How to Address a Letter to a Congressperson

Your Congressperson wants to hear your concerns.

There are several reasons you might write to your representative in Congress, such as asking for intervention in a situation in your town or county or requesting a nomination letter for a United States armed forces academy. No matter what your reason is, you need to write a professional well-formatted letter that is addressed correctly to the Congressperson. There are specific ways to address a letter to a member of Congress, and doing this correctly will improve the credibility of your request.

Instructions

1. Investigate your Representative's formal title in Congress. The ways to address a letter differs, depending upon whether the Congressperson is a Senator or a Representative. If she has an additional title such as the Speaker of the House, you will have to include that in the address.

2. Create the address on the letter. If your Congressperson is a Senator, type "Honorable (First and last name), United States Senator." If your Congressperson is a member of the House of Representatives, type "Honorable (first and last name), United States Congressperson." Finally, if your Congressperson has a special title such as the Speaker of the House of Representatives or Senate Majority Leader, add this after her name rather than the general title of Congressperson or Senator. For example, you might type "Honorable Jane Doe, Speaker of the House of Representatives."

3. Create the salutation. If your Congressperson is a Senator, type "Dear Senator (last name)" followed by a colon. If he is a member of the House of Representatives, type "Dear Representative (last name)" followed by a colon. Finally, if she has a special title, include that. For example, type "Dear Madame Speaker" followed by a colon.

4. Address your envelope the same way that you typed the address on the letter.

References

• Library Online: Addressing People of Title
• Purdue Online Writing Center: Writing the Basic Business Letter