Ringing off the hook

Selina and Corrie are our record-setters, connecting more people with Sen. Durbin’s office than any other staffers!

We know that weapons contractors aren’t sitting back quietly as the debate over automatic spending cuts and next year’s budget unfolds. They’re making sure their voices are heard. They can’t be met with silence.

That’s why our phone staff works so hard to connect people who care about where their money goes with members of Congress who make these decisions. Right now they are focusing on getting folks in Illinois ringing phones off the hook in Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-IL) office.

Sen. Durbin is the new chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which will soon start work on next year’s Pentagon budget. As Politico points out, Durbin may bring a fresh approach to this committee, and we need to make sure he knows he has support from people in his state to rein in wasteful Pentagon and nuclear weapons spending.

I always enjoy sitting in the waiting area of a member of Congress’s office and hearing them take constituent phone calls. You can see how it really interrupts the flow of the day and gets an issue on their radar. Raising these issues is so important right now as the House appropriators are trying to give the Pentagon a free pass.

A big thank you to our phoners for making sure the public is informed and engaged!