“Accomplishments” in Congress are often collected and touted to fuel reelection bids. Every two years representatives face the grind of election while senators face election every six years. During the interim, members continue to run reelection campaigns. The question of “what have you done for me lately?” hangs over the heads of all Congressional members. When faced with that question by their constituency, members naturally want to point to an “accomplishment.”

photo credit: The Labour Party<\center>

As legislators, members are able to accomplish something when they pass a new law. This often brings out a natural consequence of legislators tending to view every problem as requiring a new law. They often define each new law as an accomplishment regardless of the actual effect. Along the same lines, they also often see each new effort to pass a law that is not actually successful as a failure, even if that is not the case. Some problems actually resolve themselves while they are still pending. This could occur because of dynamics within the market, court decisions, breakthroughs in technology or any number of other external factors. Many times, such factors may cause a proposed law to become outdated before it even passes.

Whenever a member passes a law that does not work, they often tinker with it even further rather than try to repeal it. It is a rare occurrence that anyone in Congress views getting rid of a program or a law, even if it is obsolete, as an accomplishment. There is often an implicit assumption that all government programs and laws should simply continue in perpetuity. Doing away with programs and laws is often assumed to carry too much political cost.

This is certainly not to say that all government intervention is unnecessary or harmful. Laws are often needed and frequently work well. Due to the drive for reelection, whenever Congress views a problem, there tends to be a strong bias toward passing a new law to resolve that problem. This often takes the form of government intervention, with a new law providing members with an accomplishment they can take back home and tout. In this case, the actual substance of the law as well as its effect becomes secondary.

Reference: A Better Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Chapter 7 Accomplishments.

To learn more about ways in which you can change Congress and receive better results, consider these Capitol Learning Audio Courses: How to Work the Hill Like a Pro, and Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress.

To learn more about persuading Congress, consider our course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill, and Capitol Hill Workshop.

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

Related Posts

• House Committee on Repeals
• New books from TheCapitol.Net and Two Seas Media
• Four Out of Ten Books Published by TheCapitol.Net Receive High Honors at Benjamin Franklin Awards
• The Basics of Congressional Floor Consideration
• Understanding the Role of Party Leaders

There is no getting around the fact that members of the majority party typically decide the most crucial questions presented to Congress. Furthermore, members of the majority party also primarily control what will be considered by their chambers on a daily basis. In the end, the fact that a member can vote does not really matter as much if he has no control regarding what the questions will be.

photo credit: Theodore Scott

Members of the minority in both chambers do have some powers they can utilize in order to slow down or even stop the movement of legislation.

Senate
The minority party can threaten extended debate in the Senate. The majority party must gather 60 votes in order to cut off debate, if that should happen. Provided the minority party has 41 seats and all of that party’s members vote together, it is possible to stop any measure.

Minority party senators additionally have the freedom to provide a variety of amendments to bills on the Senate floor. Amendments are not required by Senate rules to relate to the subject matter of the underlying bill. In addition, minority party members may also utilize amendments for forcing their proposals onto the agenda. Practically speaking, Senate majority leaders do have procedural tools available that can be used for effectively blocking the efforts of the minority to offer amendments.

House
In the House, minority party representatives face a much weaker situation. The House majority determines the bills that are considered in committee as well as on the floor. Whenever a bill comes up on the floor, majority party leadership can exercise complete control over the amendments that can be offered by House members.

It is only in committees that minority party members in the House are able to offer amendments without obtaining the approval of at least some of the majority party members. Even in that case, the amendment must relate in some way to the same subject matter as the underlying bill.

If a committee amendment is devised that is troublesome to the majority, the chance to offer it can be cut off by simply skipping committee consideration and the bill being taken directly to the House floor.

Between Chambers
The way in which chambers resolve differences between Senate and House bills is also determined by the majority party. Majority party members can elect to send amendments back and forth between chambers. Regardless of the method used, the minority has little to no say in the matter and has no choice but to sit back and watch.

Reference: A Better Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Chapter 5 Procedures Designed to Divide.

To learn more about ways in which you can change Congress and receive better results, consider these Capitol Learning Audio Courses: How to Work the Hill Like a Pro, and Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress.

To learn more about persuading Congress, consider our course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill, and Capitol Hill Workshop.

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

More than any other outside entity, the President has a tremendous amount of influence regarding Congress. This is primarily due to the power of the veto. Provided there is one-third of either chamber of Congress that is in support of the position of the president, a veto can kill any piece of legislation. Only in rare circumstances is Congress able to override a veto.

This remains relatively true even during times when the president may be unpopular. Even when the president is scoring low in the opinion polls with the public, it is still possible for him to affect the ability of Congress to enact legislation. The mere threat of the president using a veto can be enough to shape legislation in the direction of the president’s position. This is why presidents utilize the threat of a veto more than they actually use a veto.

The president also has an array of tools available for influencing Congress that extend beyond the veto. For instance, the president may choose to command public attention and focus it on his agenda. Regardless of the president’s popularity, when he speaks, the media covers what he says.

Ultimately, the president also controls the executive departments. This is accomplished through the appointment power granted to the president. By acting under presidential direction, many federal departments and agencies decide critical policy issues.

The president also has a tremendous amount of influence and power regarding the ways in which the federal government spends money. Congress ultimately exercises the power of spending under the Constitution, and the president develops an annual budget request. Even though Congress may choose to make changes to the budget request of the president, the presidential request still forms a broad outline of the ways in which money is spent.

The popularity of presidents rises and falls, but they always wields a tremendous amount of influence regarding Congressional affairs.

Are you interested in learning more about persuading Congress? Sign up for TheCapitol.Net’s 1-day course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill and their 3-day Capitol Hill Workshop.

Reference: Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Ch. 8 The President

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

Current campaign finance laws came about as a result of the Watergate scandal during the 1970s. Supporters of these laws enacted them with good intentions, of course. They primarily believed that campaign contributions resulted in the corruption of politicians. It was thought that a law that limited contributions would limit political corruption. Unfortunately, we have now reached a situation in which campaign finance laws limit contributions in a complex manner that creates consequences that were never intended.

Campaign finance laws currently protect incumbents, while simultaneously creating traps for candidates who spend extraordinary amounts of time fundraising. Furthermore, these laws also prevent individuals who are not skilled in fundraising on a large scale from winning elections.

Looking at the problems of current campaign finance laws, the question of whether campaign contributions necessarily result in corruption must be posed. Some of the most well known cases of congressional corruption in recent years involved members who took cash bribes. These cases did not involve campaign contributions. For instance, former Representative Duke Cunningham of California was said to maintain a menu for bribes that revealed the official actions that would be taken by him in exchange for various amounts of cash. He was convicted of corruption.

Even so, it can be much more difficult to determine whether campaign contributions are actually corrupting. Almost every member of Congress accepts contributions from interests. Those members must then vote on legislation that will affect those very same interests. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know whether the politician votes a particular way because of contributions or whether contributions come about because the interest group knows the member would have voted that way regardless.

Putting aside any corruption aspects, limits on campaign fundraising naturally mean that candidates must spend significant amounts of time in fundraising efforts if they wish to compete. For the incumbent candidate, this means they are not able to spend time making wise policy decisions. For the challenger, this provides a strong disincentive to even consider running for office. If they do make the decision to go ahead and run, the time spent on raising money is time they cannot devote to developing strong policy ideas.

As the cost of campaigning continues to increase; the campaign fundraising issue only becomes worse.

Are you interested in learning more about persuading Congress? Sign up for TheCapitol.Net’s 1-day course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill and their 3-day Capitol Hill Workshop.

Reference: A Better Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Ch. 1 The Fortress of Incumbency

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

Running a campaign for Congress can require resources that are typically out of reach of most average Americans. As a result, the pool of people that can realistically even consider mounting a campaign to run for Congress is naturally small.

photo credit: cburns1

In order to mount a congressional campaign, potential candidates must be prepared to devote their lives to campaigning on a full-time basis. This period of campaigning can last from one to two years. Campaigning can require leaving your livelihood for an extended period of time, something most people simply are not able to do. Running for Congress requires a significant amount of sacrifice.

Throughout the campaign period, candidates must spend a tremendous amount of time traveling to various political events. The rigors faced on the trail can include unpalatable food, little time to rest and continual separation from family. There are inevitably emotional ups and downs that do not make campaigning any easier.

As if that were not enough, candidates need to spend a significant portion of their time raising money. Not only must the candidate raise large amounts of money, but due to campaign contribution limits, he or she must also raise money from many different people. This naturally requires time as well as money, persuasive skills and an extensive network of friends and associates.

In order to establish credibility, candidates must begin raising money relatively early within the campaign. If a candidate is wealthy, there is always the option of funding one’s own campaign either in part or in whole, but this can result in a significant personal financial burden.

When candidates are not raising money, they must also spend time mastering the skills necessary to succeed, which may be skills they previously did not possess. He or she must become familiar with their district and the concern of the voters in that district.

The personal life of a candidate is also open to intense scrutiny from the press. Candidates can be assured that if they have any skeletons in their closet, they will be revealed at some point during the campaign. Any disgruntled former love interests or employees will invariably make an appearance. Business dealings that may have had even a hint of being less than above aboard will come to light.

The ordeals faced throughout a campaign most certainly affect who ultimately decides to run for office. While there may be numerous people who would like to serve in Congress, once those ordeals are taken into consideration, many people determine it is not worth the cost. As a result, the choices of voters and the quality of results are often directly influenced by the ordeals faced on the campaign trail.

Reference: A Better Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Chapter 2 The Ordeals of a Campaign

To learn more about ways in which you can change Congress and receive better results, consider these Capitol Learning Audio Courses: How to Work the Hill Like a Pro, and Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress.

To learn more about persuading Congress, consider our course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill, and Capitol Hill Workshop.

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

In general I find Congressional reform proposals, including filibuster abolition, difficult to evaluate. There is no simple model at hand. Sometimes the median voter model is useful, but in most cases it implies the reforms don’t matter, a conclusion which I would not wish to accept so readily. Multi-dimensional cycling models often imply that either a) it still doesn’t matter (the agenda setter remains in charge), or b) it matters some huge amount in a way which is difficult to forecast but the entire political equilibrium can shift and not just locally.

“Joseph Gibson on how to improve Congress,” by Tyler Cowen, Marginal Revolution, December 30, 2010

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

It’s no secret that the key to gaining support for an issue in Washington is to gather as many allies as possible and then translate those allies to critical votes. Congress responds to pressure, so the more people and groups you have as allies, the greater chance you have to achieve your goals.

photo credit: nonanet

When you begin with a new issue, you want to work with others who share your interest on that particular issue. Determining who is directly affected by the issue will give you an understanding of who your allies might be. Although it might seem obvious who your allies might be, this is not always the case –there can be potential allies that are less obvious.

Once you have identified potential allies, the next step is to get in touch with them and work towards enlisting their assistance in your cause. In many instances these potential allies may not be aware of your existence or of your issue. Lobbyists, whose job is to study every move made by Congress, can not stay on top of everything. Do not make the mistake of assuming that potential allies know about you and your issue–it is up to you to get the word out.

You also want to learn whether your prospective allies are willing to contribute resources to supporting you. It is common for people to say they have an interest in an issue but in the end they do not believe it is important enough for them to spend money or time on it. This can be a problem with organizations and companies when they feel an issue is not especially urgent or if they feel that nothing will be done about it in the near future. You can avoid this type of problem by approaching someone directly affected by the issue in the company or organization your want involved.

After you have compiled a list of people who are willing to work on the issue, get them together and develop a plan. Make sure everyone contributes something by assigning tasks and placing someone in charge of assuring those tasks are carried out.

To learn more about persuading Congress, consider our course Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill, and Capitol Hill Workshop.

Reference: Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson, Ch. 29 Allies

Also see

• “What’s the deal with contacting my Representative or Senators?”
• Our FAQ: “How to Contact Congress”
• How do I get an American flag that has flown over the U.S. Capitol?
• A Guide for Communicating with Congress

For more information about working with Congress, see these resources from TheCapitol.Net:

• Publications
  • Persuading Congress, by Joseph Gibson
  • Lobbying and Advocacy, by Deanna Gelak
  • Citizen’s Handbook to Influencing Elected Officials, by Bradford Fitch
  • Congressional Deskbook, by Michael L. Koempel and Judy Schneider
• Live courses in Washington, DC:
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • Strategies for Working with Congress: Effective Communication and Advocacy on Capitol Hill
  • Preparing and Delivering Congressional Testimony
• Custom on-site training:
  • Capitol Hill Day / Government Affairs Institute / National Advocacy Day
  • Capitol Hill Workshop
  • How Washington Works
• Capitol Learning Audio Courses:
  • Effectively Using Persuasion in Your Oral Presentations: A Trial Lawyer’s Perspective
  • How to Work the Hill Like a Pro
  • Making the Most of a Site Visit with a Member of Congress
  • Strategies and Tactics That Will Help You Impact Congressional Action

In his new book “A Better Congress: Change the rules, change the results,” Joseph Gibson proposes a novel idea, why don’t members of Congress use plain English when they write legislation. “If bills were drafted in clearer language, perhaps more members would read and understand them. If the bills then became law, the public might understand them better as well. Of the 460 public laws passed during 2007-08, seventeen were technical corrections bills that fixed drafting mistakes in prior laws — that Congress needed to pass so many of these bills illustrates the problems that complexity introduces.”
. . .
Gibson has a bunch of other useful suggestions for improvement but given Congress’ tendency to make things more, not less, complicated, what are the odds they’ll take his advice? Perhaps as a Christmas gift each member should get his book as a stocking stuffer.

“Quick fix for Congress: Speak English!” by Abby Wisse Schachter, New York Post, December 15, 2010

Echoes this suggestion from a reader:

“Makes a great gift for your representatives in Congress!”

A Better Congress is available for purchase at this NYC bookstore: Crawford Doyle Booksellers, 1082 Madison Avenue, New York, NY

Journalists: To request interviews, contact Sandy Trupp at Planned Television Arts, trupps@plannedtvarts.com or 202-974-5002.

It’s one of the persistent complaints about our government: Why can’t Congress get anything done? Actually, getting issues debated and voted on is much simpler in the House of Representatives, where only a majority vote is required. But, in the Senate, the process can be much more difficult. Over the past two years, and in fact, over the past few Presidential administrations, the filibuster, which used to be more of a last-ditch tactic, has come into play more and more as our nation has become more closely divided in its views. It takes 60 votes to allow an issue to be debated before the full Senate, making it difficult to advance legislation on controversial issues. Plus, individual Senators can put a hold on some Senate actions, further grinding things to a halt. What can be done to get the Congress to work more efficiently? We’ll ask Joseph Gibson, an attorney who has worked in all three branches of the Federal government, and written the book “A Better Congress: Change the Rules, Change the Results: A Modest Proposal” (published by Two Seas Media). It’s not only a critique of how Congress currently works – or doesn’t work – it contains some bold proposals on how Congress can be changed so more of the people’s business can be accomplished.

Joseph Gibson, author of A Better Congress, interviewed on The Jim Bohannon Show, December 8, 2010

From a reader:

“Makes a great gift for your representatives in Congress!”

Journalists: To request interviews, contact Sandy Trupp at Planned Television Arts, trupps@plannedtvarts.com or 202-974-5002.

ALEXANDRIA, VA – Irrespective of which party controls the majority, existing congressional practices will remain in place. Without significant change to those practices, they will produce the same old results. Those same old results have driven the country into a dire situation. It is time to correct for this. It is time — and it is possible — to turn things around. Congress needs to reform its own ways of doing business.

Joseph Gibson’s newest book, A Better Congress: Change the Rules, Change the Results, proposes a completely new approach to running Congress. Call it a radical return to basics. Radical? Yes, but doable. Gibson, a congressional insider, knows what can be accomplished. He also knows how to make it happen.

A few of his radical, yet workable ideas:

• Limit the number of bills members can introduce, limit the number of pages per bill, and require each member who votes to read the bill.
• Ban fundraising when Congress is in session.
• Make serving in Congress a part time job with the expectation that members would hold other full time jobs.
• Allow the minority party to control some part of the agenda.

In Gibson’s view, the reforms in his book would lessen the partisan divide, limit the time wasted on frivolous legislation, keep the members focused on wise policymaking rather than simply winning elections, and increase the pool of worthy candidates who will actually run for office.

Gibson has served as House Judiciary Committee chief minority counsel, chief legislative counsel, chief antitrust counsel, parliamentarian—and Chief of Staff to a prominent Texas Congressman. He is also the author of Persuading Congress: A Practical Guide to Parlaying an Understanding of Congressional Folkways and Dynamics into Successful Advocacy on Capitol Hill, published earlier this year by TheCapitol.Net.

Two Seas Media and TheCapitol.Net are privately held, non-partisan publishing and training companies based in Alexandria, VA. For over 30 years, TheCapitol.Net and its predecessor, Congressional Quarterly Executive Conferences, have been training professionals from government, military, business, and NGOs on the dynamics and operations of the legislative and executive branches and how to work with them.

Journalists: To request interviews, contact Sandy Trupp at Planned Television Arts, trupps@plannedtvarts.com or 202-974-5002. To request review copies, contact the publisher: publisher@thecapitol.net or 703-739-3790, ext. 0.