Originally Posted by
Mats
I wrote to my Senator to discuss some of my frustrations with the continued liquid ban, BDOs, and gate screening, among other TSA insanities.
Some highlights of Senator Boxer's response included:
"Thank you for contacting me about the current economic crisis. I appreciate hearing from you, and I want to assure you that Congress and the Obama Administration are moving swiftly to address this critical issue."
To get our economy back on track, the very top priority must be to save and create jobs. That is why I supported H.R.1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law on February 17, 2009. This legislation will inject $787 billion into our economy through tax cuts and spending on projects to save and create jobs. It will make significant investments in vital infrastructure projects, give much-needed aid to our states, and help to create and save millions of American jobs."
In other words, she didn't read anything I wrote.
I'm open to suggestions for other ways to attract the attention of Congress.
Call your CongressCritters office in D.C. (don't call the local office) and (1) identify yourself as a constituent, and (2) ask who handles legislation and matters regarding the TSA.
Talk to that individual - first make sure you have the right person, i.e., "I'm a constituent in [state/Senate] [district/House] and I am looking for the staffer that handles matters concerning the TSA, would that happen to be you?" ... "Are you the senior staffer that oversees this, or is it just you?" -- start by fishing around a bit.
After you're done fishing, get to your complaint and be assertive. If the staffer tries to bring the conversation off-course, bring it back ... "I'm aware there is no legislation on the table affecting (issue) at the moment, but aren't you working on the budget at the moment, which would affect their funding?" ...
Ask questions when you speak to this person and request that they follow-up with you personally. Sometimes when a staffer tries to drive you into a deadend "ok, will let the senator know your thoughts" -- turn around and ask what is the senator's view? Could you find out and let me know? ... or start talking about oversight with that particular issue. Obviously you can't keep dragging the call on if the staffer wants to drop the topic and dismiss you, but at least you've given it your best shot and hopefully a commitment to get a response on a particular item the individual cannot answer.
That is how I go about handling complaints with my Senators and House Rep.
I take this approach regardless of the issue. I let them know I'm not calling just to get generic form letter back about the issue a few weeks later only to read cookie cutter boilerplate letter that wastes my time, postal service resources, and paper.
SDF_Traveler