HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONSTITUENT ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

             UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
               CONSTITUENT ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM
 
         We welcome your inquiry to the House of Representatives
 Constituent Electronic Mail System.  Currently, seven Members of
 the U.S. House of Representatives have been assigned public
 electronic mailboxes that may be accessed by their constituents. 
 This effort represents a pilot program that will be used to assess
 the impact of electronic mail on Congressional offices and their
 mission of serving the residents of a Congressional District. 
 This initial project will be expanded to other Members of
 Congress, as technical, budgetary and staffing constraints allow.
 
         Please review the list of participating Representatives
 below, and if the Congressional District in which you reside is
 listed, follow the instructions below to begin communicating by
 electronic mail with your Representative.  If your Representative
 is not yet on-line, please be patient.
 
         U.S. REPRESENTATIVES PARTICIPATING IN THE CONSTITUENT
 ELECTRONIC MAIL SYSTEM.
 
 Hon. Jay Dickey
 4th Congressional District, Arkansas             
 Rm. 1338 Longworth House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. Sam Gejdenson
 2nd Congressional District, Connecticut          
 Rm. 2416 Rayburn House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. Newton Gingrich
 6th Congressional District, Georgia              
 Rm. 2428 Rayburn House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. George Miller
 7th Congressional District, California           
 Rm. 2205 Rayburn House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. Charlie Rose
 7th Congressional District, North Carolina
 Rm. 2230 Rayburn House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. 'Pete' Stark
 13th Congressional District, California 
 Rm.  239 Cannon House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
 Hon. Mel Watt
 12th Congressional District, North Carolina
 Rm. 1232 Longworth House Office Building
 Washington, DC 20515
 
         INSTRUCTIONS FOR CONSTITUENTS
 
         If your Representative is taking part in the pilot project,
 we encourage you to send a letter or postcard by U.S.Mail to that
 Representative at the address listed above requesting electronic
 mail access. In your correspondence, please print your name and
 INTERNET ADDRESS, followed by your postal (geographical) address. 
 When your Representative receives the letter or postcard,
 you will receive a reply by electronic mail  that
 will include the Representative's Internet address.  After you
 receive this initial message, you will be able to write your 
 Member of Congress at any time, provided you follow certain
 guidelines that will be included in that initial message.
 
         We are aware that it is an inconvenience for electronic mail
 users to be required to send a post card in order to begin
 communicating with their Representative.  However, the primary
 goal of this pilot program is to allow Members to better serve
 their CONSTITUENTS, and this initial postal request is the only
 sure method currently available of verifying that a user is a
 resident of a particular congressional district.
 
         In addition, constituents who communicate with their
 Representative by electronic mail should be aware that Members
 will respond to their messages in the same manner that they
 respond to most communications from constituents.  That is,
 Members will generally respond to messages by way of the U.S.
 Postal Service.  This  method of reply will help to ensure
 confidentiality, a concern that is of utmost importance to the
 House of Representatives.
 
 COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS
 
         Please feel free to send electronic mail comments about our
 new service to the Congressional Comment Desk, at 
 
         COMMENTS () HR HOUSE GOV
 
         We will make every effort to integrate suggestions into
 forthcoming updates of our system.
 
         Thank you again for contacting the House of Representatives'
 Constituent Electronic Mail System.  We are excited about the
 possibilities that e-mail has to offer, and will be working hard
 to bring more Members on-line and to expand our services.  We feel
 that this pilot program is an important first step, and we urge
 your cooperation and continued interest to make the program a
 success.
 
         This message will be updated as necessary.
 
                 Honorable  Charlie Rose (D-NC)
                 Chairman
                 Committee on House Administration