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.
Service by the Numbers
Since March 1, 2020, my office has reached a total of more than 588,000 folks in the First District through email, phone call, letter, or social media posts and messages. Through proactive emailer items alone, my office has reached more than 225,000 constituents during the pandemic.
In that same period, my 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, my 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, I have safely 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. I have 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.
Our work has not gone unnoticed either. I was named a finalist for the prestigious Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) Democracy Award in the category of Constituent Service earlier this year. While I did not receive the overall award in this category in the 2020 Democracy Awards, I am so 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. I was also named the winner in the category of Exemplary Public Service for the first-ever CMF Democracy Awards in 2018.
My Bipartisan Work for You
In addition to my work for individuals throughout the pandemic, I also want to highlight my bipartisan work for you throughout this Congress.
The only way we get things done in Washington is by working together to achieve real results for the American people. It is not through divisiveness, it is not through hollow rhetoric and unclear plans, but through coming together to find commonsense solutions to the everyday problems that face people in VA-01.
Throughout my time in Congress, I have worked in a bipartisan fashion to get things done. From legislation in Congress to conserve wildlife habitats in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, to support for broadband grants in counties from Mathews to King George, to supporting funding for infrastructure improvements in the Fredericksburg region, working with my colleagues in a bipartisan manner is the only way we move forward.
I believe we should be looking at what we can achieve through bipartisanship, not division; plans, not rhetoric. I believe there is more common ground in the American spirit, especially among the people I have met over my time in Congress, than we see on TV. When we seek to solve this nation’s problems, it’s that common ground that we should be finding and where we should be putting our effort, not into looking where the differences are.
That is why I continue to work on a bipartisan basis to get things done. In fact, just this Congress, I have worked in a bipartisan manner to introduce legislation including:
In addition, this Congress I have so far been an
original cosponsor on 38 bipartisan bills introduced by my colleagues across the aisle:
- Computers for Veterans and Students Act
- National NEVER FORGET Act
- Gold Star Families Parks Pass Act
- Chesapeake Bay Science, Education, and Ecosystem Enhancement Act of 2019
- Freedom To Invest in Tomorrow's Workforce Act
- To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 1201 Sycamore Square Drive in Midlothian, Virginia, as the "Dorothy Braden Bruce Post Office Building"
- Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Act of 2019
- Federal Firefighter Flexibility and Fairness Act
- Virginia Beach Strong Act
- Improving Access to Remote Behavioral Health Treatment Act of 2019
- To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 117 West Poythress Street in Hopewell, Virginia, as the "Reverend Curtis West Harris Post Office Building"
- Energizing American Shipbuilding Act of 2019
- Keep America's Waterfronts Working Act
- Water Resources Research Amendments Act
- Refuge System Protection Act
- Nuclear Energy Leadership Act
- To designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2509 George Mason Drive in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as the "Ryan Keith Cox Post Office Building"
- Savannah Hope Stillbirth Child Tax Credit Act
- Chesapeake Bay Gateways and Watertrails Network Reauthorization Act of 2019
- Tobacco to 21 Act
- Protect Medical Innovation Act of 2019
- National Purple Heart Hall of Honor Commemorative Coin Act
- Children of Fallen Servicemembers AMT Relief Act of 2019
- Diesel Emissions Reduction Act of 2019
- Chesapeake Bay Program Reauthorization Act
- Migratory Birds of the Americas Conservation Act
- UIGHUR Act of 2019
- America's Conservation Enhancement Act
- Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act
- Making continuing appropriations for the Coast Guard
- Federal Employee Retroactive Pay Fairness Act
- Supporting the goals and ideals of National Public Health Week
- Expressing support for the designation of the month of June 2020 as "National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Month" and June 27, 2020, as "National Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Awareness Day"
- Supporting Minor League Baseball
- Expressing support for the designation of the week beginning on October 13, 2019, as National Wildlife Refuge Week
- Expressing support for the designation of Journeyman Lineman Recognition Day
- Honoring the victims of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Congratulating and honoring Rodney Robinson on receiving the 2019 National Teacher of the Year Award
- Recognizing National Foster Care Month
From rebuilding our Navy to increasing access to broadband, to making sure our children have a 21st-century education, I am constantly working for the First District.
While I know we may not always agree, it’s critically important that we work together for the common good. I believe that the best ideas don’t come from Washington, but from people like you. And in today’s hyper-connected world, it is important to hear from all sides, rather than remain trapped in an echo-chamber. One of the roles I take most seriously as your member of Congress is to hear, not just from folks who agree with me, but from all people I serve in the People’s House.
I will not stop working with my colleagues to get real results for Virginia. I believe that we will come through these times stronger than ever as we work together to restore, rebuild, and renew our communities and nation. As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces, a senior member of the Natural Resources Committee, and Co-Chair of the House Rural Broadband Caucus, I will continue to work in a bipartisan manner to address the issues that matter most to you and implement real solutions.
