Every year, Moms Clean Air Force members hold hundreds of meetings with elected officials in Congress to talk with them about why strong clean air and climate protections are critical for our families’ health and future. Vanessa Lynch, our Pennsylvania Campaigns Coordinator, is a pro at speaking with lawmakers. Here she shares the very basics—from how to schedule a meeting and what to expect—to her top tips for sharing your story.
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As told to Julie Kimmel by Vanessa Lynch:
Anyone can meet with members of Congress. If you’re a person living in a lawmaker’s district, and you care about what they’re working on, you can and should schedule a meeting. Everyone deserves to be heard—and part of my work is to do all I can to decrease fear and empower people to share their stories.
You’ll know it’s time to meet with your member of Congress based on what is happening in the community and how it’s affecting people. For instance, if a data center or an “advanced recycling” plastic burning facility, or new oil and gas infrastructure is being proposed, it’s important for lawmakers to understand how these new facilities could impact local residents.
You don’t have to go to Washington, DC, for meetings. Our Congresspeople spend part of the year in Washington and part in the district they represent. Schedule your meeting when they’re home. To do this, you’ll reach out to the scheduler and the district director; the Moms organizer in your state can help you make these connections.
Once the meeting is scheduled, you’ll need to prepare—and Moms Clean Air Force can help you. Understanding what’s important about your issue and why it matters now is essential. You’ll also want to learn about the lawmaker you’re meeting with. There’s a whole public record of what our Congresspeople are doing. They’re in committees, on social media, holding meetings in the community. Use this information to think through how to communicate the importance of your issue in the most effective way.
As the person often leading these meetings, I do a lot of this preparation on behalf of my group. A meeting leader can help you highlight the most meaningful and compelling parts of your story. Lean on them! Connecting with the people who are making decisions that will impact your life is not meant to be a scary, hard process.
When I lead lawmaker meetings, I make sure all the people I’m bringing to the meeting are coordinated. Meeting with a Congressperson can feel intimidating. But the best thing for a moment when you’re feeling a little nervous is having a clear plan. I make sure the people in my meeting know what they’re going to share and the structure of what’s going to happen.
Recently, I was with a group meeting with Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17). The group included a grandmother who has solar panels on her house and battery backup. She told the story of how last April our district experienced a severe storm. It was only 30 minutes, but it created horrendous impacts. There were electric powerlines dangling in the streets, and people were without power for almost two weeks after. School was canceled for a couple of days because students couldn’t safely walk to bus stops.
After the storm, this grandmother’s children and their families were able to come to her house and have electricity when everyone else was without it. They could store their food so that it didn’t go bad. This is because of the federal tax credits that had made solar energy affordable for her to install at her house.
Congressman Deluzio brought the conversation back to this story multiple times. These types of stories connect the work that lawmakers are doing at the federal level with what’s happening in their communities. Many members of Congress say they’re what they need in order to highlight why it’s so important to act.
Every lawmaker meeting is a learning and growing moment. Meetings with offices that are opposed to the work we value can be hard. In these, it’s imperative to find where there’s agreement. Nobody wants air pollution. Nobody wants kids to be unhealthy. Nobody wants to see their constituents experience harm. It’s helpful to center a complicated conversation on what is important to everyone in the room: protecting our kids and families.
That’s why I encourage people to bring their kids to lawmaker meetings. It’s such a special moment when you see a Congressperson really take a kid in, give them space, and listen to them. Children are often the bearers of the clearest messages in the room.