How Your Congressional Mail is Responded To, Information from an a Former Hill Staffer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thousands of constituents write to their U.S. Senators and Representatives each day. What happens after that mail is received, and how is the response you get generated? Those are good questions, and you can now get the answers from someone who worked on Capitol Hill for almost a decade.

When your mail is received, it is opened and sorted by a staffer known as a staff assistant. His job is to sort the mail and prepare it for being entered into a database. Items such as individual requests for autographs and tour requests are placed in the mailbox for the appropriate staff member. Any requests for help with government issues such as immigration, social security and other personal issues that need assistance from the Senator's office are passed on to a casework office. That office has staffers trained to work with individual agencies to help you in your situation.

The rest of the mail, that is about general issues addressing the country, is entered into a large database. That database is categorized first with main subject areas such as health, business, taxes, and judicial items. After it is given a code for the large subject area, another code is assigned to it addressing individual issues such as a specific bill, type of health research, or judicial nomination that is controversial.

Once these letters are entered into the database, staff members known as legislative correspondents write the responses for the letters. They construct form letters than handle one or several of these subcategories under each subject. The letters are then reviewed by upper level staff known as legislative associates and approved or asked to be rewritten. Once the letter is approved, it is sent to everyone in the database that has written regarding that subject within a specific time frame. Letters that are on very broad issues or ones that are not currently being considered by the legislature are answered by a letter that will indicate to the constituent their concerns have been received and will be considered if legislation affecting that subject is introduced.

The letters are then printed and sent to constituents. Email is responded to in a similar way, but instead of mailing the letters, the legislator's office may choose to respond through email, attaching the form letter response. Letters are typically not signed individually by the representative except on rare occasions, instead they are signed using a machine that replicates the representative's signature or a digital signature file.

So, now you know what goes on behind the scenes with how your legislative mail is responded to. This may also help you understand why your response you received appears to be a "canned response", that is because the majority of time it is. If it was not done this way, legislators would have to spend all their time responding to letters and email and be unable to work on legislation.