ACTION ALERT:

PHONE CALLS, E-MAILS NEEDED IN OPPOSITION TO McCAIN-FEINGOLD

The U.S. Senate will begin debate on the McCain-Feingold bill on March 19. Please take immediate action to encourage calls and e- mails to all U.S. senators and especially, Republican senators in opposition to the McCain-Feingold bill.

All available means of activating grassroots networks should be utilized to galvanize citizen activity on this issue, including telephone trees, church bulletins, call-ins to appropriate radio talk shows, and letters for publication in local newspapers.

The information in the article above provides basic information on the bill. Additional material on the ways in which the McCain-Feingold bill would harm NRLC and other pro-life groups, including a factsheet on some of the bill's most significant anti- speech restrictions, is available on the NRLC website at www.nrlc.org/Federal/Free_Speech/ index.html.

The NRLC website also contains a detailed analysis of the ways in which the McCain-Feingold bill violates First Amendment rights to free speech and free association, prepared by the James Madison Center for Free Speech. For more information on the work of the Madison Center, see www.jamesmadisoncenter.org.

How to Contact Your Senators

There is no longer time to depend on regular mail to make your voices heard before the Senate takes up the McCain-Feingold bill on March 19. Therefore, phone calls and e-mail should be utilized.

All senators offices may be contacted through the Capitol Switchboard, (202) 224-3121. In addition, calls to senators in- state offices can be especially helpful.

Senators' e-mail addresses are available by calling their offices. You can also send any senator e-mail by going to the website www.senate.gov

What About the House of Representatives?

If the Senate passes the McCain-Feingold bill, the House of Represen-tatives may take it up within fairly short order. Already, over 150 House members have co-sponsored the Shays- Meehan bill (HR 380), which contains restrictions on free speech about politicians that are even more sweeping than those contained in the McCain-Feingold bill.

There is still time to send letters by regular mail to House members, at this address:

Representative ___________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Washington offices of all U.S. House members can be called through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121. Calls to the in-state offices of representatives are especially helpful.

The e-mail addresses of House members may be obtained by calling their offices, or through the website  www.house.gov/writerep

In most cases, the e-mail address of a House member follows this simple format: firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov.

Another Way You Can Help

Please send a copy of any letter or e-mail that you receive from a lawmaker on this issue to:
National Right to Life
Federal Legislative Office
419-Seventh Street, Northwest
Suite 500
Washington, D.C. 20004

Fax: (202) 347-3668
E-mail: Legfederal@aol.com