Capitol Hill Visits

Speak up for poor and vulnerable people, here at home and abroad, and make a difference! One of the most important aspects of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is your visit with your members of Congress on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

• Capitol Hill Visits Packet
  
  
• Background Information on CSMG Legislative Priorities
  
  
• FAQs about Visiting Capitol Hill

State Delegations

Every participant at the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering will be part of their home state delegation.  For very small state delegations, a policy or advocacy staff member from one of the Washington-based Catholic organizations will be available to join in your meetings.

Each state delegation is coordinated by a volunteer state captain. Your state captain should contact you after you have registered for the Gathering.

You will have time to meet with your state delegation on Monday, February 13, 2012 to organize yourselves, select spokespersons on the various issues targeted for advocacy, and confirm the schedule for your congressional meetings.

Scheduling Meetings with Members of Congress

Your state captain is responsible for scheduling your state delegation's meetings with both of your Senators, and will share this important information with you.

You are responsible for scheduling a meeting with your Representative. However, if there are several people attending the Gathering from the same congressional district, the state captain may ask one person to schedule the meeting. Please schedule meetings between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

For your Representative's contact information, visit www.house.gov.

Never participated in or attended a Congressional meeting before?  Are your advocacy skills rusty?

Join us on Sunday, February 12 at 1:30 p.m. for the Capitol Hill Visits 101 workshop. Learn how to effectively steer your meetings with congressional offices and sharpen your skills with interactive role-playing exercises. If your travel plans won't allow you to join us in person, view our Hill Visits 101 webinar and State Captains introductory webinar.

Make your case on Capitol Hill—join our celebration!

Invite those you meet with to join the rest of the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering participants in a lively reception on Capitol Hill with key Members of Congress and their staffs. Make sure you brag about how many offices you visited, and how many hearts and minds you changed!

Additional Resource Materials for Hill Visits

• The CSMG 2012 Hill Visits booklet is a handy way to invite others to participate in this effort.
• The USCCB web site provides useful general tips concerning Visiting Your Congressional Representative.
• The Hill Visits 101 webinar provides helpful tips on legislative advocacy visits in general.
• The State Captains Introduction webinar updates some information in the CSMG Hill Visits 101 webinar and includes notes pages that provide a brief overview of important details.
• Copies of Global Solidarity in Action: A Guide for International Issue Advocacy in the United States are available at no cost from Catholic Relief Services at 1-866-608-5978.
• Printed copies of the U.S. Bishops' statement Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship (reissued in 2011) are available through USCCB Publishing by phoning 1-800-235-8722.
• An Advocacy Manual: Developing and Changing Public Policies, a Catholic Charities USA publication. Please contact Lucreda Cobbs at (703) 236-6243 or via e-mail at lcobbs@catholiccharitiesusa.org for more information.
• For questions and information about the CSMG Hill visits, please contact Virginia Farris at 202-541-3182 or via e-mail at vfarris@usccb.org.