World Oxygen Day
Call Congress Campaign
October 2nd is World Oxygen Day
What better day to flood Congress with phone calls and emails letting them know we want them to cosponsor the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform (SOAR) bill. We’re partnering with the COPD Foundation to raise awareness of supplemental oxygen issues all of September, and opportunities for you to share your stories and videos. Check back frequently as we’ll be posting regular updates.
On this page we are providing step by step instructions and guidance to help you to make the most impact when contacting your congresspersons.
How to Contact Your Members of Congress
Click here to open Congress.gov’s page, to search for your members of Congress. Enter your address into the box below “Find Your Members” (see image below) and select your address.
Running On Air sponsored a webinar to help educate supporters about how to call your member of congress in support of the SOAR Act. You can watch this webinar here.
Plan Ahead
We recommend planning ahead. Please use the buttons below to access the lists of current Committee Members and Cosponsors, to find out if your representatives are included. Follow these steps to have the most successful conversations on World Oxygen Day.
- Have your three phone numbers ready ahead of time (you’re calling 2 Senators and 1 Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman).
- Check the list of important House Committe Members to see if your Representative is a member.
- Check to see if any of your members of Congress have already cosponsored the bill.
- Choose the correct conversation for each of your members of Congress.
- Read the script ahead of time and make sure you have the correct information to insert. It’s what’s in brackets [ ].
- Set aside 15-20 minutes between 9am and 4pm ET on October 2nd to call, or break it up to 3 different blocks of 5-10 minutes each. If we get enough people calling in you may need a backup time.
- Call your Representative first.
- Use the scripts under we provide in the “What to Say” section below, or what was provided during the webinar, to be your guide.
- If you are unable to call on October 2nd, please call on October 1st or October 3rd, OR send emails.
- After you call, share about your call on your social platforms, and tag Running On Air, the COPD Foundation, and your members of Congress.
What to Say
You’ll be saying almost the same thing on each call. Check this list to see if your Representative is on the Ways and Means or Finance Committee in the House and/or this list to see if they have already cosponsored the bill. Select the correct conversation below.
Remember, you are having a conversation with a staff member. Pause after the first paragraph. They may ask you to repeat it or ask you for your address to confirm that you are a constituent.
What’s the difference between asking them to “COSPONSOR” the bill versus “supporting” the bill?
Supporting the bill is asking that they vote for if, it comes up for a vote. COSPONSORING means they are adding their name to the bill as a supporter. (This gives it more umph.)
Conversation With Your Representative
For your Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman) who is not on the Committee and not already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Representative [Representative’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’m asking Representative [Representative’s last name] to COSPONSOR the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number H.R.2902.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman) who is not on the Committee and not already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Representative [Representative’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’m asking Representative [Representative’s last name] to COSPONSOR the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number H.R.2902.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman) who is on the Committee and is not already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Representative [Representative’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’m asking Representative [Representative’s last name] to COSPONSOR the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number H.R.2902 and to ask [him/her] to ask the Committee leadership to review the bill this session. [I’d also like to schedule a meeting at the local office to discuss the importance of this bill.]
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman) who is on the Committee and is already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Representative [Representative’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’d like to thank Representative [Representative’s last name] for being a cosponsor of the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number H.R.2902, and to ask [him/her] to ask the Committee leadership to review the bill this session.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Representative (Congressman or Congresswoman) who is not on the Committee and is already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Representative [Representative’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’d like to thank Representative [Representative’s last name] for being a cosponsor of the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number H.R.2902.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
Conversation With Your Senators
Note: The Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is S.1406, was introduced by Senator Bill Cassidy (LA and a Committee member) and has 4 cosponsors, Senators Mark Warner (VA), Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Gary Peters (MI) and Martha Blackburn (TN and a Committee member).
For your Senator who is not on the Committee and not already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Senator’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’m asking Senator [Senator’s last name] to COSPONSOR the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number S.1406.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Senator who is on the Committee and is not already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Senator’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’m asking Senator [Senator’s last name] to COSPONSOR the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number S.1406 and to ask [him/her] to ask the Committee leadership to review the bill this session. [I’d also like to schedule a meeting at the local office to discuss the importance of this bill.]
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Senator who is on the Committee and is already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Senator’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’d like to thank Senator [Senator’s last name] for being a COSPONSOR of the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number S.1406, and to ask [him/her] to ask the Committee leadership to review the bill this session.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]
For your Senator who is not on the Committee and is already a cosponsor:
Hi. My name is [give your name] and I’m a constituent of Senator [Senator’s last name]. I’m calling because today is World Oxygen Day, and I’d like to thank Senator [Senator’s last name] for being a cosponsor of the Supplemental Oxygen Access Reform bill, which is number S.1406.
This bill is important to me because while everybody needs oxygen, some bodies need a little extra… [share your story here or reason here]