"Dear Colleague" Letters: Current Practices (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised May 10, 2011 |
| Report Number |
RL34636 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Jacob R. Straus, Analyst on the Congress |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
-
Premium Nov. 25, 2008 (11 pages, $24.95)
add
|
Summary:
"Dear Colleague" letters are "Dear Colleague" letters are correspondence signed by Members of Congress and distributed totheir colleagues. Such correspondence is often used by one or more Members to persuade othersto cosponsor, support, or oppose a bill. "Dear Colleague" letters also inform Members about newor modified congressional operations or about events connected to congressional business. AMember or group of Members might send a "Dear Colleague" letter to all of their colleagues in achamber, to Members of the other chamber, or to a subset of Members, such as all Democrats orRepublicans. The use of the phrase "Dear Colleague" to refer to a widely distributed letter amongMembers dates at least to the start of the 20th century, and refers to the generic salutation of theseletters. New technologies and expanded use of the Internet have increased the speed andfacilitated the process of distributing "Dear Colleague" letters.
