Congressional Member Office Operations

Order Code RL30807

CRS Report for Congress

Received through the CRS Web

Congressional Member Office Operations

Updated December 29, 2003

John S. Pontius

Specialist in American National Government

Government and Finance Division

Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress

Congressional Member Office Operations

Summary

Although Member personal congressional offices vary in structure, they all share

seven common functions: office management, legislation, projects, casework, mail,

press and public relations, and scheduling and reception.

The office management function comprises staff recruitment and pay,

coordination between district and state offices and the Member’s Washington, DC,

office, the assignment and flow of work through the office, and the efficient and

innovative use of space and equipment. By and large these responsibilities fall upon

the administrative assistant (AA), frequently now called chief of staff, and the office

manager or titular equivalent. The key ingredients of effective management are

preparation, flexibility, communication, and coordination.

Legislative staff perform numerous tasks associated with preparing Members

to fulfill their legislative duties. These involve finding and providing information,

research, and analysis, and assisting in devising strategies for accomplishing

legislative goals.

Projects and casework, which flow from request mail or visits, require

substantial staff time, and consist primarily of assisting local governments, public or

private organizations, and individuals in their transactions with federal agencies.

Mail — its receipt, processing, and responses — is a major draw on staff time.

It is also a task that Members value highly in their representational role as intervener

between constituents and the national government. There are basically three types

of mail: legislative mail, which seeks Members’ views and standing on proposals

and issues facing the nation; request mail, which calls upon Members for assistance

in dealing with the federal government; and special mail, which is judged of the

utmost importance and usually commands the attention of the Member or the AA.

Members employ staff knowledgeable about the press, and skilled in dealing

with it and with the public relations aspects of serving in the national legislature.

Press staff help to inform both Members and the representatives of the media.

Scheduling and reception duties encompass methods and techniques for juggling

competing demands for the Member’s time and the courteous reception of visitors

to Member offices.

Contents

Office Functions and Work Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Office Administration and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Staff Recruitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Coordination with District and State Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Employment Recommendation Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Work Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Office Space, Equipment, Efficiency, and Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Legislation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Projects, Grants and Casework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Projects and Grants Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Casework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Assigning Casework Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Analyzing the Constituent’s Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Handling Cases When Closing a Congressional Office . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Legislative Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Request Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Special Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Review and Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Press and Public Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Scheduling and Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Appendix A: Comparison of House and Senate Staff Positions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Appendix B: Job Titles Most Frequently Associated with an Office Function . 32

Appendix C: Office Administration and Management Staff: Duties, Tasks,

and Job Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Appendix D: Legislative Staff:

Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Appendix E: Projects, Grants and Casework Staff: Duties, Tasks, and

Job Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Appendix F: Mail Staff: Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Appendix G: Press and Public Relations Staff: Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles . 39

Appendix H: Reception and Scheduling Staff: Duties Tasks, and Job Titles . . 40

Appendix I: Job Descriptions of Congressional Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Appendix J: Sample Privacy Act Release Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

List of Tables

Table 1. Average Number of Staff in Washington, D.C. and District/State

Offices and Average Number of District/State Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Congressional Member Office Operations

Office Functions and Work Environment

Congressional staff perform a variety of functions to assist Members of

Congress in their representational and legislative duties.1 Some perform

administrative tasks only: organizing and supervising the work of other staff,

coordinating the Member’s schedule, and acting as liaisons between the staff in the

Washington office and those in the Member’s district/state offices. Other staff may

work exclusively on constituent services, answering correspondence, responding to

requests for assistance in dealing with federal agencies, or coordinating project

efforts with state and local governments. Still others may work exclusively on

legislative matters — assisting in developing legislative proposals supported by the

Member, monitoring legislative activity in the chamber and in committees, paying

particular attention to the work in progress in the committees and subcommittees on

which the Member serves, and responding to correspondence dealing with legislative

matters. A few work primarily with the media, handling press inquiries, scheduling

interviews, drafting press releases and newsletters, organizing press conferences, and

reviewing media coverage of the Member’s activities. Finally, some staff work in

supporting roles, either in clerical capacities or, more likely, computer operations that

reflect the increasing technological sophistication of Congress and its link with the

Internet.

Congressional offices have a distinctive environment which has been likened

to a “family” or “small” business. David Brady has identified five factors that define

the work environment in Member offices:

! Member independence, autonomy, and discretion in determining office

structure, staff recruitment, and staff pay;

! Member freedom to define his/her job as (s)he chooses and a concomitant

organization of the office to correspond to these choices;

! Diversified working environments among offices stemming from the

combined effects of points one and two;

! Loyalty to the Member as a key expectation, if not a requisite; and

1

Newly elected or appointed Members of Congress have only a short time to hire staff, equip

their offices, and begin operations. For full-length treatment of organizing and staffing an

office as a new Member, see Congressional Management Foundation, Setting Course: A

Congressional Management Guide for the 108th Congress (Washington: 2002).; and

Congressional Management Foundation, Frontline Management: A Guide for Congressional

District/State Offices (Washington: 1998).

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! Heavy and unpredictable demands on staff and the expectation that staff will

be available as necessary to perform them.2

Despite the independence of each congressional office, there is much

commonality of functions. All offices must answer the phone, respond to written and

electronic mail, assist constituents, and work on legislative tasks. Offices variously

divide and assign responsibilities and duties. Some employ a stratified system, while

others require most staff to perform some or all of routine daily chores; in some,

every employee has legislative responsibilities. Emergencies or unexpected events

— which can occur frequently — may require all staff to pitch in and help someone

in an assignment area outside of their own. The following functions are common to

all Member offices:

! office management

! mail

! projects

! casework

! legislation

! scheduling and reception

! press and public relations.

Appendices B-H list the job titles, duties, and tasks frequently associated with

these office functions.3 Appendix A provides a comparison of House and Senate

staff positions, average salary, tenure and age of staff. Appendix I contains a job

description of congressional staff. There is no “one right way” to define the

functions of a congressional office because events and circumstances require

periodic, even daily, adjustment in the operations of a congressional office.

Appendix J has a sample Privacy Act release form.

These lists were compiled through informal collaboration with numerous

congressional offices and through a review of the congressional literature on this

issue. Variation is common. For example, while most surveyed offices associated

projects and grants with the casework function (as reflected in the lists), some offices

associated them with the legislative function. Until recently, the study of

congressional staff organization was hampered by the lack of information from

Congress and elsewhere. The continuing lack of official job descriptions and job

uniformity, and the variation among offices in structure and the duties of the persons

having the same job title, further complicate generalizing about staff operations in

Members’ offices.

2

David W. Brady, “Personnel Management in the House,” in Joseph Cooper and G. Calvin

Mackenzie, eds., The House at Work (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), pp. 153-154.

3

U.S. Congress, House Commission on Administrative Review, Administrative

Reorganization and Legislative Management, vol. 2: Work Management, Sept. 28, 1977, p.

95.

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Office Administration and Management

You’ve never been told you have to operate a fair sized business ... And the

Member has to be able to fire members of his staff. Nobody tells you about that

either.

— A Member of Congress

A Member’s first years in office are a kind of “on-the-job training” experience,

in which the Member comes to grips with the dimensions of his role and

develops a personal approach to tasks. Given the many challenges, the overall

conclusion is readily apparent; the key to effectiveness in Congress is the ability

to organize well within a framework of carefully selected priorities. It is not

possible, however, to construct a grand master plan such that priorities and the

time devoted to each will neatly mesh, for legislative life is subject to sudden and

numerous complications.4

The administration of a congressional office is a blend of Member preferences

and House or Senate rules concerning employees, financial transactions, accounting,

space, furnishings, and equipment. Office management entails staff recruitment,

coordination between the Washington office and district or state offices, assignment

of duties to staff, contending with the work flow, seeing to equipment and space

needs, monitoring and expenditure of official allowances, and office and staff

efficiency and innovation. Most offices have a procedures manual to serve as a

source of instruction and reference for the staff. This usually includes personnel

policies, general office procedures, and information regarding the processing of mail.

Management must ensure their congressional office is in compliance with the

Congressional Accountability Act regarding overtime, employment discrimination,

and family and medical leave.5

In the House of Representatives, Members are authorized an annual clerk-hire

allowance with which they are permitted to employ no more than 18 permanent

persons and up to 4 part-time staff at any one time. In the Senate, a Member is

authorized a staff allowance according to the size of the state’s population. There are

no restrictions on the number of staff a Senator may hire. The average House staff

size is 14. The average Senate staff size is 35, although the range in the Senate is

from around 32 to as many as 45. These figures exclude voluntary interns and

congressional fellows.6

4

Sven Groennings, To Be a Congressman (Washington: Acropolis Books, 1973), p. 182.

5

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the administrative staff in a

congressional office are listed in Appendix C.

6

Congressional Management Foundation, 2002 House Staff Employment Study (Washington:

2002); and Congressional Management Foundation, 1999 Senate Staff Employment Study

(Washington: 1999). Data for Senate staff for 2001 is not available. See Appendix A:

Comparison of House and Senate Staff Positions by CMF. Also see Appendix I: Job

Descriptions of Congressional Staff in this report.

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Staff Recruitment

She has a masters in government, (he) thinks his writing sample is the definitive

work on the committee system, has letters of recommendation from two

professors, a clergyman, and the Congressman’s brother’s next door neighbors.

How do I find out if she can do her job? If I do decide to hire him, how do I use

the hiring to set the stage for future evaluation?

— A Congressional Staffer

The hiring of staff usually is done by the administrative assistant/chief of staff,

though others may also play a role, including the Member.7 Recruitment for

professional positions is still often “based primarily on informal, non-routinized

contacts and who knows whom”.8 Immediately following an election, newly elected

Members are deluged with applications for employment. Moreover, throughout a

Member’s congressional career, hardly a week goes by without at least someone

dropping off a resume, some of whom may get hired.

If a Member’s predecessor was of the same party, an incoming Member may

keep some of the former staff, but there are no guarantees this will be done. An

incoming Member may also consult with other Members from his state on staffing.

Incoming Members who have served in another elective office (e.g., state legislator)

sometimes bring some of their staff to Washington with them. Often Members make

an effort to hire staffers from their home state or district. A number of offices prefer

that at least one or more staffers, often the receptionist, be from the home state so that

constituents feel more welcome when they visit their Member’s Washington, D.C.

office.

Most staffers are hired to perform specific duties. In these cases, congressional

offices frequently seek out persons having the needed qualifications, skills, and

experience. Some persons are hired for their general capabilities. Duties may be

flexibly assigned on an ad hoc basis, a practice that has been the starting point for

distinguished staff careers. Many congressional staffers now considered authoritative

experts in various fields point out that their expertise began just because someone

was needed to cover a certain subject area. Expertise thus often grows from on-thejob experience.

Coordination with District and State Offices

Don’t those unreasonable people in (the district/state or Washington) have

anything better to do than to bother us with these senseless (requests/questions)?

Don’t they realize that the heart of this operation is right here in (the district/state

7

CRS Report 98-340, Congressional Staff: Duties and Functions, by John Pontius and Faye

Bullock; and for congressional office allowances, see CRS Report RL30064, Salaries and

Allowances: The Congress, by Paul Dwyer. For overall staffing trends throughout the

legislative branch, see CRS Report RL30996, Legislative Branch Employment: Trends in

Staffing, 1960-2000, by Paul Dwyer and Eric Petersen.

8

Harrison W. Fox, Jr. and Susan Webb Hammond, Congressional Staffs: The Invisible Force

in Lawmaking (New York: The Free Press, 1980), pp. 5-6.

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or Washington) and that our (reputation for service/legislative profile/political

progress/re-election) depends on us and not them?

— A Congressional Staffer

Representatives and Senators are authorized space for district/state offices in

federal buildings on a square footage basis or provided public funds to pay for private

office space if suitable federal space is unavailable. There are currently 990 such

field offices for House Members (or an average of 2.2 district offices per Member)

and 450 state offices for Senators (or an average of 4.5 state offices per Senator).

Approximately 44% of House personal staff (or 6 employees per Member) are

located in district offices, and more than 36% of Senate personal staff (or 12

employees per Senator) work in offices in the Senator’s state.9

Table 1. Average Number of Staff in Washington, D.C.

and District/State Offices and Average Number of

District/State Offices

Washington

D.C. Staff

District/State

Staff

Total Personal

Staff

Average Number of

District/State

Offices for a

Member

House

8.2

6.3

14.5

2.2

Senate

22.4

12.2

34.6

4.5

Source: Congressional Management Foundation, 2002 House Staff Employment Study (Washington:

2002), p. 43; and Congressional Management Foundation, 2001 Senate Staff Employment Study

(Washington: 2001), p. 66-67.

One requirement of maintaining offices both in Washington and at home is the

need to coordinate between them. While staff in state and district offices may

perform varying functions, their work should be coordinated with tasks performed

in Washington. District/state staff monitor the “pulse of the district” on certain

legislative and press issues for the Member of Congress and Washington office staff.

A current trend seems to be the assignment of most casework to these field offices.

Moreover, these offices are often involved in scheduling the Members’ time when

they are at home, planning town meetings for the Member, and, of course, all

congressional offices are engaged locally in casework and projects and grants work.

With electronic mail, fax machines, cell phones, and BlackBerries, offices in

Washington, D.C. and in the district/state can communicate quickly and possibly

more effectively with each other.

9

Congressional Management Foundation, 2002 House Staff Employment Study (Washington:

2002), p. 43; and Congressional Management Foundation, 1999 Senate Staff Employment

Study (Washington: 1999), p. 66.

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Employment Recommendation Restrictions10

Members of Congress are often asked by constituents to provide a reference,

referral, or recommendation for employment in the Federal Government. There is

no current statutory prohibition on Members of Congress providing a

recommendation or referral letter for an applicant for a federal position; however,

hiring officials in the Federal Government are expressly instructed by law only to

receive and consider such “recommendations” from a Member as to the “character

or residence” of the applicant. Additionally, hiring officials may consider and

receive “statements” based on a Member’s personal knowledge or records, which

evaluate such things as an applicant’s work performance, ability, aptitude,

qualifications and suitability.

Work Flow

Most of the office staff claim to be “computer whizzes”, who can handle the

large workload, but too often it is the large workload that overwhelms the entire

congressional office both in Washington, D.C. and the field offices.

— A Congressional Staffer

Work flow includes the processing and filing of a large quantity of paperwork.

In congressional offices, deadlines drive almost everything that is or needs to be

done. Letters, press releases, speeches, position papers, and other documents often

need to be prepared in short order. Successfully and efficiently coordinating their

preparation is no small achievement. The ability to retrieve materials previously

produced and filed is also important. Voting records, press releases, speeches, and

position papers of prior years may prove important to ensure that Members’ positions

are consistent over time — or, if they are not, to help explain why a change occurred.

These may be electronically stored and indexed.

The filing system is typically automated rather than manual. But since many

offices find it difficult to find the space or time to file paper copies of all documents,

computer files are rapidly replacing the retention of paper copies of incoming and

outgoing letters. Because of the large volume of paper received and generated in a

congressional office, processing information includes filing standards and guidelines.

An organized correspondence filing system, understood and adhered to by all staff

members, ensures quick location and retrieval of information. Many congressional

offices develop a central filing system which includes all issue-related incoming

letters and outgoing responses, VIP mail, and other information.

10

This section is drawn from CRS Report RL32113, Congressional Intervention in the

Administrative Process: Legal and Ethical Considerations, by Morton Rosenberg and Jack

H. Maskell, p. 77. See also U.S. Congress, House Committee on Standards of Official

Conduct, [http://www.house.gov/ethics]; House Ethics Manual, 102nd Cong., 2nd sess.,

(Washington: GPO, 1992); CRS Congressional Distribution Memorandum, Advisory

Memoranda: Employment Recommendations, by Jack H. Maskell; U.S. Congress, Senate

Select Committee on Ethics, Senate Ethics Manual, S. Pub. 108-1, 108th Cong., 1st sess.

(Washington: GPO, 2003), pp. 185-191; and Senate Ethics Manual, 108th Cong.,1st sess.

[http://ethics.senate.gov].

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A number of separate filing systems may also be used: administrative (personnel

and allowances), legislation, press, mail, scheduling, casework, grants and projects.

Some offices prefer to maintain casework, projects, and invitations separately. If the

office chooses to keep separate files for some documents, but central files for others,

staff members in the Washington, D.C., and district/state offices need to know the

location and contents of each type of file. Some offices develop a “tickler,” or

pending, file for business awaiting further action. When all action is completed, the

contents of this file are transferred to closed-case files. Due to the large volume of

casework, congressional staff must strive to organize these files so they can be

retrieved quickly.

A filing vocabulary is a list of subject terms established by each office. These

terms identify the subject matter of information for filing purposes. An orderly way

of maintaining the system is for each staff member to assign the terms approved by

the office, not terms assigned at random by different staff members.11

Office Space, Equipment, Efficiency, and Innovation

Input. Output. Off-line. On-line. Few codes. Many codes. File storage. How

do you select from among the various computer companies? With a limited

11

For further assistance in developing and maintaining a file system, congressional offices

may wish to consult the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress’ Records

Management Unit (202-707-5592) has prepared two documents in this area: U.S. Library

of Congress, A Guide for the Creation, Organization and Maintenance of Records in

Congressional Offices (Washington: 1991), 76 p.; and Congressional Subject Classification

Outline [Coded for computer input] (Washington: 1991), 103 p.

The House Office of History and Preservation, Legislative Resource Center, Office of

the Clerk of the House of Representatives (202-226-5200), and the Senate Historical Office,

Secretary of the Senate (202-224-3351) provide assistance and guidelines to Members on

records management issues, particularly for those who are leaving Congress. See their

documents: U. S. Congress, House, Office of the Clerk, Closing a Congressional Office: A

Guide to the Disposition of Official Papers and Records (Washington: Office of the Clerk,

U.S. House of Representatives, Sept. 2000), and U.S. Congress, Senate, Records

Management Handbook for U.S. Senators and Their Archival Repositories, 108th Cong. 1st

sess., S. Pub. 108-10 and Senators’ Papers: Management and Preservation Guidelines, both

by Karen Dawley Paul (Washington: Secretary of the Senate, Senate Historical Office,

2003).

Courtesy storage facilities are available to Members of Congress at the Washington

National Records Center of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in

Suitland, Maryland (Phone (301) 778-1650). Many Member offices store closed case files

in courtesy storage. If an office uses courtesy storage, they must keep on file Standard Form

135 (Guide to Courtesy Storage of Official Papers of Members of Congress at the

Washington National Records Center, National Archives and Records Administration,

Suitland, Md: April, 2002) to allow staff to keep track of these files. When a Member is

aware that he or she will not be returning to Congress, staff should consult their SF 135 to

determine whether courtesy storage files should be returned to the office, sent to the

repository, or destroyed by the records center.

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number of congressional staff, how can our office become more productive with

a growing workload, and limited space?

— A Congressional Staffer

Office management also encompasses furnishing, equipping and utilizing the

limited office space provided each Member, and to possibly do it an innovative and

effective manner. A variety of office machines are available to expedite work,

including copiers, fax machines, scanners, laptops, computers with access to Internet,

and laser printers. To these elements should be added the desks, chairs, and phones

which must fit into the limited office space provided.12

A variety of office machines, with differing applications and capabilities, are

available to Members. Systems administrators and office managers must stay aware

of the office’s needs and assure that the equipment meets those needs.13 Choosing

the most cost-effective equipment for an office’s needs can make a significant

difference in its efficiency and operating costs.

Efficiency in office operations can be difficult to achieve. The quality and speed

of each staff person’s work — as well as that of the office as a whole — will vary

depending on the temperament, experience, skill, ability, and knowledge of each staff

member and how they mesh together as a team.

While the size of congressional staff in the personal office of Members of

Congress has remained relatively constant during the last few years, office workload

has increased. Accordingly, office productivity depends on the efficient and effective

use of computer and office equipment. With laptops, computers, electronic mail, fax

machines, cell phones, Palm Pilots, pagers, BlackBerries, and other wireless

technology, offices in Washington and in the field can communicate quickly and

effectively with each other.14 The Internet makes available to field staff much of the

same information that is available to their Washington counterparts. “Members,” one

author has observed, “say they are more effective and more harried in the information

age:”

For members of Congress, who always have one foot in their districts and one in

the nation’s capital, advances in communications and information technology

have become a virtual necessity. Cell phones allow members to consult with

12

Staff in the Office of the Architect of the Capitol are available to provide consultations on

office space.

13

For a description of technology in a congressional office, see the following three

documents by Congressional Management Foundation: Survey of Information Technology

Practices in House Offices, (Washington: January, 2000), 33 p.; Survey of Information

Technology Practices in Senate Offices (Washington: January, 2000), 34 p.; and Chapter 6

“Selecting and Utilizing Technology” in Setting Course: A Congressional Management

Guide for the 108th Congress (Washington, 2000).

14

See also CRS Report RL31103, House of Representatives Information Technology

Management Issues: An Overview of the Effects on Institutional Operations, the Legislative

Process, and Future Planning, by Jeffery W. Seifert and R. Eric Petersen; and CRS Report

RL30863, Telework in the Federal Government: Background, Policy, and Oversight, by

Lorraine H. Tong and Barbara L. Schwemle.

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their staffs from the road, faxes and the internet provide an onslaught of

information, and e-mail allows constituents to tell members what is on their

minds easily.15

While staff in state and district offices may perform varying functions, their

work needs to be coordinated with tasks performed in Washington. Coordination of

congressional office activities between the Washington and field offices is critical to

office efficiency, so the Member can move effectively between the offices to perform

the Member’s legislative and representation functions. District and state staff

monitor the “pulse of the constituency” on certain legislative and press issues for the

Member of Congress and Washington office staff. Unless DC and field offices

coordinate congressional activities, to achieve effectiveness and efficiency, they may

be working at cross purposes.

Each of the components discussed above affects the efficiency of each

employee. It is not always possible, in the context of each congressional office, to

supply each staffer with optimal working conditions. Space limitations, for example,

may force staff to work in an environment they may consider impinges on their

productivity.

In an attempt to overcome the problem of space limitation, a few offices have

experimented with innovative, space-efficient furniture. Office managers need to be

aware of such opportunities when they arise, and should be able to evaluate how well

such options will fare in a particular office. However, there may be resistance among

staffers to innovations and changes in office operations may not prove beneficial in

every case. As Members of Congress gain seniority, they consider relocating to

larger space offices when they become available.

The personnel responsible in each congressional office for office management

operations are well served by keeping abreast of the ever-changing allowances that

pertain to staff, equipment, field offices, stationery, and travel. These are compiled

in the Congressional Handbook (prepared and available electronically on line and

regularly updated by the Committee on House Administration in the House and the

Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate).16

15

Lindsay Sobel, “Technology changes the Hill, for better and worse,” The Hill, Jan. 28,

1998, p. 6.

16

U.S. Congress, Committee on Rules and Administration, Members’ Congressional

Handbook, 108th Cong., 1st sess., available at [http://www.webster.senate.gov/

rules/handbook/toc.htm], visited Nov. 12, 2003. U.S. Congress, Committee on House

Administration, Members’ Congressional Handbook, 108th Cong., 1st sess., available at

[http://www.house.gov/cha/nhandbookbody1.htm], visited Nov.12, 2003.

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Legislation

I can’t believe it! The boss has just come up with three new projects for us to

complete by tomorrow and I still don’t have the floor statements written. I’m

four weeks behind on my mail and my Member’s subcommittee is meeting in

thirty minutes.

— A Congressional Staffer

The staff legislative function is closely tied to all other functions. Although

some Members of Congress view the representative role as equal to or more

important than the legislative function, most consider themselves first and foremost

legislators, and so other staff activities need to be correlated to this function.

Legislative operations include policy analysis research and devising and

implementing strategies, tactics, and actions for different arenas of decision making.

Staff members assigned these duties must be cognizant of the Member’s position on

issues, informed in the policy areas assigned to them, and aware of the key political

actors and activities in their areas of responsibility.

Preparation and organization are fundamental to effective legislative operations.

Members of Congress need to be quickly and continuously assisted in the numerous

legislative forums in which they operate; the Member’s legislative staff ensure that

this assistance is forthcoming. Legislative assistance often depends on the Member’s

committee assignments and floor schedule. The Member’s goal of being a “national

legislator” or a provider of “constituent services” is also a factor.

Senators and Representatives develop expertise in subjects they deal with on a

continuing basis as committee members. As a consequence, they need

comprehensive preparation for committee hearings and meetings. Staff help ensure

that Members attain and maintain familiarity with matters covered in committee and

subcommittee hearings, including not only the pros and cons of each issue, but each

committee (or subcommittee) colleague’s point of view, the position of relevant

interest groups, and the impact a certain position might have on the Member’s

constituency.

Staff research legislation, draft bills, and prepare floor statements. Legislative

work is performed by personal staff, committee and associate staff, ancillary House

or Senate staff (e.g., legislative counsels), government agencies (e.g., an executive

department, the Congressional Research Service), organizations and associations

(e.g., interest groups, researchers, et al.), and other sources. Coordination among

staff working on similar subjects is essential to efficient and coherent legislative

operations.

The legislative director coordinates and oversees legislative activities on behalf

of the Member in many congressional offices. Legislative assistants work on various

legislative issues of interest to the Member, and legislative correspondents may be

assigned to work with one or more legislative assistants. In many offices legislative

CRS-11

correspondents research and prepare responses for new issues, in addition to

answering constituent mail.17

Offices track the Member’s legislative interests of the district/state; for many the

district/state coordinator or the projects director performs this tracking task.

Coordination with the Washington, DC, office is imperative to ensure that all staff

members are enunciating the same position on behalf of the Member, and to prevent

duplication of effort.

All actions, from answering the simplest constituent letter to casting an

important vote on the floor, need to be coordinated. The legislative function

encompasses various activities in different arenas: the House or Senate floor, House

and Senate committees, conference committees, strategy sessions with other

Members and staff, and each Member’s personal office. All staff, whether in the

personal office or in the various committees and subcommittees on which the

Member serves, and who are responsible to the Member, must be aware of the

Member’s position — and other staff member’s activities — on all relevant issues.

Frequently, a time-consuming correlative task for these staff is responding to

legislative mail from constituents. This mail provides a gauge of constituents’ views

on issues and legislation and provides the opportunity for the Member to convey his

views, beliefs, and positions to them.18

While constituent mail is not necessarily important as a major determinant of

how a Representative or Senator will vote, it does measure constituent views on

legislation.19 In addition, it is often in response to constituent letters that Members,

with the assistance of their staffs, first research various issues and draw up position

papers, which are then used as the basis for letters or legislative activity.

Only Members of Congress, may introduce bills and submit resolutions; the

ideas for legislation, however, can come from many different sources, ranging from

a constituent letter to an extended series of oversight or investigative hearings. The

personal experiences and observations of Members or their staff may identify

problems that Congress should address. Casework, too, can suggest the need for

legislative action when a number of constituents encounter similar problems with a

federal agency or program. In addition, groups and organizations, many of which are

represented in Washington, frequently develop legislative proposals on matters of

special interest to them. Whatever the source of a legislative idea, Members and their

17

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the legislative staff in a congressional

office are listed in Appendix D. For additional information from CRS on legislative

research in a congressional office, see CRS Report RL30796, Legislative Research In

Congressional Offices: A Primer, by Clay Wellborn and Michael Kolakowski; and CRS

Report RS20991, Legislative Planning: Considerations for Congressional Staff, by Judy

Schneider.

18

John W. Kingdon, Congressmen’s Voting Decisions, 3rd ed. (New York: Harper and Row,

1989), p. 57.

19

Ibid.

CRS-12

staffs evaluate the idea and decide if it should be translated into legislation and, if so,

how.

Members must be prepared to vote on a large number of complex public policy

issues. In the 108th Congress, first session, for example, there were 675 recorded

floor votes in the House, 459 recorded floor votes in the Senate, and countless voice

votes.20 It is a staff function to be familiar with the content of, and committee report

on, each bill, to be aware of major lobbying efforts for and against the legislation, to

know which colleagues might be offering amendments (and the merits of these

amendments), and to keep abreast of possible parliamentary maneuvers by other

Members. A Member also needs to be apprised of the party leadership and

administration positions, constituent opinion, and any press reaction — thus,

necessitating coordination with those who perform press, mail, and management

functions.

Projects, Grants and Casework

We feel overwhelmed by the many requests for assistance by constituents. The

casework requests are as diverse as the federal government: a lost Social Security

check; a veteran’s widow requesting burial assistance for her deceased spouse;

black lung benefits; immigration; farmers’ loans; Medicare claims; railroad

retirement; and federal rental housing. Why doesn’t the federal government

process these claims more efficiently and humanely, so congressional

caseworkers aren’t so overburdened? How can we process hundreds, even

thousands of cases, individually so that each constituent is guaranteed fair

treatment? Why do we feel overworked, underpaid, and burned out?

— A Congressional Caseworker

Projects and Grants Work

While casework tends to relate to individuals, grants and projects work involves

helping community or constituent groups identify and obtain assistance from federal

aid programs for all types of local development. Congressional offices receive many

requests from state and local governments, nonprofit social service and community

action organizations, private research groups, small businesses, and individuals

seeking funding. To help constituents, congressional staff can provide information

about funding, both through federal programs and private foundations. For this

purpose, it is also important that field staff maintain effective intergovernmental

coordination with Federal, state, and local agencies as well as with other

congressional staff in their field offices and Washington.

20

CRS Report RL30562, Congressional Roll Call and Other Record Votes: First Congress

Through 107th Congress, 1789 Through 2003, by John Pontius.

CRS-13

For further information from CRS on grants and projects, congressional staff may

access two CRS Web pages: the CRS Grants Information Webpage at

[http://www.crs.gov/reference/general/grantsinfo.html]; and the CRS Grants and

Federal Domestic Assistance Web page which Members may add to their Home

Page [http://www.crs.gov/reference/general/member_grant.html] Both pages

include audio/slide shows giving viewers an overview of grantswork, key sources,

and doing a sample search for funding programs. The Information page covers

CRS grants products for Congress; the Member page links to key federal and

private sources of grants information for grantseekers in Districts and States.

Congressional staff can order the Member Web page (CRS Product CA90001) or

any CRS reports via the CRS Web site [www.crs.gov] or by calling 202-7077132. Some reports of general interest include: CRS Report 97-220, Grants Work

in a Congressional Office, by Merete F. Gerli; CRS Report RS20514 Grants

Information for Constituents, by Merete F. Gerli; CRS Report RS32159 How to

Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, by Merete F. Gerli; CRS Report RS21117,

Ethical Considerations in Assisting Constituents with Grant Requests before

Federal Agencies, by Jack Maskell.

The CRS Grants Information Web page hotlinks to other CRS reports on grants,

including CRS Report RL30818, Block Grants: An Overview; CRS Report

RS20124, Community Services Block Grants: Background and Funding; CRS

Report 98-79, Federal Funds: Tracking Their Geographic Distribution; CRS

Report; RS20669, Federal Grants to State and Local Governments: Overview and

Characteristics; CRS Report RL30778, Federal Grants to State and Local

Governments: Concepts for Legislative Design and Oversight; CRS Report

RL31227, Terrorism Preparedness: a Catalog of Federal Assistance Programs;

and CRS Report RL32036, Homeland Security: Federal Assistance Funding and

Business Opportunities.

Frequently, the congressional office is seen by these groups as the best source

for (1) obtaining facts about financial and nonfinancial assistance available through

federal programs; (2) clarifying the intricacies of proposal development, application,

and follow-up procedures; (3) resolving problems that occur when an applicant is

unsuccessful in obtaining funds or other assistance; and (4) suggesting other sources

for grant assistance in both the private and public sectors.

State, local, or private units unaware of available money or uncertain of how to

go about obtaining it, frequently seek assistance from congressional offices. An

office’s effectiveness often depends on both an understanding of the grant process

and on the relations it establishes with agency and other contacts.

Grants and projects provide an opportunity for assisting a Member’s

constituents by aiding a group or groups seeking help, and providing benefits and

program assistance to a district, city, or the state. In recognition of the importance

of this service, a Member’s office may allocate considerable staff time, effort, and

resources to grants and projects activities.

Several factors need to be considered in organizing the grants and projects

function in an office. First, where does this type of constituent service fit within the

CRS-14

workload of the entire office? Decisions about the level of involvement will depend

on the Member’s philosophy about grants work. Once a decision has been made

about the level of involvement, the office must address a second issue — where in

its organization does this particular type of service belong? Some offices divide

responsibility by function, that is, legislation is assigned to legislative assistants and

correspondents, press and newsletters are under the purview of a press secretary, and

caseworkers do casework. Other offices divide responsibilities by subject areas, that

is, a specialist in social policy is involved with legislation, correspondence, casework,

projects, speeches, and press in that policy area.

Depending on several factors (including workload), grants and projects activity

may be the responsibility of the caseworker, administrative assistant, district/state

representative, legislative aide, or even the press secretary. Some offices have a fulltime staff member working solely in the area of grants and projects; others divide

grants and projects activity between field offices and the Washington office, and have

several staff members supervised by a grants coordinator. Regardless of how this

responsibility is assigned, many offices have at least one person in a field office and

one person in Washington familiar with the whole process. (Casework is closely

related to, but different from, grants and project work. Some congressional offices,

however, combine these functions and call them “constituent services.”)

There are hundreds of grants or loans for various purposes available from

federal and private entities. Every attempt should be made to identify only those

funding sources whose stated purposes are consistent with those of the grantseeker.

Some much sought after federal funds not dispensed through grants or loans are used

for defense procurement, construction of federal installations, or infrastructure, for

example, military bases, federal office buildings, and federal projects, such as flood

control and highway construction. Congressional offices assist state and local

governments and eligible private sector organizations in becoming aware of available

money and how to go about obtaining it.

Staff members can identify federal funding programs through the grants

database, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (in print), or via the Internet

[http://www.cfda.gov]. Staff may (1) apprise home state governments, organizations,

businesses, and individuals of what funds are available; (2) contact agency personnel

to determine agency interest in certain projects; and (3) relay findings to those

interested and qualified for assistance in their states and districts. Once a grant

application is filed, offices frequently keep in touch with agencies. Contact can be

maintained by letter, phone, e-mail, or in person as the situation dictates. Concerted

action on the part of staff may result in more federal funds being spent in a state or

district, thereby providing greater benefit to the constituency.

Since some constituents request the aid of the entire state delegation for a grant

or project, cooperation among Members of the delegation can minimize duplication

of effort and permit more effective use of staff time. In order to increase the chances

of a project being funded, Members may solicit the support of other Members from

the same geographic region of the country, or those key positions in the leadership

or on the appropriate committees.

CRS-15

At least one state delegation has established a State Projects Office to provide

this constituent service. The projects office does not write proposals, but does help

constituents learn about the grant process, and follows through on all applications

until agency decisions are made.

Casework

Casework generally consists of assistance provided by Members of Congress

and their staff at the request of constituents in their transactions with federal

agencies. Casework involves individuals or groups with a common concern, and

typically includes a problem, grievance, question of eligibility, need, or other tangible

interest or benefit.21 Whether it is a delayed Social Security check, a denied veteran’s

claim, or Medicare reimbursement, the constituent’s problem usually has to do with

a federal program, rule, regulation, or administrative decision resulting from the

implementation of a public law.

Casework involves “interpreting, interacting, explaining, distributing, and

interceding on behalf of constituents toward relief of some problem between them

and the bureaucracy.”22 In encouraging constituents to take advantage of their

services, many Members believe that a satisfied constituent is a vote gained in the

next election, while a dissatisfied constituent may well be a vote irretrievably lost.23

Casework can emanate from constituent letters, visits, phone calls, faxes emails, office hours, and town hall meetings. Members view casework as an

important, necessary, and legitimate congressional function. Members put a

premium on this service as part of their representational role, acting as facilitator and

intervener between constituents and the federal government.

Casework differs from project work in that it refers to assistance to

individuals.24 A former Senator once defined casework as “requests for a wide

variety of services requiring me to go to bat for citizens with the administrative

agencies of the federal government.”25

On rare occasion Members intervene personally, although Members and staff

are generally reluctant to become involved in such a way as to raise questions of

conflict of interest or impropriety. In 1992, the Senate adopted guidelines to be

21

Asher C. Hinds, Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives of the United States,

vol. 4. (Washington: GPO, 1907), p. 247.

22

Joseph William Westphal, “The Congressional District Office: RepresentativeConstituency Linkages” (Ph.D. diss., University of Missouri-Columbia, 1980), p.71.

23

For additional information on casework, see John R. Johannes, To Serve the People

(Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1984). Also see Congressional Management

Foundation, Frontline Management: A Guide for Congressional District/State Offices

(Washington: 1998).

24

Warren H. Butler, “Administering Congress: the Role of the Staff,” Public Administration

Review, vol. 26, Mar. 1966, p. 6.

25

Joseph S. Clark, Congress: The Sapless Branch (New York: Harper & Row, 1964), p. 63.

CRS-16

followed by Members when intervening on behalf of constituents; the House has

issued similar guidance.26

CRS has the following products relating to casework: CRS Report 98-878,

Casework in a Congressional Office, by John Pontius. Also available is a one

hour video: CRS MM70036, Casework: How and Why. For congressional staffers

handling casework and needing to communicate with federal executive offices,

request CRS Report 98-446, Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal

Agencies, by Suzy Platt, and CRS Report RL31731, Federal Services for

Constituents Available in Foreign Languages, by Lenice Wu and Sherry Shapiro.

The CRS Office of Special Programs presents a seminar on casework and grants

as part of its three day District/State Staff Institute held periodically in

Washington. Congressional staff should check the CRS Web site at

[http://www.crs.gov] for dates and registration.

Assigning Casework Responsibilities. A Member of Congress usually

allocates casework responsibilities to several staff members who review and respond

to needs, complaints, or personal problems posed by constituents. The caseworker

represents the Member, both to the constituents and to the agencies. The personal

communication aspect is very important: every caseworker should be personable,

helpful, and ready to assist an individual with his or her problem. A caseworker

should also be compassionate, realizing that those in need may be desperate when

they contact Members. Finally, the caseworker must be well organized and know

how to follow through.

Casework is not an isolated operation in a congressional office: it can involve

the administrative assistant, legislative assistants, grants and projects staff, the office

manager, and the press secretary, as well as staff in the field offices. Caseworkers

also contribute to other related functions of a congressional office, such as alerting

the press secretary of a noteworthy case or identifying for the legislative staff a law

that may need changing.

Responding to constituent needs, complaints, or problems gives a Member an

opportunity to determine whether executive agencies’ programs are functioning in

accordance with legislative mandates. Thus, casework has the potential to contribute

to legislative oversight of agencies; indeed, some offices make it a practice to bring

casework observations to the attention of the pertinent authorizing committee(s),

particularly if a pattern emerges. It may even lead to new legislation.

26

CRS Report 98-878, Casework in a Congressional Office, by John Pontius. See Appendix

E, Legal and Ethical Consideration of Casework. For the ethical considerations of

casework, see CRS Report RL32113, Congressional Intervention in the Administrative

Process: Legal and Ethical Considerations, by Morton Rosenberg and Jack H. Maskell. See

also U.S. Congress, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, House Ethics

Manual, 102nd Cong., 2nd sess., [http://www.house.gov/ethics], visited Dec. 5, 2003;

(Washington: GPO, 1992); U.S. Congress, Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Senate

Ethics Manual, S. Pub. 108-1, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 2003),

[http://ethics.senate.gov] visited Dec. 5, 2003.

CRS-17

Nearly every caseworker works in a congressional field office, with a few

working in the Washington, DC office. The volume of casework continues to

increase. The Congressional Management Foundation stated that its:

... 1997 survey of District and State Directors shows that 53% of House offices

and 42% of Senate offices receive between 1,000 and 5,000 cases each year, and

32% of Senate offices report more than 7,500 cases annually. Moreover, 58%

of House offices and 84% of Senate offices report an increase in casework in the

past five years — with an average increase of 35%!27

Most federal departments and agencies have regional or state offices. Members

of Congress and federal officials often recommend that district and state

congressional offices should first seek to resolve constituent problems through these

units. These are listed in sources such as the United States Government Manual (in

print) or the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (in print), or via the Internet

[http://www.cfda.gov], and Carroll’s Federal Regional Directory (in print) or via

the Internet [http://www.carrollpub.com/whosnew/whosearch.html] or via the

National Archives Internet site [http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/browse

-gm-00.html].28

Analyzing the Constituent’s Problem. Frequently, when constituents seek

assistance they have done everything they know how to do and are coming to the

Member’s office as a last resort because they do not know where else to go for help.

Often they feel caught in a bureaucratic labyrinth. Accordingly, they may see their

Member as a last chance for relief.

Identifying all elements of the problem is the first step for the caseworker:

sometimes individuals do not provide the whole story, and occasionally, they may

forget or omit crucial information. When caseworkers read a letter, see a referral

from the field office, or receive a phone call from a constituent, they should make

certain that they have all relevant information needed to proceed. For example, a

social security number and the age of the recipient, or time and length of military

service may not only be useful, but necessary in processing a claim.

Upon receipt of the inquiry, most caseworkers feel it is advisable to send an

acknowledgment letter to the constituent immediately to inform them that the

Member is aware of the request and is inquiring into the matter, and that the

constituent will be contacted again when some response is forthcoming. This method

establishes a basic office file in the name of the constituent, and is also a means of

requesting any additional information from the constituent, if needed.

Casework should be conducted with sensitivity to the constituent’s personal

privacy rights. Although the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act do not

apply to Congress, they may be used by caseworkers to seek federal department and

agency records on behalf of the constituents. The former law allows any person to

27

Richard H. Shapiro, Frontier Management: A Guide for Congressional District/State

Offices (Washington: Congressional Management Foundation, 1998), p. 89.

28

Web sites visited on Dec. 5, 2003.

CRS-18

request certain otherwise unpublished documents or papers on any subject so long

as the documents being sought are reasonably described and not otherwise restricted.

The latter statute permits an American citizen or permanent resident alien to seek

agency records or files pertaining exclusively to himself or herself.

General guidance on the Privacy Act is provided in the Office of Management

and Budget (OMB) memorandum of October 3, 1975, concerning “congressional

inquiries which entail access to personal information subject to the Privacy Act.”

OMB recommends that, as a matter of policy, each agency, in administering the

Privacy Act, should adhere to the position that disclosure may be made to a

congressional office from the record of an individual in response to an inquiry from

the congressional office made at the request of that individual.

Since most agencies will not release personally identifiable information without

written consent of the file subject, it is important to have either a letter from the

constituent that will serve as a Privacy Act release or a separate form on file. The

form may state, “I authorize Senator/Representative ____________ to check into my

case and receive information connected with it.”29 The form must be sent to the

constituent for signature and return. When contacting an agency on behalf of a

constituent, a caseworker may say, “This office has Mr./Mrs.___________’s

authorization to receive information about his/her case.” Many agencies do not wish

to see that form and will accept a verbal authorization, but only with the assurance

that a Privacy Act authorization form will be forthcoming.

Every caseworker has to develop a method of analyzing the nature of the

constituent’s problem and how to conduct the most expeditious resolution of it.

Knowing where to go first can save time; the caseworker, therefore, must have a

working knowledge of federal agencies. This includes a knowledge of the relevant

agency program, as well as keeping abreast of current legislation that might affect the

constituent’s case. Understanding the various sources of assistance, federal and nonfederal, including welfare organizations and charities, can enable the caseworker to

assist more fully and expeditiously. Effective caseworkers develop a telephone list

of contacts in the various agencies and retain the numbers of other congressional

caseworkers who might be able to assist with a lead, a number, or advice based on

their own casework experience.

Members of Congress also receive inquiries from constituents dealing with

subjects or programs within the jurisdiction of state or local governments. In such

instances, the Member office must decide upon an appropriate response to the

constituent inquiry. Most Member offices routinely respond to constituent inquiries

about local government issues by referring the matter to local officials, and if the

decision is to refer the case to local officials, the constituent must be notified that the

congressional office has done so. However, some Members’ field office staff work

in conjunction with state legislative and local government staff as a means to more

effectively serve the constituency at the federal, state and local levels.

29

An example of a Privacy Act form used by one Member’s office is provided in Appendix

J: Sample Privacy Act Release Form.

CRS-19

In communicating with an agency, the caseworker must convey concern and, if

necessary, urgency, communicate clearly, and be reasonable, but persistent. The

caseworker must also decide how best to transmit the case, either by phone, fax,

letter, or buck-slip (an congressional form transmitting a case to an agency). The

form of contact with the agency usually depends upon the degree of urgency:

sometimes the problem requires an immediate response, but more often, it is not so

urgent. All appeals for help, however, should be dealt with in a timely and personal

way on behalf of the Member. Once an agency has been contacted, the case is

tracked; if no response has been received after a reasonable amount of time, a followup is done. Sometimes an interim response is sent to the constituent advising that the

Member is still working on the case. When the agency finally renders its

determination, caseworkers have to read it as if they were the constituent and recast

it, if necessary: rephrasing “bureaucratese” so that it is simple and direct is an

essential task of casework.

An increasingly less frequent form of casework is the introduction of a private

bill. Private bills provide an exception from general laws for the benefit of named

individuals. In recent years, they have dealt primarily with immigration, claims

against the government, and vessel documentation, among other topics.

30

Handling Cases When Closing a Congressional Office. When a

congressional office closes, it needs to make decisions relating to the disposition of

cases, both open and closed. Some Members of Congress use a deed of gift to donate

a portion of their office files to a college, university, library or other places.31

Archivists recommend preserving case files that relate to particular issues (black lung

disease and disaster relief in the district/state, for example), only if the office has

maintained these files separately or can retrieve them easily. If one wishes a special

restriction on personal information in case files, it should be written into the deed of

the gift. Possible restrictions on case files include that the files be used for statistical

purposes only or be closed for a longer time than other sections of the office records.

Another alternative is that the depository or library require researchers to sign an

agreement that they will not use names or quote from particular documents. The

30

A list of duties associated with projects and casework appears in Appendix E. For more

information on private bills, see Rep. Howard Coble, “Private Calendar Agreement,”

Extension of Remarks, Congressional Record, daily edition, vol. 147, July 24, 2001, pp.

E1417-E1418; CRS Report 98-628, Private Bills: Procedure in the House, by Richard S.

Beth; “Private Bills Serve as Court of Last Resort,” Congressional Quarterly’s Guide to

Congress, 2 vols., 5th ed. (Washington: CQ Press, 2000), v. 1, pp. 526-527; Joe Morehead,

“Private Bills and Private Laws: A Guide to the Legislative Process,” Technical Services

Quarterly, vol. 3, Spring-Summer 1986, pp. 173-184; Richard S. Beth, “Private bill,”

Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, vol. 3, Donald C. Bacon et al., eds. (New York:

Simon & Schuster, 1995), pp. 1626-1627; Archived CRS Report 87-408, Private

Immigration Measures in the House of Representatives: Contemporary Procedure and Its

Historical Development, by Richard S. Beth (no longer available); Archived CRS typed

report, Analysis and Examples of the Major Types of Private Laws, by Jay Shampansky (no

longer available).

31

A deed of gift is a “deed executed and delivered without consideration.” It is also termed

gratuitous deed “done or performed without obligation to do so.” Bryan A. Garner, ed.,

Black’s Law Dictionary (St. Paul, Minnesota: West Group, 1999), pp. 423, 708.

CRS-20

requirement both allows researchers to use the case files and gain information from

them but also discourages publication that would embarrass any specific individual.

Some casework files may be vital to understanding the activities of the Member.

Such files may initiate ideas for legislation or policy advocacy. In other cases, these

files may reflect the policy record or a particular interest of the Member. Such

casework files should be maintained separately or filed among the Member’s

legislative or personal files. The House and Senate do not recommend keeping case

files, but do suggest keeping samples of files. Such a strategy allows for redacting

individual files. Case files should be kept if the case led to agency or legislative

oversight investigation or if the case is of particular interest to a Member of

Congress.

To reduce the number of open case files, it is advisable for departing Members

to set a date beyond which they will not accept new case files. The constituent’s

request is returned with a letter recommending that the request be resubmitted to the

Member’s successor or a Senator whose term is not expiring.

Open cases are those that are unresolved or not concluded by the time the

Member leaves office. Representatives have a number of options with regard to

these cases. They may pass on open cases to their successor, assuming the successor

is willing, and the constituent has granted approval. Sometimes, however, this is not

politically desirable. A retiring Member of the House may transfer open cases to one

of the state’s Senators, assuming a Senator and the constituent are agreeable to this

arrangement. If not, the active file is returned to the constituent.

When Senators leave office, active files are customarily transferred to the

succeeding Senator, or to the other Senator representing the same state, so that work

can continue on the problem. In some offices, however, Senators who are leaving

will return the active file to the constituent, with a letter explaining that they are

leaving office and are unable to follow the case to a conclusion.

Mail

Ten invitations to speak, six requests for visas, twenty-five new cases, fifty-five

legislative letters, and ten requests for White House passes. They all came to the

office today, in addition to three bags full of questionnaire responses.

You’ve got 250 pieces of mail separated into 19 categories? How do you

respond/react/help/assess/find the door with all the mail piling up?

— A Congressional Staffer

A key task in every office is responding to mail. Each piece must be read,

routed, researched, reviewed and signed. Nearly everyone in most congressional

offices, including the Member, is involved with answering the mail. Some staff

devote a considerable amount of their time and energy to this time consuming and

CRS-21

important task. Members often feel that responding to mail promptly and

expeditiously is one of their most important duties.32

Some Members, especially party leaders and committee chairs, receive

considerably more mail than others. Mail volume also varies from office to office

and from week to week. Responding to the flood of correspondence on issue-related

mail can require large amounts of staff time and effort. Each letter must be routed

to the appropriate staff person; legislative mail on new issues must be researched;

and the Member’s position on issues must be ascertained and, often, recorded in a

computer database.

It is an axiom in Congress that the importance of each constituent letter cannot

be overestimated. A Member of the House once stated why he believed that each

letter must be written as if it were for publication:

One thing I think applies to every new member [is] to realize that you are now

big news in your home district; and don’t ever write anything to a constituent that

you wouldn’t be willing to see on Page One of the local newspaper. If you can

remember that as rule number one, it will keep you out of an awful lot of

trouble.33

Incoming mail and its processing represents much of the total office operations

in microcosm. External letters arrive dealing with legislation, grants and projects,

casework, scheduling of the Members’ time, visitors coming to Washington, and

state, district or national politics. In addition, there are “Dear Colleague” internal

letters from other Members which solicit cosponsorship of legislation, discuss the

introduction of amendments, or address other legislative business.34

Incoming mail requiring response can be either legislative or political in

character, it can request assistance, or it may be focused on a special need. Keeping

track of incoming correspondence is a major, time consuming chore. Most offices

use a computer tracking system to code some incoming letters and then schedule

them for rapid response. Constituents and congressional staff increasingly

communicate through electronic mail. However, some congressional offices,

concerned with the security of e-mail, will only respond with a written letter, and not

respond with an e-mail to a constituent’s e-mail. Most offices get many unsolicited

e-mail letters from non-constituents throughout the United States, and many offices

32

Freshman Representative Estes Kefauver (Tenn.) was told by Speaker Bankhead in 1939:

“Give close and prompt attention to your mail. Your votes and speeches may make you well

known and give you a reputation, but it is the way you handle your mail that determines your

reelection.” Quoted in Estes Kefauver and Jack Levin, A Twentieth-Century Congress (New

York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947), p. 171. This advice is as trenchant today as it was

six decades ago. The duties and tasks most commonly performed by staff in processing mail

in a congressional office are listed in Appendix F.

33

Donald G. Tacheron and Morris K. Udall, The Job of the Congressman (New York:

Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1970), p. 76.

34

CRS Report RS21667, “Dear Colleague” Letters: A Brief Overview, by Colton Campbell.

CRS-22

set up an automatic computer response referring the writer to contact their own

Member of Congress.

Members can select a computer system in which many inquiries requiring a

written response are tracked and categorized by subject. Each office can choose one

of the approved mail systems by which mail is distributed and assigned to office

personnel for a response. The actual method of receiving and routing constituent

correspondence varies from office to office and depends on the amount of mail

received, the size of the staff, the structure and orientation of the staff, and the

inclinations of the Member’s preferences as to the level of detail he or she prefers in

his or her responses, as well as the priority of deadlines for answering mail.

Legislative Mail

Legislative mail concerns inquiries about a Member’s position in some policy

area or areas, requesting that the Member vote a certain way or take a certain action;

it may also include general inquiries about one or more legislative topics.

Computers enable staff to generate responses rapidly to much of this mail, thus

freeing time for letters that require customizing and for other duties like legislative

research and analysis. In some offices, only the most sensitive letters of response

will be subject to review by the administrative assistant (AA) chief of staff or

Member. In others, the AA or a designated staffer, or the Member of Congress, may

prefer to see all outgoing mail.

Most congressional offices have a policy that when a certain number of letters

comes in on any one subject, the staff drafts a standard letter or “form” paragraph and

gives it to the computer systems operator who maintains a log of subject letters and

paragraphs. Offices have a constituent correspondence management system (CMS)

which can track incoming mail, provide form responses that can be personalized,

track interest issues, and serve as a database of contacts.

A number of legislative assistants and legislative correspondents may also draft

responses on their own. Many offices use standard opening and closing paragraphs,

as well as several variations of paragraphs that can be used in answering the mail.

Much care must be taken in preparing and using these computer replies to make

certain the constituent receives a correctly prepared response on the issue raised.

Offices invest considerable time, effort, and funds in creating, purchasing, and

maintaining lists that become the basis for individualized targeted mailings. Once

an office establishes a computer database, position statements on various issues that

would be of interest to people on a particular list are developed and mailings are

periodically sent.

Letters requiring a more detailed response, or dealing with a subject not covered

by a form response, are answered on an individual basis. Even when individualizing

letters, staff can rely on personal computers that greatly facilitate response

preparation. In most Senate offices, legislative correspondents answer the majority

of, if not all, constituent legislative inquiries. By researching and answering all

legislative correspondence, they free legislative assistants from this time-consuming

CRS-23

task. In most House offices, legislative correspondents, as well as some legislative

assistants, generally respond to legislative mail.

The assignment of letters requiring a more detailed or personal response varies

from office to office. In some offices, only the most sensitive letters will go to the

AA or the Member (see Special Mail, below). In most offices, the Member signs and

only sees a small portion of the total mail received and responded to by the office, but

some Members take a more active role and are aware of general trends in the mail.

Request Mail

Request mail consists of constituent requests for assistance. Members place a

premium on responding to such mail, considering casework assistance a vital part of

representing their constituents.35 Sometimes this assistance consists of information

only. At other times, Members facilitate constituent-agency interaction or intervene

on behalf of constituents. So-called project assistance is normally done at the behest

of state and local government units, and consists of helping them successfully

negotiate the process for securing available government grants or loans, or agency

approval or some other federal action necessary to accomplishing a goal. Much of

this request work in recent years has been decentralized to district and state offices,

with a concomitant distribution of staff to these offices to perform the work.

Special Mail

Special mail consists of letters and requests that require the involvement of the

Member and his closest staff (for example, administrative assistant/chief of staff,

personal secretary). Although few in number, they are considered to be of utmost

importance. Items in this category will vary from office to office. For example,

some Members may want to see letters from other Members or from local elected

officials. Most Members also want to see politically sensitive correspondence

relating to home state or national politics. Staff must learn to balance demands on the

Member’s time with his or her need to see, or be aware of, sensitive items of special

mail.

Review and Response

Review and delivery of mail is the final step. In many offices, letters are sent

to the AA, Legislative Director, or another designated staffer for review. The

purpose of review is to assure accuracy, consistency, and responsiveness. While

systematic data is not available about the lapse time between the receipt of mail and

the response to it, it is generally thought that the automation of response has enabled

offices to respond more quickly than was true prior to the onset of the use of

computers. At the same time that computer technology has helped offices respond

more quickly to mail, it has also helped interest groups generate mass mail,

correspondence, and e-mail.

35

CRS Report 98-878, Casework in A Congressional Office, by John Pontius; and Lee

Hamilton, “Constituent Service and Representation,” The Public Manager, vol. 21, summer

1992, pp. 12-15.

CRS-24

Usually one or more persons in a congressional office manages the mail flow

into and out of the Washington office, assures that it is answered as thoroughly and

promptly as possible. While placement of this responsibility varies from office to

office, it is often assigned to the office manager or the administrative assistant; in

some offices, it is the duty of the legislative director or the personal secretary.

Some offices attempt to respond to incoming mail within three days. Other

offices find that sometimes a full week or two or more is a more realistic time frame.

The amount of time allowed for a response depends on office policy, the number of

people assigned to answer the mail, and mail volume. For high mail volume Senate

offices, the response time may be longer.

Press and Public Relations

In this age of instant mass communications and a growing reliance by voters

upon television and radio news, the press secretary, many times, may be the most

important staff member a Member of Congress can employ. Through daily

contact with reporters and as liaison with the news media, the press secretary

assists the Member in reaching more people in the Member’s home district/state

than any other staff member.

A Member can toil diligently on behalf of constituents, but if the beneficiaries

of these good works are unaware of these actions, they may just decide to support

another, more visible candidate in the next election. Put plainly and simply, the

role of the press secretary is to help get the Member’s legislative and

representative accomplishments known to his constituents.

— A Press Gallery Correspondent

The effectiveness of the Member’s press relations depends in large part on the

staff person responsible for the press operations in the office. Many offices designate

at least one person as a press secretary, communications director, press assistant, or

press aide, though that person may handle other office duties as well. In most offices,

the press person works closely with the Member, administrative assistant, and the

legislative staff to ensure that newsworthy information is communicated to the media

as expeditiously as possible before it loses its timeliness.36

In a Member’s office, it is important to communicate with constituents through

newspapers and other media outlets with circulation in the home state or nationally.

The emphasis in an office is usually on “local” press in the district/state, although a

number of Members seek and receive national press attention.

The job of the press secretary is to communicate effectively with daily and

weekly newspapers and other media outlets with circulation in their congressional

district/state. They cultivate personal relationships with local, state, and national

newspaper and broadcast media personnel, and may deliver press releases if a

newspaper has a Washington correspondent or bureau. One effective method for

36

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the press staff in a congressional office

are listed in Appendix G.

CRS-25

getting news releases out is when a press secretary hand delivers them to the press

galleries. At the same time, they can make themselves available to the reporters

working in the galleries. Frequently, Members coming to the chamber to vote also

might make themselves available to the press.

Press aides are also mindful of the deadlines for the various media outlets and

take care to see that access to information is easy and prompt, and provide guidance

to the Member on use of the radio and television studios maintained by both the

House and Senate.37 In addition, congressional press aides communicate to

constituents and the press via e-mail, the Member’s Internet web site. It is important

that the design and maintenance of the Member’s home page is current and very

accessible.

Media outlets in different areas have different capabilities and emphases, and

efforts to utilize these different media outlets vary accordingly. For instance, some

outlets cover national news, while others focus more on local matters. Members may

tailor their activities to coincide with the needs of the media outlet from which they

seek coverage.

Attention to the national media is a different task. The national television and

radio networks, the “national newspapers,” for example, USA Today, The New York

Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others, and the

wire services, are important to those Members of the House and Senate wishing to

build a national reputation. For Members who choose to do this, events can be

organized in such a way as to maximize media exposure. At all times, giving

reporters advance copies of press releases and texts of speeches helps to achieve

maximum coverage and foster good working relationships with the press.

There is no one right way to organize a press office. There are be as many

different ways to run a press office as there are Members of Congress. Some press

secretaries act strictly as media liaisons or formal spokespersons, while others write

speeches and prepare floor statements. Still others write and produce radio,

television, and local cable programming, or prepare op/eds for newspapers, or write

news releases, weekly or monthly columns, and newsletters. Some do a combination

of all of the above.

The press secretary may concentrate efforts towards gaining national exposure

in the nation’s major daily newspapers and on network television and radio, or may

focus on getting good press back in the home district/state, or a combination of both.

One veteran Senate press secretary sums up the dichotomy this way: “A Member of

Congress has to court two constituencies, the constituency that sends him here and

the constituency he has to work with. As a general rule, the home state press has got

37

U.S. Congress, Committee on House Administration, Members’ Congressional Handbook,

108th Cong., 1st sess., available at [http://www.house.gov/cha/ nhandbookbody1.htm],

visited Nov.12, 2003. U.S. Congress, Committee on Rules and Administration, Members’

available at

Congressional Handbook, 108 t h Cong., 1 s t sess.,

[http://www.webster.senate.gov/rules/handbook/toc.htm], visited Nov. 12, 2003.

CRS-26

to be any smart Member’s priority.”38 Since Members’ districts and states vary

greatly, some Members may concentrate on major daily newspapers and news

stations, while others have a small chance of television coverage.

In order for a reporter to have a thorough knowledge of the Member’s positions

on the issues confronting Congress, the press secretary frequently has ready and easy

access to the Member. There is little disagreement that accessibility is the most

important ingredient to a successful press operation. Obviously, the press secretary

can only do what the Member wants, or what is comfortable for the Member: he or

she presents various options for ways of publicizing the Member’s activities.

Some press secretaries run “closed shops,” with reporters strictly prohibited

from obtaining information from anyone in the office except the press secretary or

the Member (or in some cases, the administrative assistant). Others prefer an “open”

office, where reporters are allowed to discuss legislative activities with the legislative

assistant overseeing a particular issue. Some offices have a policy requiring the

legislative assistant to check in with the press secretary after such media contacts so

that the press secretary will be informed of what has been discussed.

Most press secretaries prefer to sit in on formal interviews their Members have

with reporters or editorial boards to serve as a measure of insurance against

misinterpretations. It is not possible, however, for the press secretary to be present

every time the Member speaks with a reporter; therefore, the Member often tries to

brief the press secretary as to what he has told the press when the press aide is not

present.

With 2,000 print reporters, 1,750 periodical journalists and 3,200 broadcast

personnel accredited to cover Congress, it is the rare Member who is not the subject

of a press interview at least once. Whether Members get a second round with media

may depend on how they do the first time. However, if they are committee chairs or

party leaders, their performance may make no difference at all. Reporters will want

to talk to them regardless of how articulate they are, or how they look on camera.

What they have to say is important because of who they are, not how they say it.39

Live television broadcasts from the House and Senate have broadened media

coverage of Congress and the opportunity for it, as have 24-hour cable news

channels.

The House and Senate each have a Press Gallery, Radio and Television

Gallery, and Periodical Press Gallery and are the appropriate resources to reach the

national media. The media gallery superintendents distribute congressional news

releases to the congressional correspondents who frequent the galleries and make the

gallery studios available for Member’s news conferences.40

38

Nadine Cohodas, “Press Coverage: It’s What You Do That Counts,” in Congressional

Quarterly Weekly Report, v. 45, Jan. 3, 1987, p. 29.

39

Ibid.

40

The Press Gallery is reserved for credentialed and visiting daily print reporters. The Radio

(continued...)

CRS-27

The congressional recording studios help Members prepare television and radio

products such as video releases, satellite feeds, and interview programs. The studios

can tape a program with the Member for distribution in the home state.

Using the press well is a special skill that can bring a variety of rewards.

According to one Member of Congress:

One of the ways you reach colleagues is through the media because they

read the papers and watch the news at night. The media really helps you

establish your position on an issue ... (However,) if you get the reputation for

doing media for media’s sake, I think it hurts your effectiveness on the Hill ...

Members tend to lose respect for colleagues they consider grandstanders.41

What are some ways a congressional office can work with the press? Some

offices reserve an hour or two a week when any interested journalist (almost always

from the “local” or home state press) can come and talk with the Member either on

or off the record. Such sessions can produce an increased rapport with the press and

can provide insights for the press into the Member’s activities.

Other offices provide the press with small, but helpful, information sources that

are allocated to them. For example, each House office is allocated 15 copies of the

Congressional Directory and each Senate office 20 copies, some of which are

distributed to press personnel as a courtesy.

Some Members subscribe to receive press materials from outside sources, such

as news clipping services about the Member, numerous daily and weekly newspapers,

and other publications. The information from a news clipping service usually

includes articles about the Member and articles about issues of concern to the

Member’s constituents.

Much of the press material accumulated in a Member’s office is generated by

staff in the form of press releases, newsletters, targeted mailings, and speeches.

Some offices generate a press release daily or weekly for immediate delivery to a

news bureau or wire service. Press releases usually address a single issue, or a small

number of issues, and ordinarily are most newsworthy when they contain fresh,

timely information. They are sent by e-mail, fax, and frequently posted on the

Member’s Internet web site.

General newsletters are used by offices to communicate a broad range of issues

to the Member’s entire constituency. Some offices plan a quarterly newsletter to

inform constituents of committee and floor proceedings for a particular period of

time — usually two or three months. Many offices maintain more than one

newsletter mailing list, using a different newsletter for respective sectors of their

constituency. Targeted or specialized mass mailings are used by many offices to

40

(...continued)

and Television Gallery is reserved for broadcast journalists. The Periodical Press Gallery

is reserved for magazine, newsletter and Internet publications.

41

Cohodas, “Press Coverage: It’s What You Do That Counts,” p. 29.

CRS-28

inform a particular group of constituents interested in a certain issue of the Member’s

position.42

Scheduling and Reception

My boss races all across the district(state) — addressing town meetings, shaking

hands, riding in parades, meeting politicians, and picking up unsolvable

casework. How can the office staff (in Washington, D.C. and the district/state)

create a more meaningful schedule for the Member that allows constituent access

without overwhelming the Member?

— A Congressional Staffer

The Member goes to the district(state) three weekends every month and still

can’t meet the avalanche of requests to see constituents. How can the

district(state) staff take the major burden off the boss without upsetting the

constituents?

— A Congressional Staffer

Scheduling

Scheduling a Member’s time is problematic as there is great competition for it.

Scheduling personnel assist in evaluating competing events and insure that the

Member’s day is well enough planned to enable easy movement from one scheduled

event to the next.

42

Congressional office personnel must be aware of the congressional rules and regulations

regarding press and mass mailings when planning a press release, newsletter, or targeted

mailing. Franking rules and regulations are discussed in the following documents: U.S.

Congress, Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Senate Ethics Manual, S. Pub. 108-1, 108th

Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 2003) [http://ethics.senate.gov] visited on Nov. 5, 2003;

U.S. Congress, Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Regulations Governing the Use of the

Mailing Frank by Members and Officers of the United States Senate, S. Pub. 107-12, 107th

Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, May 2001); U.S. Congress, Senate, The Senate Code

of Official Conduct, S. Pub. 107-72, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington: GPO, July 2002);

U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Standards of Official Conduct,

House Ethics Manual, 102nd Cong., 2nd sess., (Washington: GPO, 1992); available at

[http://www.house.gov/ethics] visited on Nov. 5, 2003; “House Rules, Rule XXV, 4,

Limitations on Use of the Frank,” Congressional Record, vol. 145, Jan. 6, 1999, pp. H180182; U.S. Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on House Administration,

Members’ Congressional Handbook, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington: GPO, 2003)

available at [http://www.house.gov/cha/nhandbookbody1.htm], visited Nov. 5, 2003.; U.S.

Congress, House of Representatives, Commission on Mailing Standards, Regulations of the

Use of the Congressional Frank by Members of the House of Representatives and Rules of

Practice in Proceedings before the House Commission on Congressional Mailing

Standards, 105th Cong., 2nd sess., (Washington: GPO, June 1998). See also CRS Report

RS20720, Congressional Mail: History of the Franking Privilege and Options for Change;

CRS Report RS20700, Congressional Franking Privilege; and CRS Report RS20671,

Official Congressional Mail Costs, by John Pontius.

CRS-29

An average Representative generally serves on two committees (standing, joint,

and select) and four subcommittees, while a Senator serves on three committees

(standing, joint, and select) and ten subcommittees. When any of these meet

simultaneously, the Member, with help from the staff, decides which meetings to

attend, and for how long. Members also make decisions about meeting with

constituents, interest group representatives, colleagues, and others who want to meet

with them.

A Member’s entire schedule, whether in the office, in committee, on the floor,

or in the district/state, can change quickly, due to the unpredictable nature of

congressional business. A Member’s typical day is not only long and fragmented in

terms of having to be in different places, but also is filled with constant interruptions.

Interruptions to a carefully planned schedule may come from any of the following:

change in the time or length of committee or floor activities; an urgent political

problem or meeting to attend in the district/state; unforeseen meetings with

congressional colleagues and staff; an unanticipated visit by a key supporter or

constituent group expecting to meet with the Member; various matters relating to the

Member’s personal life.

Members schedule meetings throughout the day knowing that some will be

deferred and others may never occur. Sometimes staff aides fill in if the Member

cannot make a meeting. Those charged with scheduling duties must judge the

relative importance of competitive events. Scheduling also entails initiative on the

part of staffers to foster, for example, good relations with those interest groups active

in the Member’s fields of interest.

Because Members each day face multiple and conflicting demands on their time,

office structure is fashioned so as to operate within the constraints of the

congressional schedule and the Hill environment.43

As a courtesy, some offices routinely inform the Member’s spouse of the

Member’s schedule. The role of the congressional spouse varies — some play an

active role in the office and in district or state offices; others concentrate on family

and careers and do little related to the political world.44

The Member’s personal secretary performs all or most of the following:

scheduling, transportation logistics, screening phone calls, and the personal dictation

of especially sensitive correspondence. The personal secretary may also have

administrative responsibilities over other secretaries and may be in charge of mailing

activities.

43

Susan Webb Hammond, “The Management of Legislative Offices,” in Joseph Cooper and

G. Calvin MacKenzie, eds., The House at Work (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981),

p. 205.

44

Marc E. Miller, Politicians and Their Spouses’ Careers, A Congressional Management

Foundation Guidebook (Washington: Tilden Press Inc., 1985).

CRS-30

Reception

Approximately a million people visit the nation’s capital annually. Many

people also visit the office of their Representative or Senator. For most of these

visitors, the only contact they will have with their Member is through the

receptionist. Therefore, the position of receptionist is a crucial one in every

Member’s office.

One of the services a Member’s office can provide is helping to ensure a

meaningful and enjoyable Washington visit for constituents. Tours45 and tourist

information requests ( flags flown over the Capitol, House and Senate gallery passes)

are frequently received by mail as well as from visitors stopping by the office. In

many offices, these requests will be handled by the receptionist, especially tours of

the House and Senate.46

45

46

Because of security concerns, White House, and FBI tours are not currently available.

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the reception and scheduling staff in

a congressional office are listed in Appendix H.

CRS-31

Appendix A: Comparison of House and Senate Staff Positions

Salary

Washington, D. C. Office Positions

Tenure in Position

Tenure in Congress

Senate

House

Senate

House

Senate

House

Chief of Staff/AA

$116,573

$108,065

4.1

4.5

9.4

Legislative Director

$91,438

$66,213

3.0

2.8

Communications Director

$65,362

$49,327

2.2

Office Manager

$57,330

$48,523

Legislative Assistant

$48,276

Scheduler

Average Age

Senate

House

10.7

44

41

11.0

7.7

38

34

2.2

5.0

3.6

34

31

3.3

4.2

12.0

8.9

39

36

$45,733

2.2

2.4

4.4

4.4

32

31

$44,273

$43,443

3.0

3.0

6.1

5.6

32

34

Systems Administrator

$39,612

$35,297

3.2

3.9

10.0

6.1

33

30

Legislative Correspondent

$25,226

$27,992

1.0

1.0

1.6

1.3

25

24

Staff Assistant (Washington)

$22,504

$25,762

1.0

1.2

1.3

1.4

25

25

State/District Offices

$73,872

$70,207

3.9

4.2

8.1

8.1

45

43

Grants/Projects Coordinator

$44,148

$39,485

3.4

2.7

6.7

4.5

36

37

Field Rep. /Regional Manager

$40,504

$39,662

3.8

3.7

6.6

4.5

40

38

District /State Scheduler

$34,205

$38,411

3.4

4.1

4.9

5.5

36

37

Constituent Services Rep. (State/District)

$29,980

$35,305

3.6

4.5

5.5

6.5

36

41

Staff Assistant (State/District)

$24,454

$28,243

3.9

3.7

4.2

4.3

37

38

State/ District Director

Source: Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), 2002 House Staff Employment Study (Washington: 2002), pp. 8-9. Senate data is taken from CMF’s 1999 Senate Staff

Employment Study, p. 113. Positions that typically reside in the district/state are in italics. This table is based on CMF staff pay surveys with a response rate of 54% in the Senate and

30.5% in the House. The author of this report wishes to thank CMF for use of information in this table and throughout the report.

CRS-32

Appendix B: Job Titles Most Frequently Associated

with an Office Function

1.

Office Administration and Management:

! Chief of Staff

! Administrative Assistant

! Executive Assistant

! Special Assistant

! District Representative/State Director

! Office Manager

! System Administrator

! Personal Secretary

! Appointments or Scheduling Secretary

! Special Projects Coordinator

! Staff Assistant

2.

Mail:

! Office Systems Manager

! Production Manager

! Computer Systems Manager

! Correspondent and Mail Clerk

! Records Manager and File Clerk

! Secretary

3.

Projects and Casework:

! Projects Director

! Federal Grants Assistant

! Field Representative

! Casework Manager

! Caseworker

! Constituent Services Representative

4.

Legislation:

! Legislative Director

! Policy Assistant

! Legislative Assistant

! Legislative Correspondent or Aide

! Research Assistant

! Project Director

! Project Coordinator

! Field Representative

! Legislative Secretary

CRS-33

5.

Scheduling and Reception:

! Receptionist

! Secretary

! Appointments or Scheduling Secretary

! Staff Assistant

! Executive Secretary

6.

Press and Public Relations:

! Press Secretary

! Assistant Press Secretary; Press Aide

! Communications Director

Note: Appendices B-H were derived from official congressional sources.

CRS-34

Appendix C: Office Administration and

Management Staff: Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles

Duties and tasks most commonly performed by the administrative staff in a

congressional office include:

! Develop goals, missions, and operating plans for the year, Congress, and

terms and resetting priorities as circumstances change.

! Determine office personnel policies for the Washington, D.C. and district/state

offices in accordance with rules and regulations of the House of

Representatives/Senate.

! Hire, appraise performance, and terminate staff in accordance with office and

congressional policies and procedures.

! Coordinate and oversee all office operations.

! Prepare the overall office budget (both payroll and expenses).

! Manage the office finances and monitor obligations and payment of

expenditures from office accounts.

! Monitor the staff’s compliance with financial disclosure, ethics, and

congressional rules and regulations that apply to staff.

! Schedule and/or chair staff meetings.

! Coordinate and supervise assigned interns and Congressional Fellows.

! Coordinate military academy appointments.

! Represent the Member of Congress at various meetings and events.

! Schedule the Member’s meetings in Washington, D.C. and the home

state/district.

! Return the Member’s phone calls at his request.

! Monitor high priority (VIP) and legislative mail for accurate representation of

the Member’s positions on issues.

! Process administrative mail.

! Write and update office policies and procedures.

! Order supplies for Washington, D.C. and home state/district offices.

! Select office equipment and monitor its use.

! Maintain the official office records (personnel, financial, etc.).

! Maintain the Member’s personal files.

! Assist constituents with unique and special needs.

! Manage the mail operation.

! Develop policy for e-mail, Internet resources (including Web page).

While most Members of Congress have an administrative assistant/chief of staff

only in their Washington office, some Members have the chief of staff in the field,

and a few have a chief of staff in both Washington and the field.

CRS-35

Job titles most frequently associated with the administrative function include:

! Chief of Staff, Administrative Assistant

! District Representative/State Director, Systems Administrator, Personal

Secretary

! Staff Assistant Coordinator

! Special Assistant

! Appointments or Scheduling Secretary

! Office Manager

! Executive Secretary

! Special Projects

CRS-36

Appendix D: Legislative Staff:

Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the legislative staff in a

congressional office include:

! Assist in development of policy positions and legislative initiatives.

! Monitor legislative activities in committee and the House/Senate floor.

! If the legislative director, assign legislative staff areas of responsibility and

supervise their activities.

! If the legislative director, schedule and chair legislative staff meetings.

! Answer legislative mail.

! Research and write committee and floor statements, speeches, staff position

papers, briefing memoranda, and other materials.

! Assist in processing large volumes of single issue mail by preparing

appropriate responses.

! If the AA or legislative director, utilize assigned interns and Congressional

Fellows.

! As directed, respond to personal and telephone inquiries regarding the

Member’s legislative activities or current events.

! Occasionally assist communities and organizations in the home district/state

in their efforts to secure federal grants and with other projects.

Job titles most frequently associated with the legislative function include:

! Legislative Director

! Legislative Assistant

! Legislative Correspondent or Aide

! Research Assistant

! Project Director

! Project Coordinator

! Field Representative

! Legislative Secretary

CRS-37

Appendix E: Projects, Grants and Casework Staff:

Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles

Duties and tasks most commonly associated with the grants and projects staff in a

congressional office include:

! Assist communities and organizations in the district/home state in their efforts

to secure federal grants and other projects.

! Prepare grants and projects reports for the Member and appropriate staff.

Job titles most frequently associated with the grants and projects function in a

congressional office include:

! Federal Grants Assistant

! Projects Director

! Federal Grants Coordinator

! Projects Coordinator

! Field Representative

! District/State Representative

Duties and tasks most commonly performed by the casework staff in a congressional

office include:

! Serve as Member’s ombudsman for constituents with difficulties related to the

federal government.

! Answer constituent correspondence and correspond with federal departments

and agencies.

! Monitor casework for problems and trends which might be resolved by

legislative action.

! Prepare casework reports for the Member and appropriate staff.

Job titles most frequently associated with the casework function include:

! Caseworker

! Constituent Services Representative

CRS-38

Appendix F: Mail Staff: Duties, Tasks,

and Job Titles

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the correspondence staff in a

congressional office include:

! Develop a plan for managing the office mail.

! Establish mail management standards (e.g., letter format, turn around time,

etc.).

! Train and supervise mail processing staff.

! Develop and maintain a collection of prepared texts for use in responding to

mail.

! Develop routing and approval procedures for draft responses to constituent

mail.

! Develop and maintain lists of constituents for outreach mailings.

! Produce (or arranging for production) of special mailings.

! Maintain proper mass mailings records for filing.

! Prepare reports on mail volume and content for the Member and appropriate

staff.

! Establish the office filing system.

! Maintain office files including:

(1) file correspondence and related materials.

(2) computerized or manual indexes to files.

! Establish office requirements and standards for storage of files.

! Develop permanent disposition guidelines for office files.

! Develop and maintain occupational codes and issue codes for mass mailings

and newsletters.

! Supervise assigned interns.

! Utilize computer resources, written and e-mail responses.

Job titles most frequently associated with the mail function include:

! Office Systems Manager

! Production Manager

! Legislative Correspondent or Aide

! Computer Systems Administrator

! Secretary

! Records Manager

! Mail Clerk

! File Clerk

CRS-39

Appendix G: Press and Public Relations Staff:

Duties, Tasks, and Job Titles

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the press staff in a congressional

office include:

! Develop a media plan for the year and term of office.

! Coordinate media activities for Washington, D.C. and home district/state

offices.

! Write and coordinate distribution of press releases, columns, newsletters, mass

mailings.

! Plan and coordinate media activities for radio and TV.

! Schedule and arrange press conferences and press interviews.

! Write speeches.

! Develop press mailing lists.

! Prepare press reports for the Senator and appropriate staff.

! Monitor federal grant notifications and announce them when appropriate.

! Respond to requests for photographs and biographies of the Member.

! Supervise press interns.

Job titles most frequently associated with the press functions include:

! Press Secretary

! Assistant Press Secretary

! Communications Director

! Press Aide

! Secretary to the Press Secretary

CRS-40

Appendix H: Reception and Scheduling Staff:

Duties Tasks, and Job Titles

The duties and tasks most commonly performed by the reception staff in a

congressional office include:

! Answer telephones and manage the main office rotary phone lines.

! Greet walk-in visitors to the office and respond to their requests.

! Greet visitors with appointments with the Member or staff and notifying the

Member or staffer of visitor arrival.

! Answer constituent requests for general information, tours, and other non-

legislative requests.

! Distribute information about Washington, D.C. or the home district/state.

! Maintain the office guest book.

! Send, receive, and distribute materials via the fax telecopier.

! Perform general typing.

! Monitor delivery and pickup of materials.

! Operate office equipment, e.g., the photocopier.

Job titles most frequently associated with the reception function in a congressional

office include:

! Receptionist

! Secretary

! Staff Assistant

The duties and tasks most frequently associated with the scheduling and personal

services function in a congressional office include:

! Schedule the Member’s meetings in Washington, D.C. and the home

district/state.

! Assist the Member and constituents with special requests.

! Provide transportation.

Job titles most frequently associated with the scheduling and personal services

function include:

! Appointments or Scheduling Secretary

! Executive Secretary

! Secretary

! Staff Assistant

! Clerk

CRS-41

Appendix I: Job Descriptions of Congressional

Staff

Chief of Staff, Administrative Assistant — Top staff person responsible for overall

office functions, supervision of staff and budget, advising Member on political

matters.

Legislative Director — Directs the legislative staff as a resource person for

legislative assistants. Responsible for briefing Member on votes and hearings,

preparing legislation, speeches, and Record statements, and, often, supervising the

answering of constituent mail.

Legislative Assistant — Works under the direction of the legislative director or

administrative assistant and is usually responsible for handling specific issues and

answering mail in those areas.

Legislative Correspondent/Research Assistant — Responsible for answering

legislative correspondence from constituents. May also provide legislative research

support for office.

Press Secretary/Communications Director — A Member’s publicity director who

is responsible for press releases, radio & T.V. spots, newsletters, newspapers

columns, speeches, schedule announcements, etc.

Executive Assistant/Scheduler — Handles the individual needs of Member

including scheduling, correspondence, travel arrangements, and bookkeeping.

Office Manager — Office administration which may include monitoring mail flow,

office accounts, personnel administration, equipment, furniture, supplies, and the

filing system(s).

Receptionist — Front desk assignment; answers phones and greets visitors.

Performs wide variety of tasks with emphasis on constituent tours, general requests,

opening and routing of mail, and some word processing duties.

Systems Administrator/Production Manager/Mail Manager — Manages all

hardware and software used by the office. Serves as liaison with mail system and

other vendors and is responsible for any in-house training. Often is also responsible

for all administrative aspects of correspondence management system and other

administrative systems.

Computer Operator — Responds, in a timely fashion, to letters requiring

personalized “form letter” responses. Responsible for coordinating the input and

output of names, codes, paragraphs, and letters.

Washington Caseworker — Handles constituent casework: initial problem

identification, contacts with agencies, follow-up letters and case resolution.

CRS-42

District/State Director — In charge of all district/state offices. Directs overall

district/state office operations and work flow. Represents the Member at district/state

meetings and events.

District Aide/Field Representative — District work under the direction of the

district/state director. Responsible for representing the Member at district/state

meetings and events. Helps shape Members’ district/state schedule and often

accompanies Member to district/state events.

District/State Caseworker — Handles constituent casework: initial problem

identification, contacts with agencies, follow-up letters and case resolution. Same

as Washington caseworker except located in district/state.

District/State Office Secretary/Clerk — Handles clerical chores which may include

typing, filing, proofreading.

District/State Appointments Secretary/Scheduler — Scheduling the Member,

making appointments, and sifting through invitations.

Source: Congressional Management Foundation, 2000 House Staff Employment

(Washington: 2000); and Congressional Management Foundation, 1999 Senate Staff

Employment Study (Washington: 1999). The authors of this report wish to thank CMF for

the use of the information in Appendices A and I.

CRS-43

Appendix J: Sample Privacy Act Release Form

PLEASE RETURN THIS FORM TO:

Senator/Representative

United States Senate (House of Representatives)

Washington, D.C. 20510 (20515)

(Date)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

I am aware that the Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits the release of information in my

file without my approval. I authorize the (name of federal agency or Department)

to provide information on my claim/case to (Senator/Representative)

.

(Signature)

(Address)

(Social Security or claim number)

(Telephone Number)

If you wish information to be provided to parent, child, attorney, or other

interested party, please indicate below.

I authorize

Senator/Representative

to receive information from

relative to my claim/case.

(Signature)

Note: To expedite delivery to congressional offices, constituents should use the Zip

Code plus four digits in addressing correspondence.