WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) released the following constituent services numbers from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic through early October. During the pandemic, Congressman Wittman’s office has been one of the most active in communicating with constituents, providing vital updates and the latest guidance from federal and state agencies as well as national, regional, and local organizations and resources available to individuals.
“Since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis,” said Congressman Wittman, “I have made it my top priority to communicate with the people I serve and provide them with the latest updates and information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Virginia Department of Health (VDH), and others, as well as my work for them in Washington. COVID-19 has impacted the lives of millions of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, age, race, or walk of life.
“My number one priority is listening to the people I represent and using their thoughts, concerns, and insights to better represent them in Washington and to help them through these difficult times. I am so grateful for my staff as they, too, are public servants dedicated to constituent service. We have a one-stop-shop mentality in my office, and we work tirelessly to ensure that constituents contacting our office get the best service possible.”
Since March 1, 2020, Congressman Wittman’s office has reached a total of more than 588,000 constituents in the First District through email, phone call, letter, or social media posts and messages. Through proactive emailer items alone, Wittman’s office has reached more than 225,000 constituents during the pandemic.
In that same period, Wittman’s office has opened 856 constituent cases and has closed 727. These are cases that have been formally opened with the office and that number does not include quick-turnaround casework assistance. Constituent casework is assistance provided to individuals to help them with requests to federal agencies, like getting the veterans benefits they deserve, helping people receive their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, or resolving issues with their social security payments, and to act as an ombudsman between constituents and state agencies.
In that same period, Wittman’s office sent out more than 41,500 responses to constituent inquiries and inbound office contacts via email, letter, or phone call. For reference, during that same period in 2019, Wittman’s office sent roughly 36,000 outbound responses.
Also during that time, Congressman Wittman visited more than 40 locations across Virginia’s First District, at all times following the latest CDC and VDH guidance and regulations, to meet with area constituents, local officials, and community leaders. He has also attended or hosted more than 50 virtual calls, webinars, telephone town halls, updates, and Zoom calls with people and organizations across Virginia’s First Congressional District.
Congressman Wittman’s work has not gone unnoticed either. He was named a finalist for the prestigious Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) Democracy Award in the category of Constituent Service earlier this year. While he did not receive the overall award in this category in the 2020 Democracy Awards, he is honored to have been selected as one of four Republican finalists in his category. The Constituent Service category nominations recognize offices for their outstanding practices or achievements acting as ombudsmen with the federal government or responding to constituent requests and inquiries. He was also named the winner in the category of Exemplary Public Service for the first-ever CMF Democracy Awards in 2018.
Congressman Rob Wittman represents the 1st District of Virginia. He serves on the House Natural Resources Committee and the House Armed Services Committee, where he serves as the ranking member of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee.
