Sample Congressional Thank You Letters

Following up after your meetings with Senate and House offices is a critical

next step in forming a good, working relationship with your members of

Congress and their staff. You will find three sample emails below, created for

various purposes. We encourage you to personalize them with issues that are

important to you and with specific facts about your local situation.

We suggest that you send a thank you email promptly after returning home. If

you receive a business card from the staffer, you can write to him/her at the

email address on the card. You can look up contact information for your

support for fundamental scientific research.

You will recall that we touched on [list the key issues that you discussed, e.g.

funding for NIH, economic impacts of research funding as illustrated in your

lab, the role national facilities like the national labs play in research, or other

issues].

[You can include some talking points if you wish, highlighting information from

the state or district briefs.]

[If you promised to follow up with any other information, include it here.]

I look forward to continuing this relationship and to future meetings with both

Dear Senator/Representative _________________,

I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity to meet with [Insert

staffer’s name] on [insert date]. I know your staff is very busy, and I was

pleased that we were able to meet and discuss issues that are important to

[Staffer’s Name] and I had a productive conversation about [list the key issues

that you discussed, e.g. funding for NIH, economic impacts of research funding

as illustrated in your lab, the role national facilities like the national labs play in

[You can include some talking points if you wish, highlighting information from

[Your name, title, and organization]

Sample #3

Send to Congressional staff you met with (use the staff person’s direct email

address)

Dear _________________,

You will recall that we touched on about [list the key issues that you discussed,

e.g. funding for NIH, economic impacts of research funding as illustrated in

your lab, the role national facilities like the national labs play in research, or

[You can include some talking points if you wish, highlighting information from

the state or district briefs].