They campaign tirelessly for our vote, and we send them to Washington. But once in our nation’s capitol, do our congressional representatives still take the time to hear our opinions and meet with their constituents face-to-face?

The answer to that question depends on a lot of different factors.  For starters, many congressmen and congresswomen, particularly senators, will only meet with the people they represent.  Thanks to a little-known custom known as “senatorial courtesy,” most senators allow their colleagues to respond to their own constituents. In other words, unless you have a really good reason to be contacting a senator from another state, you’re probably out of luck.

Nonetheless, we decided to do a little experiment to see exactly how willing our Congressional representatives are to listen to the people they ostensibly represent. Because most young voters don’t have the benefit of offering potential press coverage, I posed as an ordinary youth – not a journalist – in order to see exactly how responsive a variety of representatives would be. Here are the results.

JOE LIEBERMAN

Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) explicitly states on his website that “due to the volume of mail that I receive, I am only able to research and address those messages sent to me from Connecticut residents. If you are not a Connecticut resident, I encourage you to send a message to the Senators from your state of residence.”  Of course, it’s always worth a shot, but because senators – especially higher-profile pols like Lieberman – get so many contact requests every day, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll have time to meet with someone who isn’t capable of voting for them.

However, I happen to be from Lieberman’s state, so I gave his Washington office a call.  After explaining that I was a Connecticut resident who was now in DC and wished to meet with my Senator, I was given an email address that would supposedly allow me to schedule a meeting with Lieberman.  I sent an email explaining my situation and asking to schedule a meeting, mentioning that I live in his state and have a very flexible schedule.  The result? I never heard back.

JIM HIMES           

Congressman Jim Himes (D-CT) is a freshman congressman in a district that hasn’t voted for a Democrat representative since 1969.  We figured it would be easy to get in touch with him because he is a little-known Congressman with a smaller group of constituents than a senator.  It also doesn’t hurt that he represents my district.  Himes has a form on his website that you can fill out requesting a meeting. (Note: it seems Himes’ website recently got a makeover, and this form is no longer available). I filled out the form, again explaining my situation and asking if I could meet with him for even just a few minutes.  After several days, having not received a response, I called Himes’ Washington office and asked how I could get in touch with Himes directly.  I was told to use the form.

I decided to give up what had quickly become a wild goose chase, and after several weeks, I received in my email inbox a message from his office thanking me for my question (what question?) and giving me some information on how Himes has supported the environment and alternative energy. Apparently my request to meet had been received, read, and responded to with a form letter.  And they say Washington’s just a bureaucracy.

ARLEN SPECTER

Both of the Congressmen I had contacted, while from my state, were Democrats, so I decided to give the other party a chance.  I chose Arlen Specter (R-PA), a prominent, moderate Republican Senator. My hopes weren’t high – another famous, often-in-the-news senator who probably doesn’t have much time for meetings with constituents, much less people who aren’t even in his state – but I gave his office a call and was transferred to the voicemail of someone who works to schedule meetings.  I left a message and never received a call back. Apparently ignoring the calls of the people is a bipartisan issue.

ROB BISHOP

Choosing a random Republican congressman to try, I called the Washington office of Representative Rob Bishop (R-UT).  The woman on the phone told me that Bishop doesn’t often meet with people outside of his district, but she gave me the email address of one of his staffers, Scott Parker.  I sent Parker an email asking if Bishop ever got the chance to meet with people outside of his constituency, and Parker told me that “preference is given to those from (Bishop’s) district, but we meet with others as well – particularly those from other parts of Utah or who are connected to or whose issues are connected to Utah.”  I am not myself from Utah or have anything to do with the state, so unfortunately my chances at getting a word in with Bishop ended there.

In conclusion, if you’re trying to meet with a congressman, regardless of whether or not they represent you directly, the situation is bleak.  Calls don’t get returned, emails don’t get read (or they do and get ignored), and elected officials are generally pretty busy.  If you are extremely desparate to speak one-on-one with your congressman, persistence is key.  However, even then it seems that our representatives in Congress are simply too busy for the people who helped get them there.

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