[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 199 (Wednesday, December 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9761-S9762]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     
     
                                     CASEWORK
     
       Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I want to speak briefly now about the 
     tens of thousands of Vermonters served by my casework staff over my 
     time in office. It has always been a priority of mine to make sure that 
     my constituents could call my office if they were having difficulties 
     with Federal Agencies and reach a knowledgeable and sympathetic 
     caseworker to help them cut through redtape. When I first opened my 
     Vermont office, people told me that if I gave out my office phone 
     number, I would get inundated by phone calls. And I told them that I 
     was elected to serve Vermonters. Since 1995, we have closed 25,000 
     cases, and countless more were closed in the day before digital 
     records.
       I deeply believe in the ability of government to help people who are 
     struggling. However, I am not blind to the fact that the dual 
     imperatives of efficiency and customer service mean that even the most 
     well-intentioned government bureaucracies can be difficult to navigate 
     at times.
       The particular challenge of the Federal Government is its almost 
     unimaginable scale relative to the individual people that it serves. 
     Imagine that in 2022 an average of 66 million Americans per month will 
     receive a Social Security benefit, totaling over $1 trillion in
     
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     benefits paid during the year. Imagine further that the Social Security 
     Administration spends about a half a percentage point of those trillion 
     dollars to administer all of those benefits. Our dedicated Federal 
     civil servants are the best in the world, but individual Americans 
     still at times fall through the cracks due to their unique 
     circumstances and are unable to get what they need. Frustration and 
     disillusionment can follow, and this is corrosive to faith in 
     government and ultimately to democracy itself.
       Combating these feelings of disempowerment was the challenge and 
     mission of the casework staff in my Vermont offices. They were not able 
     to solve every problem put in front of them, but they always did their 
     best. For 48 years, they talked with any constituent who called my 
     office with an issue regarding a Federal agency, regardless of wealth, 
     power, or political affiliation. They helped Vermonters resolve 
     immigration issues, get their passports, process their Social Security 
     Disability Insurance applications, get needed care from the Veteran's 
     Administration. When they spotted systemic failures, they worked with 
     my staff in Washington to write legislation in order to make things 
     work better in the future.
       My staff and I helped constituents with issues writ large and small 
     because what seems trivial to one person can be incredibly important to 
     another. Hearing from Vermonters every day helped me do a better job in 
     Washington. Just as importantly, my staff always let Vermonters know 
     that they mattered.
     
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