Meeting Your Representative or Senator

A Vital Mission

Meeting with your Representative or Senator is the single most effective thing you can do to help promote SSTO. In fact, such a meeting is absoutely vital to future efforts to get SSTO approval and funding. Luckily, getting a meeting with a Representative is relatively easy. (Senators are not so easy).

Making the Appointment

Arranging a meeting is simple. First, decide you want to do it! We've got a list of Candidates & Senators, and their names, addresses, and phone numbers, for you to meet with (you should have found such a list as part of this SSTO packet). Second, do some research on SSTO from the material provided you in this SSTO packet and whatever other sources you can find. You don't need to become an expert, but you should be familiar with all the material.

Third, call their office and make an appointment! In most cases this will be all you need to do. During your initial call, the scheduler may ask you questions about SSTO and space in general to make sure you know what you are talking about. He or she will then either put you on the schedule or promise to schedule you later on. Make sure you get a promise that they will schedule you by some fixed date. If you are not initially put on the schedule, keep calling.

Preparing for the Meeting

Start by spending some time learning about the Representative or Senator. A good source for this is The Almanac of American Politics which you can find at your local library. A good source on specific election matchups is the newspaper Roll Call. Understanding the Representative/Senator and his or her world view will be important during the meeting.

Next, use the material we have provided you to practice a presentation. In your presentation, focus on why the Representative or Senator should support SSTO; don't tell them why you support this effort. If there is any space business in the district, point out that cheaper access to space will help this business. Point out that this is a peaceful use for defense workers.

The Meeting

Eventually, you will have a meeting. The meeting could be in the Representative's or Senator's office, in a restaurant, or some other public place. You should have an informal presentation ready to give. Assume the Representative/Senator knows little about space, but be flexible (he or she may want to go right to the heart of the matter).

Meeting Do's and Dont's

Dress nice; this is a formal meeting. It shows you think this is important.

Go with a small number of people, no more than three. These folks should be well spoken and well rehearsed.

Thank the Congressperson or Senator both after the meeting and in writing. They are busy people and their time is valuable. (They get few thank you notes, so they do get noticed.)

Pay for the coffee if you meet in a public place (unless he or she offers to pay).

Be flexible in your presentation. For example, he or she may want to skip over all your introductory material and get to the heart of the issue.

Practice your presentation several times beforehand. Have a Devil's Advocate ask HARD questions. Have your Devil's Advocate force you to abandon part of your presentation.

Don't lie about anything; if you don't know something, say so! If a Congressperson thinks you lied to him your credibility will be shot forever.

Don't threaten or promise support. We aren't power brokers. This is another good way to toss out your credibility.

Don't be unprepared! Practice, practice, practice! The fate of SSTO may very well rest on how well prepared you are and on how well your presentation helps to sell SSTO to the Congressperson or Senator.

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