Sometimes it’s the little things that mean the most. For example, some folks still think the most significant thing Republicans actually accomplished the last time they took over Congress in 1994 was getting rid of the 55 mph speed limit on many of the nation’s highways.
And for those of us who like to stay actively engaged in the legislative process by communicating with Members of Congress, one of the more aggravating changes over the years has been congress-critters eliminating the ability for us to email them directly.
Despite the fact that every Member’s vote has a potential impact on the entire nation, Congress adopted a practice years ago of forcing everyone to use a “web form” to send an electronic message…complete with address and zip code. That way, if you don’t live in that Member’s district, they can just blow you off…in addition to the fact that it’s more difficult to navigate a website to find a web form than to simply shoot off an email.
Which makes what, comparatively speaking, seems like the little thing of new House Speaker John Boehner establishing a new email address so that everyone in the country can email him directly a pretty big thing. Maybe, hopefully, more Members of Congress with follow Speaker Boehner’s lead and allow us all to email them directly again, too.
Oh, the Speakers email address is: SpeakerBoehner@mail.house.gov
