PLS2010 Cal Poly Pomona US Government Congressional Letter
For this course you must write a letter to one of the representatives in your congressional district. In writing this letter you have several key choices to make. 1) The topic or issue you want to discuss in your letter, and 2) who and what level of government you wish to contact. You can write to either you congress person in DC or your representative at the state house.
Part 1: Please provide a 1 ½ to 2 page summary (double spaced) of your district and representative. This summary should include:
a) your electoral district: here you can include information about the size of the district something about its voting history if available. You can also provide any basic information about your district that might explain your choice of topics – location, special concerns, area specific problems, etc. You may want to include some statistics comparing it to national or state averages to show what issues maybe more relevant for its citizens.
b) the congress person you are writing: their name, their party, how long they have been in office, do they belong to any special committees, any issues that they claim a particular connection to, etc. This can include vote history and/or bill sponsorship. With this information you want to show that you can find out the necessary information about your representatives to make an informed decision about them in future elections based on your own political views and make any necessary connections to your specific issue.
c) Briefly discuss the issue you are writing on. What topic are you letting you congress person know about? Are you writing to support their position, challenge their position, or discuss aspects of their time in office (past votes, voting record, etc..). You do not need to explain why the issue is important to you in detail, but it should be clear that this is a topic that you would like your congress person to take seriously.
Part 2: Please provide a 1 to 1 ½ page letter to your congress person.
This letter should be formatted in proper business letter format and clearly indicate the issue and the reason why you are writing this letter. Your goal is to indicate that this is a topic that you deem as important for your district and present a clear statement of your position. Use the background information from Part 1 to support your position. Your letters will be mailed so select an issue that is important to you, demonstrate a solid understanding of the topic and state your reasons why you want your congressperson to take action with a clear and well-reasoned tone. If you are hoping for a response be sure to include your contact information. The letter should be edited carefully.
Here is the information of my district in following links:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/CA/52#q=9…
https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=06&cd=52
