Helping Out is All Part of a Day's Work in Congress
When Bureaucrats Turn Deaf Ear, Politicians Listen
By Richard Powelson
Knoxville News Sentinel
June 15, 2003

WASHINGTON - People often call members of Congress to help with routine federal benefits, but creative Tennesseans have found them also useful for obtaining free dentures, getting rid of skunks and completing the adoption of a baby from China.

A survey of the state's two U.S. Senate offices and East Tennessee's four U.S. House offices found there are few things they won't tackle. The untouchables usually involve legal battles, unsolvable financial problems, and certain state and local issues.

Tracey and David Steward of Germantown, Tenn., waited 15 months to adopt a baby from China, and finally had their nine-month-old Chinese girl in their arms in Nanning, China, in late March. But new U.S. security rules imposed as troops were about to enter Iraq prevented them from leaving China unless they first returned childless to the United States to provide new fingerprint records.

Desperate, devastated, they called three Tennessee congressional offices. The first to call back, 10 minutes later, was Sen. Lamar Alexander's staff. An aide promised to work on their case immediately.

"It was very frightening," Tracey Steward said. "We cried and prayed all night."

Within eight hours, Alexander's staff had worked out exemptions for the couple with U.S. diplomats and security officials, she said. "It couldn't have worked out any better for us," she said in an interview Friday. "I could kiss his entire staff."

Similar stories come out of other offices.

Roughly a week ago, the Knoxville grandmother of a U.S. soldier died. The soldier had completed duty in Iraq and was on a ship outside Seattle. His aunt told U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., a Knoxville Republican, that the family could not get Red Cross or military officials to speed up leave for the soldier so he could attend his grandmother's funeral the next day.

Duncan got his chief of staff, Bob Griffitts, working immediately that Sunday with the State Department and military officials and arranged for the soldier to arrive in time for the funeral.

"When you can help somebody, it's a real good feeling," Duncan said. "I don't promise people results. I guarantee people that I'll try to help them."

Not every case requires leaning on federal agencies. One poor woman called U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp's office saying she could not afford dentures she needed. Could his office help? Calling several charities, a Wamp aide located one that provided the dentures free.

Other cases take much more time. A very ill orphan boy in Honduras, found by a Chattanooga surgeon and a Baptist goodwill team, got life-saving surgery in Chattanooga. But U.S. immigration officials began trying to send him back to Honduras despite lingering health problems from fetal alcohol syndrome. Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican, and his staff worked months before gaining approval for a one-year visa extension to allow the boy to continue receiving U.S. medical help.

A Vietnam veteran from Polk County with physical and mental disabilities had medical records that his doctor said proved he qualified for full-disability benefits. Veterans Administration officials disagreed. Wamp's staff worked the case for about a year and a half, and Wamp's chief of staff, Helen Hardin, even hand-delivered the man's medical records to VA officials.

The VA finally approved the man's disability and gave him $40,000 that included retroactive benefits. The veteran told Wamp's staff that the money would allow him and his family, including children ages 8 and 10, to buy their first house.

"There were a lot of tears all around at that meeting," Hardin said.

Wamp said helping people in need is a primary part of his job.

"We have drawers - drawers that are packed with letters of thank-yous for things that we have done for people. That's a very rewarding thing, and sometimes it's incredibly emotional."

House and Senate offices in Tennessee report that they each receive about 175 to 400 requests a month for help. They each dedicate three to seven full-time staff members to work on the requests, and other staff help part time as needed.

Sen. Bill Frist's office, like others, works many cases seeking Social Security benefits, adoptions overseas, veterans' benefits and immigration assistance.

But they often also are asked for help getting football tickets to University of Tennessee or Tennessee Titans football games. Sorry, those callers are told, you will have to call the team ticket offices, Frist spokesman Nick Smith said.

Neither Frist's staff nor the office of U.S. Rep. Bill Jenkins of Rogersville would discuss specifics of key cases they handled, citing privacy concerns.

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, a Pall Mall Democrat who joined Congress in January, scheduled open office time in Hickman County earlier this year and met a woman who had tried in vain for 10 months to resolve a workers' compensation claim. He put an aide to work on the case, and the woman got her benefits.

In her thank-you letter to Davis and aide Bill Mason, the woman said: "I am extremely thankful I finally found someone who was truly interested in listening to the real story. You have proven to me you are for the working citizen."

Several federal facilities in Oak Ridge are alleged to have caused permanent illnesses or in some cases even the deaths of people who worked there. Congress responded to the claims by passing a law providing compensation payments of $150,000 for former workers with certain permanent illnesses or for their survivors.

Workers can try to make their own case for the federal payment or contact their member of Congress. Wamp's office said it is working on the cases of about 65 former workers.

One of the workers used her medical records to prove eligibility for compensation but was still turned down.

Wamp's staff studied her file, found federal officials erred in reviewing the medical findings and were able to get her the $150,000 payment, Hardin said.

But she said Wamp's staff cannot aid those who call periodically for help in getting a their cat out of a tree. Such calls are referred to local rescue personnel.

A different animal problem was phoned into Duncan's office. A specific rural building was housing skunks that created a big stink in the nearby area, a neighbor complained. Duncan's staff wrote to the building's owner asking for help in getting the skunks out of that area. No one has complained of skunks around there again, Duncan aide Griffitts said.

Another day a woman mailed Duncan a photograph showing her greatly oversized breasts. An enclosed note cited the health problems they caused her, and she complained that her military health insurance would not pay for surgery. Duncan's staff got the military to reverse its decision.

"Casework is our No. 1 priority," Duncan said. "Reading the thank-you notes people send is one of the most pleasant parts of the job."