 pm, "Rob Pierson" <piers...@gmail.com> wrote:
> The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) will be holding a conference
> in the beginning of October to discuss the problems with, and possible
> solutions to, the current state of constituent communications with
> Congress. The conference will identify ways to make it easier for
> congressional offices to manage and get value from the communications they
> receive and to enable citizens to express their views to Congress in an
> effective way. Representatives from congressional offices, House and
> Senate institutional offices, citizen and advocacy groups, academia, and
> the technology industry will be working together to find solutions to the
> issue. For more information on the conference, check out the links at the
> end of this email or contact Tim Hysom ( thy
...@cmfweb.org) at CMF.
> I'll be speaking at the conference, and I was hoping to get some advice from
> folks on this list.
> I was going to mention the need to funnel constituent input into three
> channels. One channel would be constituent communications where someone
> actually took the time to write a letter themselves. The second channel
> would be for more petition oriented communications ( i.e. 49 people want
> Rep. X to sign onto bill Y or support action Z).
> I was talking with John the other day about a third channel for constituent
> input, tapping into the collective intelligence of the American people.
> Something along the lines of Senator Durbin's efforts to develop new
> broadband internet policies. (seehttp://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sen._Dick_Durbin's_nationa...<http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sen._Dick_Durbin%27s_natio...>for
> details)
> My inclination is that we're still in an experimental stage of this sort of
> collaboration.
> Rep. George Miller is experimenting with several fascinating high-tech ways
> to interact with constituents (http://www.communitycounts.us/townhall/miller/), and seeing all of these new
> communications methods constantly springing up makes me feel as if we're
> still in an early stage of the evolution of technologies to facilitate
> online communications between federal representatives and constituents. If
> that's the case perhaps we should allow the free market of ideas to continue
> innovating and pushing the envelope for a little while longer before the
> federal government endorses any specific system? In the meantime, perhaps
> elected officials like Sen. Durbin and Rep. Miller should continue engaging
> in groundbreaking ventures to help us find the most effective ways to allow
> constituents to share their collective wisdom with their representatives in
> Congress?
> I don't think this "third channel" will be the focus of the conference, but
> because of its untapped potential I was considering mentioning it. Any
> thoughts on the issue that OH folks had would be greatly appreciated.
> For more information on the conference, check out the links below or contact
> Tim Hysom (thy...@cmfweb.org) at CMF.
> - An overview of the Communicating with Congress
> Conference<http://www.cmfweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230>
> - A detailed
> agenda<http://www.cmfweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=231>
> - An overview of CMF's Communicating with Congress
> project<http://www.cmfweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&It...>
> - A brief summary of the current issues with constituent
> communications<http://www.cmfweb.org/storage/cmfweb/documents/CMF_Pubs/cmfspecialrep...>[PDF
> -
> 69.21 KB]
> - The CMF report Communicating with Congress: How Capitol Hill is
> Coping with the Surge in Citizen
> Advocacy<http://www.cmfweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&It...>
> - Information about CMF's mission and
> work<http://www.cmfweb.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&It...>
