For Constituents, Help Is On The Hill
It was a frantic, desperate cry for help. Determined to stop a brutal killing, the terrified and helpless caller
dialed the local office of her congressman. Calmly and step by step, with the nerves of a 911 operator, the
congressional aide on the other end of the line walked the woman through a very difficult situation.
Within minutes, the family cat had been shooed from the kitchen with a broom and a tiny, frightened lizard
saved from kitty mischief and swept out the back door. An almost certain death had been averted. In the day
of a congressional caseworker, it was just another constituent problem resolved.
Nearly 1,100 men and women handle the constituent problems of the 435 members of the House of
Representatives -- an average of two to three caseworkers for every half-million people who make up a
congressional district. In any given month, a congressional office may have 300 pending cases, not including
requests that are resolved by phone.
The bulk of this casework involves federal government gone awry -- problems with the Social Security
Administration, the IRS, military services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Medicare and Medicaid
benefits and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Indeed, most lawmakers consider their constituent
services the "bread and butter" of reelection and pretty much make it policy not to turn away any request.
Not all cases are as easy to resolve as the cat/lizard caper. Most, in fact, are serious and sometimes the way
they're handled makes a great difference in the quality of a constituent's life. Frustrated by bureaucracy in
times of personal, family or business crisis, people turn to their congressman. Those who have benefited from
such intervention tend to remember at election time.
During the years, however, there have been calls to do away with congressional caseworkers. The complaint?
The services they provide are self-serving and place the incumbent in a better position for reelection. Those
who would change the system say the creation of an ombudsman approach, similar to what is practiced in
Sweden, would be a more practical way to handle difficulties with the federal bureaucracy.
"The problem with the ombudsman system is that the people who work in the federal agencies are faceless
bureaucrats. They don't put as much personal interest into a constituent's problem,” says Rick Shapiro of the
Washington Management Foundation. He adds, "A good caseworker listens and cuts through the emotion to
get to the facts. They understand that a little hand-holding shows how much the congressman cares about his
constituents."
Because members of Congress consider their constituent services part of their incumbent advantage and
congressional duties, it's unlikely they ever will relinquish the responsibility. It is, most members believe, one
area where they can personalize the face of government.
Rep. David Dreier, a California Republican just reelected to his 10th term and the new chairman of the House
Rules Committee, has been devoted to constituent services for 18 years. "As a newly elected member of
Congress, I had the greatest intentions. I wanted to be accessible to my constituents, so I listed my home
phone number. After a 5 a.m. call from a rather elderly woman who wanted to know what I was going to do
about a traffic ticket she received in Beverly Hills, it dawned on me that this probably wasn't a good idea and
I immediately had my number changed," he laughs.
The lawmaker nonetheless has remained personally close to solving constituent problems with big government
and is openly proud of his staff. "I'm very privileged to have a great group of caseworkers. They know how
to handle any case and, regardless of how much they want to help, they realize that there are some things that
just aren't possible." He smiles and adds, "As necessary, they know when to get me personally involved."
The difficulties Dreier constituent Mary Reese experienced with the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
or INS, was one of those problems that required the congressman's personal attention. After completing all
the necessary legal requirements in the United States, Reese flew to Taiwan in 1980 to adopt a newborn. The
United States had no formal relations with Taiwan and the adoption was being handled there by a private
liaison agency and then through Hong Kong -- the closest U.S. Embassy to Taiwan. But INS officials in Hong
Kong refused to grant the baby a visa because of a snafu concerning the natural mother's marital status.
Reese, unable to resolve the problem in Hong Kong, was forced to return the child to a foster home in
Taiwan and fly back to the United States alone. Heartbroken and desperate, she contacted Dreier for help.
For nearly two years, Dreier's office chopped away at the bureaucratic red tape that separated adoptive
mother and child, even going so far as to introduce a private relief bill in Congress. Just short of the child's
second birthday, thanks to their congressman, this mother and her Taiwanese daughter were reunited.
"He stuck in there all the way, dealing with the INS and both the U.S. and Taiwan courts," Reese tells
Insight. Choking back tears, she adds, "If it weren't for Congressman Dreier, I wouldn't be a mother today."
Omara Reese is now a senior in high school and looking forward to college.
"It sounds Pollyanna-ish,” says Dreier, "but the most rewarding part of my job is helping people. It's one of
the main reasons I'm here, and I want to do whatever I can to help.”
Three thousand miles away is the 5th District of Maryland, home of Rep. Steny Hoyer, a Democrat who is as
liberal as Dreier is conservative. Hoyer also is busy at constituent services. Some of the more quirky requests
he has received include one from a constituent who called seeking help for a swan that had wandered onto his
property and gotten its neck stuck in his fence. And then there was the call from a disgruntled husband who
was seeking the congressman's help to get his mother-in-law deported.
"You wouldn't believe some of the requests that come in to my office,” Hoyer says in amazement. "But,” he
tells Insight, "we try to help, even if it's just pointing them in the right direction."
In the case of Ronald Criss, a dentist in Hoyer's district, the congressman's staff provided more than direction.
Criss was two weeks from closing the sale of his townhouse when a problem arose with the Department of
Housing and Urban Development. Criss' real-estate agent suggested he contact Hoyer's office. Within two
hours of meeting with the congressman's staff, the problem with the bureaucracy had been resolved. "I'm not
a political person," says Criss, "and had my agent not suggested the Congressman's services, I probably
would never have thought to ask for his help. But without it I probably would have lost the sale on the
townhouse."
Not all cases end in good news. Often the help of a congressional office is elicited to notify a family of a
death, retrieve the remains of a loved one who has died overseas or locate and repatriate a loved one to the
United States during a foreign crisis.
For the most part, the caseworkers are not trained psychologists, social workers or mental-health specialists,
but must assume all of these roles to be effective. The downside to casework is that there is no magic wand,
no way to snap the congressman's fingers and guarantee that the bureaucracy will behave. "Fifty percent of
my job is making sure that the average citizen is treated fairly by their government. We can't always fix things,
but I listen and try to help. That's the most I can do," says Hoyer.
"In an ideal world there may be a better way to handle constituent problems within the federal bureaucracy,
but historically bureaucracies have been unresponsive,” observes Burdett Loomis, professor of political
science at the University of Kansas. He adds, "If a member of Congress does a good job with casework,
there's a reward. It not only helps the constituent but also the member politically. In the bureaucracy there's
no incentive to break their backs to get things resolved."
"If I've been helpful to my constituents through casework, it may help overcome problems they have with a
legislative vote, but it doesn't ensure my reelection," Hoyer says. He adds, "Casework is just one side of the
bread and butter."
