Action

Rationale

At a Union of Concerned Scientists forum in downtown Chicago this July, Rep. Schakowsky explained that every week her staff collates the number of calls, letters, and emails by subject. She said that in her 17 years in office nuclear weapons had never been among the top three issues on that list.

We're going to change that.

Background

Jan Schakowsky is the representative for the Ninth Congressional district in Illinois, a district that encompasses much of the north shore of Chicago (see map). According to Wikipedia, "Schakowsky is among the most Progressive members of the current U.S. Congress." At a Union of Concerned Scientists event two weeks ago she expressed strong support for reducing nuclear weapons and all but begged the audience to form a grass roots movement against them.

Goal

The goal is simple: get at least 50 people to call, write, or email to Rep. Schakowsky's officers during the week of August 6th through the 10th (the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) and express concern about nuclear weapons. We want to turn Rep. Schakowsky into a strong ally in the fight against nuclear weapons.

Contacting your Congressional representative is easy, it only takes about two minutes, and it is a vital step in building political power behind this issue. The more people who contact Rep. Schakowsky, the stronger the impression we can make on her and her office that this is an issue people care about. Please get everyone of voting age in your family to call in and ask your friends to call in, too.

Resources

Rep. Schakowsky's phone number in Washington is ‭(202) 225-2111‬.

Her local district office phone number is ‭(847) 328-3409‬.

Emails can be sent to her staffer in charge of nuclear weapons, Aaron Weinberg at aaron.weinberg@mail.house.gov.

Below are two templates for what to say when contacting Rep. Schakowsky. Feel free to use them as is or add or subtract whatever you'd like. Tell them how you feel, it's their job to listen.

Phone Call Script

"Hi, I'd like to speak to whomever is in charge of nuclear weapons policy for the Congresswoman. [Wait to be connected.] Hi, my name is [your name] and I live and vote in Rep. Schakowsky's ninth congressional district. This week marks the 73rd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and I just wanted to call and let you know how important I think this issue is, how much I would like to see real progress made in the near future on eliminating these dangerous weapons. I believe there are pragmatic solutions to this problem and I urge Rep. Schakowsky to work on them."

Email Template

Dear Rep. Schakowsky,

I live and vote in your district, the Illinois Ninth Congressional district, and I'm writing to you to express my concern about nuclear weapons. This week marks the 73rd anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and that fact reminded me that I wanted to contact you. Nuclear weapons are clumsy, dangerous, and virtually useless. Nuclear deterrence is inherently fallible and will inevitably fail one day. We cannot continue to rely on nuclear weapons and thereby put our families, our children, and our future at risk. This is any issue I care deeply about. I believe there are pragmatic steps that can be taken to eliminate nuclear weapons in the near term and I urge to you work on this crucial issue.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Deadline

This action begins on August 6th (the anniversary of Hiroshima) and ends on August 10th.

Report in

Once you've contacted Rep. Schakowsky, please drop us a quick email to let us know you did so that we can get an accurate count of how many people called and wrote.