Busy Signals on the Hill

By Alicia McBride on 07/26/2011 @ 11:00 AM

Tags: Communications, Government

Last night, President Obama urged people to lobby Congress on raising the debt ceiling.

“The American people may have voted for divided government, but they didn’t vote for a dysfunctional government. So I’m asking you all to make your voice heard. If you want a balanced approach to reducing the deficit, let your Member of Congress know. If you believe we can solve this problem through compromise, send that message.”

The result? Busy signals and overworked websites. If you tried to get through and weren’t successful, you weren’t alone.

It may have taken a looming crisis and a presidential plea, but it’s still a good thing that people around the country want to engage with their members of Congress.

I hope that this will motivate the technology planners on the Hill to think more about what Congress needs to have in place to support lobbying in 2011 and beyond. Any system can get overwhelmed by a sudden volume, but Congress has always been notoriously slow on the technology curve. Many people (including them and them) are thinking creatively about these problems: how to improve communication between members of Congress and the people who elect them and what infrastructure and support congressional offices and constituents need to be able to have that communication

The conversation is the point, but the technology can facilitate the conversation or get in the way. I hope that next time more people are able to get their message through.