The power of face-time: Getting your member of Congress to cosponsor the bill

This has been a year of unprecedented grassroots mobilization in the US for an end to LRA atrocities and peace in northern Uganda, and in the past few months we here at Resolve Uganda HQ have had the privilege of seeing the results firsthand. Thanks to the action of committed activists across the country, over 150 members of Congress have cosponsored the landmark LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

How can we be so sure this success is due to all of our efforts? It's simple: by the numbers. Of the 27 Senators that have cosponsored the bill so far, 25 of them chose to do so after being lobbied by their constituents. In fact, nearly one in three of the meetings held between our supporters and their elected representatives lead to a new cosponsor added to the bill.

We know that setting up a meeting with your member of Congress or their staff can seem a bit intimidating, even if they have an office right down the street. Well, have no fear. Really. Holding these meetings is simple and highly effective.

But don’t take our word for it. Instead, take Rebecca Centeno’s.

Rebecca is a student at the University of Delaware, where she and a number of her classmates have been active supporters of peace in northern Uganda. This April she participated in Resolve Uganda’s Knock Knock home district lobbying campaign, meeting with a staffer of Senator Ted Kaufman along with six other Delawareans. When Rebecca shared her reflections with our staff, she said that at first she found the idea of contacting the scheduler in Senator Ted Kaufman’s office “a bit daunting,” but was surprised at how easily she was able to arrange a meeting time.

Rebecca and her friends were also surprised at how well the meeting went. “[Senator Kaufman’s staffer] was on the ball, she listened to us, she responded back, and any questions we asked she had an answer to. She was amazing,” Rebecca commented.

And most important of all, the meeting produced results. Two months later Rebecca and her friends traveled to Washington, DC for the How It Ends lobby day and had another opportunity to meet with Senator Kaufman’s staff. During the meeting, Senator Kaufman himself stopped by and thanked them for their April Knock Knock meeting and for bringing the LRA and northern Uganda to his attention.

That day he cosponsored the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

Rebecca’s experience is an inspiring one, demonstrating that a simple face-to-face meeting can result in our leaders taking action for a lasting end to this war. And thanks to the thousands of other Americans who joined with Rebecca to take action this year, we now have a chance at getting this historic legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama.

But we're not there yet. That's why we need you to sign up here to arrange a meeting with a Member of Congress at an office near you.