One of the best ways to have a voice on U.S. policy is through a face­-to-­face meeting with an elected official.  An in-­district meeting with staff members of one’s Representative is a really important step, and one of the most effective, that can be taken to move H.R. 1692, the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2013 forward.

Lobbying your elected officials can have a real impact. In Alabama, for example, a September meeting with an activist helped Congressman Bachus, a previous advocate for Sudan unaware of the new legislation, become a cosponsor of H.R. 1692 just five days after the meeting.

While it’s completely natural to be nervous about meeting with a Member of Congress, it’s important to keep in mind that it is their job to meet with you and represent your interests. An in-­person meeting is at its core just a conversation, and not something that needs to be very intimidating.  The short term goal of such a meeting is to get the elected official to take action on the ask you present and to educate the representative, while the long term goal is to develop a relationship with the office.

If you offer yourself and your chapter as a resource that can make their job easier, STAND can have a lot of influence in the future.  Even as a college student who may be leaving in a year or two, developing a strong relationship between your STAND chapter and the office is an important legacy to pass on to future students and will enable this to remain a priority in the town where you went to school long after you graduate.

A meeting with the staff of a Representative on H.R. 1692 would typically be structured as:

1. Introductions of yourselves and groups to which you are connected.
2. Thank the staff member for their time, and for the Member of Congress’ past support on any relevant issues such as Sudan, mass atrocities, or human rights.
3. Someone in the group shares his or her personal story explaining his or her connection to the issue and why it is important.
4. One or two group members will give a (very brief) overview of the conflicts in Sudan and what the current situation is. It might be a good idea to begin by asking the staffer how knowledgeable he/she is on Sudan and proceed from there.
5. Make the ask- Urge the Representative to cosponsor and support H.R. 1692, and/or ask their colleagues in the House to do the same.
6. Thank the staff member again for his or her time, and set a date to follow up.

To help you along the way, keep in mind the following points:

• Inform yourselves. Read and understand the bill, brush up on the legislative process, read these FAQs, and get up to date on the renewed violence.
• Go prepared. Write out a script (or customize a version available online) and divide up the talking points ahead of time. Print out one-­pagers such as those here to leave behind with the staff. Here’s a helpful step-by-step guide of how to set up a meet and make sure you’re ready!
• Do your research. Know the Representative’s history of support for these issues, what their motivations might be for cosponsorship (moral? national security/practical? etc.), some of their
• personal background (i.e. hometown and alma mater, in case there are any connections), and any relevant committees on which they sit.
• Act professionally. Be on time, be polite, and dress appropriately.
• Keep it short. Plan for only about 15 minutes, and be flexible if the staff has less or more time to give you.
• Identify yourselves. The more influential you demonstrate yourself to be (through connections in the area such as family or school, and national reputation as STAND), the more likely it is that the Representative will take action on H.R. 1692.  Telling that short story about yourself makes the conversation more personal, relatable, and helps to build a relationship.
• Ask for a firm commitment.  Ask if they plan to cosponsor H.R. 1692.  If yes, thank them, if no or unsure, ask if they need additional information to help them decide.  Ask when you can follow up (and by phone or email) ­ should be no more than one or two weeks later.
• Follow up. It is the most important part of the meeting.

On December 4th, I’ll be discussing these and other key tips for preparing for, having, and following up on an in­-district meeting.  Be sure to join us for the online workshop at 8pm EST to get excited about moving H.R. 1692 through Congress!

These tools should ensure you will be ready to lead the conversation on Sudan during your meeting. We are also always available for you to contact if you need help along the way or have any questions about scheduling a meeting.

Email Rachel Finn (rfinn@enoughproject.org) or Sean Langberg (slangberg@standnow.org) for more information.

Last year, I met Chelsea Strelser when I attended my first meeting for William & Mary’s STAND chapter. Fresh off a summer internship with the Enough Project, I was excited to begin combating mass atrocities and genocide across the globe. Today, I am STAND’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Organizer and Chelsea is the Conflict-Free Campus Initiative (CFCI) Campus Organizer for the same region. CFCI is is a nationwide campaign to build the student consumer voice for electronics free of minerals that finance conflict in eastern Congo. This semester, Chelsea and I have been working together to organize and promote actions that emphasize peace and security throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our collaboration as student organizers has been incredibly important for our work in the mass atrocities prevention movement.

Working with Chelsea has been fantastic. Because so many schools have STAND chapters, CFCI chapters, or both, our capacity for reaching out to student advocates and activists has increased. Our partnership has helped us reach out to new schools, build our mutual networks, and get the word out about exciting action opportunities that STAND and CFCI initiate.

One of our important collaborations is the campaign to get the Virginia Association of State College & University Purchasing Professional, the procurement board for Virginia public colleges, to pass a statewide conflict-free resolution. By pooling our resources and contacts, Chelsea and I have built a strong network of students across the state that will be invaluable in achieving this goal, and in building momentum around the long-term goal of a peaceful and secure eastern DRC.

Now, we’re coming together to advocate around another joint initiative. We’ve partnered to push forward a sign-on letter targeted at Russ Feingold, the newly appointed Special Envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes region, urging him to make peace and security in Democratic Republic of Congo a priority. This is a critical moment in U.S. policy towards the DRC, and we’re calling for the promotion of regional cooperation, the growth of an active civil society, and security sector reform, as well as changing economic incentives from violence to peace. And we need your help.

We strongly urge you to sign this letter as a representative of your school. The more schools we can get signed on to the letter, the larger impact we will have. Moreover, we want you to be part of this international call for action! One lucky signatory will be chosen at random to hand deliver the letter to Special Envoy Feingold himself. Don’t miss this opportunity to hand deliver this letter, and represent our generation’s call for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo!

Chelsea and I believe that we can accomplish much more as a movement than as a single organization acting alone. We’ve seen this play out first hand at William & Mary and within our region. I believes that the STAND / CFCI relationship is crucial in order to maximize our shared desire for peace in the DRC.

Sign on to the letter to Special Envoy Russ Feingold now by entering your name, email, and school here and you will automatically be eligible to win the chance to represent the face of the student movement in Washington, DC. Let’s raise our collective voice for a peaceful and secure eastern Congo!

The Conflict-Free Campus Initiative is a project of Enough’s Raise Hope for Congo and STAND. Feel free to contact CFCI Coordinator Annie Callaway atacallaway@enoughproject.org with any questions about the drawing for the letter delivery to Special Envoy Feingold.