When you contact your legislators, be polite and clear. Ask that they support a specific piece of legislation. Sometimes, if the office is particularly busy, the secretary will simply thank you and take down your name, address, and possibly phone number. You may also ask to speak to the delegate's or senator's legislative aide, and then you can enter into a longer conversation about why you want them to support the particular bill. If you have personal experiences that would shed light on the importance of the bill, talk about those experiences.
Representatives remember personal experiences best.
Representatives want to hear from their constituents. Constituents can do much to encourage legislators to support laws, but the first step is to educate legislators about the importance of those laws. By clicking on to your representative's name, you will be connected to their webpage. Some representatives, such as James Moran, include forms for constituents to fill out online so that they do not need an email account to contact their representative electronically. The two U.S. Senators representing Virginia are George Allen and John Warner.