Write letters

Write your legislators.

Decide on an issue and at what level of the government you want to work. For example at the local level you may want to take on the problems of tobacco advertising or that children can easily get tobacco through vending machines or self-service displays. You may want the restaurants in your town to be smoke free. At the national level, you may want to ask your representatives why the federal government is giving tobacco farmers money in the form of subsidies. Ask your representatives if they are taking contributions from the tobacco industry. Tell them you want their help to put an end to this practice. Explain that children will continue to be victims of the tobacco companies as long as they can buy our legislators. (According to Common Cause, a political watchdog group, in the last election cycle Philip Morris and its executives gave $2.5 million in soft money to the G.O.P.) Money Magazine, Dec. 1997.

When you write a letter you want the reader to understand what it is you want. These tips will help you.


Letter Do's

  • write legibly
  • address representatives correctly (sample salutations follows)
  • be polite
  • keep it short and to the point

Letter Don'ts:

  • don't be rude
  • vague (let the reader know why you're writing and what it is you want)

Town/City

Address:       The Honorable (their full lname)
                     Mayor of (city name)

Mayor         (The Honorable (Their full name)
                    Mayor of (city name)

Salutation:

                    Dear Mayor (their last name):


State Legislature
To find the names, phone numbers and addresses for your representatives and senators in the State legislature, do a search on the internet under your state's legislative site....or call the league of women voters or office of Legislative Information Services for your state.

The salutation portion of the letter treats assembly persons and senators differently. In the salutation, assembly persons should be addressed as "Mr." "Mrs." or "Ms." Senators are addressed as "Senator".

Address:   The Honorable (Their full name)
                 The State Senate or the State Assembly

Salutation:   

               Senators............... Dear Senator (their last name):
               Representatives .... Dear Mr. or Dear Ms. (their last name)

Governor

Address:  The Honorable  (Joseph Smith)
               Governor of (state's name)
          

Salutation:

               Dear Governor Smith

National

To find the names and phone numbers for your representatives and senators in Congress, call your states' League of Women Voters or look them up at these sites: Representatives / Senators

Congress

Address: The Honorable (their full name)
                United State Senate or House of Representatives
                Washington, DC 20515-0001

Salutation:

Senators               Dear Senator (Their last name)

Representative      Dear Representative (their last name):

The President:

Address:

                            The President
                            The White House
                            1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
                            Washington, DC 20500
Salutation:
                             Dear Mr. President