D.C. & E-MAIL: BAD DOT-COMBINATION?

Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON - You've got mail, Congress. So answer it already.

That's the essence of a new report on electronic mail by the Congressional Management Foundation. The nonprofit watchdog group's study found most House and Senate offices are still in the stamp-licking century when it comes to cyber-communication with their constituents.

``In an era of instant communications, a lot of these lawmakers are taking three or four weeks to respond to e-mails, and some of them are answering by regular mail,'' said Rick Shapiro, executive director of CMF. ``E-mail should be answered in three or four days. The current problems can give the overall impression that Congress is out of touch.''

Los Angeles voters say they've had some frustrations in congressional cyberspace.

``I've written two e-mails to Rep. Xavier Becerra. He didn't even bother to reply. And I had to go to several independent sites in order to find out how to contact him,'' said Troy Martin of Hollywood. ``I've also written to Sens. (Barbara) Boxer and (Dianne) Feinstein. They seem to reply when it suits them, although Boxer has the better track record.''

The watchdog group's report found the average House office receiving 8,000 e-mails a month. Senate offices, with much larger constituencies, average 55,000 a month.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, said he is aware of his constituents' growing online interest and has acted accordingly.

``We've invested a lot in our systems and Web site,'' said Schiff, who set up his congressional office after being elected in November. ``I'm a freshman and the e-mail volume isn't too great, but I'm sure that will change.''

Schiff also hopes to add a virtual tour of Washington to his Web site.

Shapiro said the purpose of his study - which did not survey members of the public - was to find solutions for Congress' communications problems. It recommended increasing lawmakers' budgets and investments in software and expertise.

Reports last year by the House and Senate estimated Capitol Hill's monthly incoming e-mail total, including messages to staffers and committees, at 6 million.

Several lawmakers noted that, while the CMF report raised some valid issues, it did not back them up with data on constituent complaints about the system.

Mary Ellen Grant, an aide to Rep. Steve Horn, R-Lakewood, agreed that e-mail volume is on the rise, but stressed that most of it ends up in the dead-letter file.

``We only read and respond to e-mail from constituents who are residents of our district,'' she said. ``The rest of it is just spam.''

All other Southern California lawmakers follow the same policy.

Grant said Horn's office averages 3,000 e-mails a week, including only 700 from constituents.

The term ``spam,'' slang for unsolicited e-mail, was coined by tech types at the University of Southern California. They likened it to its namesake, a much-maligned canned meat product ``that nobody ever orders and nobody ever eats.''

If you're considering spamming the entire 435-member House and 100- member Senate with your e-mailed views on an issue, think again.

All federal lawmakers from Southern California and most of their peers use various forms of filtering software to scan e-mail messages for names, addresses and ZIP codes. Anonymous e-mails or those from outside the state or district either are dumped unread or receive replies that request the sender to try again and include the required information.

Such filtering systems are used by Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita (who goes by the e-mail handle ``tellbuck''), and other lawmakers.

Some House members use a centralized mail filtering service (www.house.gov/writerep) that requires senders to enter their address, including ZIP code, before they can make a connection.

Cutting-edge offices, including those of Schiff and Boxer, D-Calif., have filtering e-mail connections built into their office Internet Web sites.

The writerep system and other filters also request that senders give out a complete nine-digit ZIP code (links are included if you don't know the additional four digits). The system comes in handy in Southern California,

where many House district boundaries cut across postal ZIP code areas.

Congressional staffers say most constituent e-mails are answered within two to three weeks by the cyber-version of that old standby, the ``thanks for your interest'' form letter.

Replies to complicated and personal e-mail inquiries take more time. They must be reviewed by the lawmaker and are usually signed and sent by regular mail.

In his report, Shapiro strongly suggested that e-mailers keep their messages terse and to the point. That advice was echoed by the Capitol Hill staffers who are charged with reviewing incoming constituent messages.

Shapiro admitted that potential constituent frustration with slow response might be the result of heightened expectations.

``We're in an age where people can order goods or make airline reservations over the Internet and then get an e-mail confirmation within a few minutes,'' he said.

But Shapiro suggested that improvements could be made if lawmakers' office budgets were increased, allowing members to invest more money in software and in the salaries of their computer systems administrators.

A 2000 CMF salary survey found the average congressional chief of staff, often an attorney with extensive legislative experience, was paid $97,615 a year, while computer systems administrators averaged $30,205. Lawmakers are paid $145,100.

HOW TO E-MAIL CONGRESS

Here are e-mail addresses for U.S. Senate and House members who represent the region.

Direct e-mail addresses:

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

[e-mail]

[e-mail] (Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita)

E-mail service via a lawmaker's Web site:

www.senate.gov/[broken (vertical) bar]boxer

www.house.gov/schiff

E-mail service via ``www.house.gov/writerep'' site:

Rep. Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles

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