U.S. Military (Ret.): The right way to contact your representatives - Military Retirement - Navy Times

U.S. Military (Ret.): The right way to contact your representatives

In this column, I often urge readers to contact their senators and representatives about issues that are of concern to us as military retirees.

You’ve more than earned the right to speak up, and you should do so — whether it’s to make your views known on a particular issue or ask for help in dealing with a problem.

Contrary to what you may think, our elected officials do listen to the input they get from their constituents, and they will provide a reply. You might not agree with that reply, but it does force our representatives to listen to our needs.

Your congressional representatives work for you. At times, you need to remind them of that. But you’ll increase your chances of being taken seriously if you show that you’ve done your homework beforehand.

If you’re having a problem with military benefits or the disability retirement system, for example, you should state your case in a clear, constructive manner and provide pertinent details — without turning your letter into a novella.

If you are writing about a specific piece of legislation that you want your congressman to act on, such as voting a bill out of committee or co-sponsoring a new bill, you should check the status of the bill — there’s a chance what you want done has already taken place.

The Library of Congress has a service called THOMAS (http://thomas.loc.gov) that allows you to check on the status of any bill, or to see how your congressman voted on a past bill.

Most of your correspondence will go directly to a staffer, so explaining your concerns and laying out a road map of where you want your representative to go is important.

If you’re having an issue with a federal agency — say, the Veterans Affairs Department — then your congressman more than likely will copy your letter and send it to the agency under his signature, so it’s important that you mention all the facts.

If you have previous letters from the agency or other important paperwork, such as military or medical records, send copies with your inquiry.

Don’t send originals of such important documents.

Also, be aware that the Privacy Act of 1974 requires that your congressman get your written permission before contacting a federal agency on your behalf. Therefore, it’s important that you sign your letter.

Contact information — e-mail and postal addresses, plus phone numbers — for all senators and representatives can be found at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

The ability to speak directly to your elected representatives is one of the privileges that you spent a career in uniform defending.

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Retired Command Master Chief Alex Keenan served 28 years in the Coast Guard. E-mail him at retired@atpco.com.