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You Can Help Fight User Fees
Join the EAA Government Advocacy Campaign to Prevent User Fees
Why doesn’t EAA just write a form letter for me to sign and send?
Form letters do not work. Congressional offices are bombarded daily with hundreds of letters on a myriad of issues of concern to their constituents, corporations and lobbying interests. Staffers can smell a form letter writing campaign a mile away and will dump all similar letters into a pile and respond with a single form letter of their own. There is no substitute for a well-informed personal letter or phone call from a constituent in their home district. E-mail works but still gets less attention than a letter or telephone call.
- Write your own letter in your own words.
- You can use the facts and talking points outlined Web site to help frame and organize your thoughts, but please tell your own story in your own words.
- What will matter most to your senators and congressmen is the impact that user fees would have on you, personally. Tell them your story.
EAA strongly encourages you to contact your US Senators and Representatives, informing them of how, if enacted, user fees will affect you, your family, and your community. Thousands of EAA members have already made their voices heard and it has made a difference. Your letters and phone calls to legislators help solidify and strengthen opposition to user fees in Congress.
Legislators at all levels say that one of the most effective tools they can have for supporting or opposing any legislation is a flood of calls and letters from constituents. Your voice—and the voices of other EAA members—can make a difference. (Find your legislators)
The most effective way to express your opinion to your U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative is a well-informed personal letter or phone call. E-mails are far less effective. A short letter containing 3 to 5 bullet points is all you need to make your point. (Sample Letters)
- In your own words, tell what effect user fees will have on you, your family, your business, your community, and the economic health of your community airport.
- State clearly that you are opposed to general aviation user fees, and urge your senator or representative to oppose user fees for general aviation.
- Urge your senator or representative to support the continuation of the Aviation Trust Fund, to ensure continued improvement of the systems that support the National Airspace System and all who operate in it. Also urge support for retaining the airline fuel tax, and for setting it at the rate as that proposed for general aviation. Taxes rates must be equal for all users.
- If your senator or representatives already opposes user fees, thank them for standing up in opposition to FAA and Administration user fee proposals. Tell them you appreciate their support for NO USER FEES.
Be informative, respectful and polite in all your correspondence or calls. Explain the issue, express your personal concerns, express how this issue will directly affect you and your community, and by all means, directly ask for their active support of you and your community on the user fee issue.
Tell other pilots, aircraft owners, and aviation enthusiasts about this issue. Share this information at EAA Chapter meetings and other pilot gatherings. Refer them to EAA’s briefing paper for more information.
Finally, you can support the fight against user fees by supporting EAA and other general aviation organizations. Your continuing membership and your donations give Wings to the EAA Government Advocacy mission — protecting the privileges and freedoms of aviation for all of us.
