Despite the ease and convenience of Twitter, Facebook, and email, calling your Senators and Representatives in Congress is still the best way to contact them. But calling is slow and clunky, and it’s often hard to know what to say. Fortunately, a new site has stepped in to streamline the process.
At 5 Calls, just click the issue you’re concerned about. Whether you want to revoke Jared Kushner’s security clearance, demand Donald Trump, Jr. Testify about his Russian dealings, or advocate for a bipartisan effort to repair the ACA, 5 Calls has you covered.
After clicking the issue you’re interested in, you can read a little blurb about it (though if you’re already fired up enough to call Congress about it, you probably don’t need to read anything more). Next, just scroll down, dial the number, and read the script when prompted. Bam! Democracy in action!
5 Calls began shortly after last year’s presidential election. Founders Nick O’Neill and Rebecca Kaufman saw the need for an outlet where people could channel their frustration into something productive. Capitalizing on their common backgrounds in tech — he was a former lead mobile developer for an automated eatery, she was a data science student at City College of San Francisco — they embarked on the project that would become 5 Calls.
Joined by a small group of volunteers, Kaufman and O’Neil have already facilitated over a million calls to Congress. Says O’Neill:
“People depend on us to tell them what’s important, what the main issues are every day—especially what votes are coming up today.”
Check it out for yourself at www.5calls.org or download the Android or iPhone app. As O’Neill says, calling isn’t just effective — it’s memorable and personal:
“You can tweet into the void all you want, but there’s something about just connecting with a human being who says, ‘Thank you for contacting us.'”
Featured image via YouTube.
