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How to Send a Petition to Congress
This page describes how a City, County or State can submit an impeachment petition that will be sent to the House Judiciary Committee. We have verified this procedure with the House Parliamentarian's office, Sergeant at Arms, Pitney Bowes and others.
- Pass a resolution based on this recommended document, or a resolution of your own design.
- Prepare a cover letter with the word "Memorial" at the top if it is from a state, or "Petition" if it is from a city or other body.
- Attach a copy of your local resolution.
- Sign the cover letter using an original authorizing signature. It cannot be a copy, fax or stamp. Petitions without an original signature will be rejected so this is extremely important. The signature must be from the head of the group, or whoever else has the authority to sign for the group. For a town that is typically the Mayor and/or City Clerk. Your town may be different.
- Send the package to the Speaker's office. Do not send it to Pelosi's office even though she is the Speaker. They are separate offices.
Office of the Speaker
H-232, US Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-0100 - Packages sent to Congress by postal mail or Fed Ex will be delayed 2 to 3 business days for security screening by Pitney-Bowes. One can speed up this process by going to the Visitor's desk in Congress and asking to "courier" a document to the Speaker's office. The package will be irradiated on the spot and then the person can deliver it by hand to the Speaker's office.
If you are in a rush and can't fly to Washington DC then you can sign a contract with "Washington Courier", then Fed Ex your documents to them. They will hand deliver the documents for same day delivery. - The Speaker's Office will send the petition to the Parliamentarian Office. They are a non-partisan office and do not reject a petition as long as it has an original signature. They will decide which committee it will go to. Impeachment charges are generally referred to the Judiciary Committee. A resolution calling for a "select committee" will be sent to the Rules Committee.
- The petition will then be sent to the Legislative Resource Center and "laid on the desk of the Clerk".
- The Clerk of the House of Representatives will enter the petition in the Congressional Record and then refer it to the committee recommended by the Parliamentarian Office.
- A copy of an impeachment petition will probably end up in the Judiciary Committee office. But it would save time to also send a copy to Conyer's office directly.
Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
To follow this process further,
continue to "How the Congress Handles Impeachment".
