Example Cover Letter

Example Letter

Please feel free to use as much or little of this as you please. Its purpose is to just get you started. We have another example cover letter here. Choose either one as a starting point.

Dear Senator/Representative [NAME]:

[I / WE] live in the local area and are concerned about Family Law Reform. We really think this has become a Civil Rights issue and that Congress should investigate what is happening. We would like to get your support!

Reform is such a sensitive topic, it is so easy to have misunderstanding. To clarify our goals:

To hear your answer to the question, "Isn’t one of my most basic Human Rights the freedom to associate with my children? Shouldn’t I be presumed to be a fit parent deserving of an equal relationship? If the ‘system’ challenges my right – shouldn’t I have the protection of a Jury? Should my right to be with my child be any different in New York than in California?"
To encourage you to understand and sponsor The Family Rights Act (which assumes a YES answer to the above). We do understand changes may be needed. We look to your staff for feedback & guidance in preparing it further.
To encourage you to call for Congressional Hearings into the necessity of National Family Law Reform.

I hope you will not see us a just a couple of parents, but as the tip of an iceberg. Please visit the Kids-Right.Org web site, we have a lot of other stories, hundreds of registered members, and even more on our mailing list. There are so many people who are in "shell shock" after losing their kids through the "system." I would hope you would find our group a positive role model and easy to work with – we emphasize courtesy and respect.

So many parents just don’t know what to do. The "system" is so BIG and so entrenched, the realm of Lawyers and Judges. It cost so MUCH money to fight. What’s a mother or father to do? Many of us have forgotten the simple lesson of "How a Bill comes a Law." We have forgotten that our Founding Fathers setup the Congress to give "power to the people" – and especially within the House of Representatives, whose members all come up for election every two years, including this year.

You can help give us a way and a voice. Many more people would participate once they could see some hope of progress. What happens here in [YOUR TOWN] will provide a good model of what could happen in other Congressional Districts across the Nation.

This is a sensitive topic and one that will require leadership and understanding. Divorce is a difficult experience, it is almost a natural reaction to "demonize" the other spouse (after all, its not MY fault we couldn’t make this work). Naturally, when it comes to the children, can we really expect a natural enthusiasm for equal custody (why of course I think my former spouse is a good person and has a lot to offer my children as a parent -– heck, if I REALLY thought that we’d still be married!) The present "system" appears to only encourage such tendencies.

Much is made of our call for "jury protection." One can almost imagine the arguments made to the Founding Fathers regarding the "danger" of civil juries (why do you want to let the crooks get off with stealing, the Courts are busy as it is, how can we be expected to have that kind of proof…). But don’t we have a "right" to be presumed innocent? Please, look at the starting assumptions we make at the beginning of the Family Rights Act – if you agree with those, we think you will find the rest naturally follows. Yes, such legislation would bring about large changes in the system and how our Nation thinks about marriage and children. We like to think they will all be good changes, based on a sound foundation.

I hope you can understand the sense of urgency both we and our children have about this matter. I’m sure we can come to understand each other with respect & courtesy – and if we must agree to disagree – that is also part of a healthy political process.

Respectfully yours,

[YOUR NAME]