[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 165 (Wednesday, September 23, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H4720-H4721]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING STAFF ASSISTANTS, LEGISLATIVE CORRESPONDENTS, AND LEGISLATIVE 
                               ASSISTANTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Shimkus) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to thank those young men and 
women who have served the people of Illinois and the country as staff 
assistants, legislative correspondents, and legislative assistants.
  I include in the Record a list of their names.

       Blanford, Thomas; Blanford, Meredith; Boyer, Davis; Cardon, 
     Flavio (Amaya); Chang, Albert; Chiang, Alex; Clanahan, Chase; 
     Culp, Grant; Daulby, Jen; Davidsmeyer, CD; DeWitt, Bret; 
     Esposito, Tony; Flanigan, Matt; Goldenstein, Jim; Hatzis, 
     Luke; Haverly, Jordan; Jamison, Reno; Johnson, Matt.
       Kirsh, Ari; Lange, Kelly (Childress); Lloyd, Amy (Mathews); 
     Madden, Steve; Mateer, Mike; Mesack, Michelle (Yahng); 
     Miniat, Charlie; Nordquist, Matt; Olson, Bill; Olson, 
     Richard; Pfister, Sam; Reinhard, Courtney (Anderson); 
     Risolute, Scott; Sarley, Chris; Schonert, Neil; Tvrdy, Joe; 
     Uram, Steve; Wolf, Saralyn (Tucker); Youssefiani, Darius.

  Mr. SHIMKUS. Mr. Speaker, staff assistants are the first person a 
visitor sees or hears in my D.C. office. First impressions are lasting 
impressions, so even though they are the lowest on the totem pole, they 
are very important.
  Staff assistants welcome visitors from the district. They help direct 
them and, many times, conduct tours of the Capitol. They help 
constituents with hotel information and lists of other tourist venues.
  Flags flown over the Capitol are highly sought after. These flags are 
requested for memorial events and thank-yous. Many times they are 
needed in a timely manner and, most times, have a specific date that 
the flag should be flown. Staff assistants ensure that this is done.
  The tough part of the job is answering the phones. Sometimes these 
calls are overwhelming and will get rolled to another staff member. 
Many times the callers are just plain mean and nasty. Just like in 
baseball, if the caller says the magic words, they are gone. There is 
no need to put my staff in that position. It is sad that adults act 
this way and young adults have to put up with it.
  The next position in my office is the legislative correspondent. For 
me, these folks are concerned with writing and mailing letters in 
response to inquiries. Since I do not do bulk mailings, this job is 
even more important in that individual letters received by my office 
receive an individual response by me. Most of the time, I have 
constituents thanking me for responding. Very few times did we drop the 
ball, and if we did, I would circle back with my staff and we would get 
a letter out.
  The legislative correspondent has the legislative assistant's help 
with the letter, which will be reviewed by my legislative director and 
the chief of staff. The legislative correspondent gets an idea of the 
width and the breadth and the depth of policy issues that constituents 
are concerned with. It is a great place to start.
  Sometimes, on a very contentious issue, I will draft the letter 
myself. These letters have to come from the heart.
  Legislative correspondents usually move to the legislative assistant 
position. Legislative assistants start specializing in specific policy 
areas. They may have some background in these areas, or they can be 
totally foreign to them. This is where a college degree based upon 
research, analysis, and writing pays off.
  As a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, my subcommittees 
have to be covered. But it is not uncommon for staff members to carry a 
diversified portfolio of issues that they have to follow.

[[Page H4721]]

  Can you imagine having to follow the evolving world of energy issues 
while also being responsible for education, veteran affairs, and 
foreign policy? This is a smaller example of the larger issues Members 
have to be on top of every day. The only way we can do that is with the 
help of our legislative assistants, and for that, I thank them.
  From this position, some have continued to become legislative 
directors, work on a committee, become chief of staff, work in the 
private sector, or return home to start other careers. Some may even 
find their way back to D.C. as a Member of Congress. This does happen.
  What a great benefit to have these young men and women sacrifice 
their time to serve the country. It is stressful; there are long hours; 
their compensation is limited, especially considering the high cost of 
living in D.C.
  Whenever they leave this place, they will have an appreciation that 
governing is difficult and that most Members come to D.C. with a real 
desire to serve, just as they did. They have my thanks.

                          ____________________