I Called My Representatives Every Day for a Week

Megan Leonard

MD Senator Ben Cardin: 202-224-4524

MD Senator Chris Van Hollen: 202-224-4654

MD District Four Representative Anthony Brown: 202-225-8699

MD Governor Larry Hogan: 410-974-3901

Monday: I called Senator Chris Van Hollen and Senator Ben Cardin to ask them to support Senator Feindstein’s bill to repeal Trump’s ban on immigration. Both of their voicemail’s were full, and nobody answered the phone. I called my representative, Anthony Brown, and left a message asking him to do the same thing. I called all of these people at about 1:30pm.

Tuesday: At about 10:00 am I called Van Hollen, Cardin, and Governor Larry Hogan. I got sent to Van Hollen’s voicemail, which was full. I got a busy signal when I called Cardin, but when I called back moments later I got a chance to say that I wanted Cardin to stand with Sen. Schumer to demand that Trump’s executive order to ban immigration be discussed before and during Rex Tillerson’s nomination hearing. The woman who answered the phone and took my statement said she would “add me to the tally”, which leads me to believe I was not the only one asking Cardin to do the same. I got a busy signal on Hogan’s line no less than 4 times. I emailed Hogan asking him to speak out in support of the Muslim and non-Muslim refugees and immigrants that make our state great. I sent Sen. Cardin an online message asking him to continue to fight against Tillerson’s hearing. I sent Sen. Van Hollen an online message asking him to follow Cardin in opposing Tillerson’s nomination and hearing, and supporting Feinstein’s bill.

Wednesday: I started running out of things to say. I called Van Hollen, and left a message for his voicemail, and then called Cardin and left a message with a person. I thanked them for opposing DeVos and Tillerson and asked them to continue to cooperate with their Republican nominees to block DeVos’ nomination. I called Hogan but his voicemail was full. I wanted to try calling Anthony Brown again, but couldn’t find anything I wanted to tell him. I researched what was happening in the House of Representatives, and tried to find something to asking him to do or thank him for, but couldn’t find anything. This could be because he is a brand new representative.

Thursday: I called Cardin and Van Hollen on my way home from ‘work’. I got Van Hollen’s voicemail, which was full. When I called Cardin, a staff member asked me to hold, and I realized that I hadn’t done any research that day and had no idea what I wanted to say to Cardin, so I hung up. Oops. Next time, I’ll remember to have something to say before I call.

Friday: I called Cardin and Van Hollen in the morning, at about 10. I didn’t get through to a person for either, which I was okay with. I barely had anything to say to them, except to thank them for working with the Republicans to block DeVos. I called Hogan, and didn’t get through.

Luckily for me, my representative and Senators are all good representatives of what I believe. They all share my beliefs on a majority of issues. Van Hollen and Cardin had already publicly stated they would oppose DeVos, and both opposed Tillerson. They both do not support Trump’s executive order to blanket ban immigration, and have publically stated they support Muslims and immigrants. This made it pretty hard to have something new to say every day.

As far as means of communication, I definitely found it more satisfying to give my name, contact, and statement to a person on the phone, but I will admit the online messages gave me way less phone anxiety. Every person I spoke to on the phone was polite, good at their job, and thanked me for my time. My favorite time to call was during lunch, because I had time to figure out exactly what I wanted to say before I called, and had the greatest chance to speak with a person.

I will continue calling my senators and representatives when things come up, but for me personally, I don’t think I need to call every day. My Senators and representatives do a really good job, and I can barely find reasons to call at all. However, if I lived in a state with Republican representatives, I would definitely call every day. It seems intimidating, but it gets easier every time, and takes a total of five minutes.