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A Message from Senator Helms...
My Staff
I was blessed since my first day in the Senate on January 3, 1973, with having the finest, hardest-working, most dedicated people working with me every moment I was a United States Senator. Wherever they were assigned – in Raleigh, In High Point, in Washington – they were united in doing their jobs better than anyone could have expected, because they knew people were counting on them to make their government work the way it was supposed to work.
Those people -- most of them young and all of them idealistic-- joined with us because they were conservative, God-fearing, and genuinely willing to help everyone--especially those who in so many instances had desperate crises in their lives. In their difficult circumstances constituents turned to my able staff and me for help and we did all we could. These dedicated people often worked around the clock--indeed, in so many instances, they worked through the weekends to help people who have needed a helping hand. Their comfort could wait if one more call might yield a passport so a son or daughter could quickly get to the bedside of an dying relative, or one more review of the facts might help resolve a disagreement over disability or retirement benefits. This network of public servants is still known--widely--as the Helms Senate family.
Write Your Senator!
I am proud of--and grateful to my staff for coping with the sheer volume of requests for our assistance. According to our records more than 150,000 North Carolinians--and hundreds of citizens from other states brought their problems to us. Each of them could count on being served promptly, with genuine dedication to making certain that the problems were solved if at all possible. It was discouraging to see how often those problems had resulted from dealings with a government bureaucracy that lost sight of its responsibility to serve the very citizens who paid their salaries. We were often asked for help after constituents had exhausted themselves looking for the right path through a maze of paperwork and phone calls, even personal meetings. Complicated, even contradictory regulations too often turned into roadblocks that people found impossible to remove, especially when they were dealing with the kind of hardships that brought them in contact with government agencies in the first place.
Our staff took the time to listen and to get involved. Relationships were built with people who knew how to cut red tape and who could see the human need behind the deluge of calls and letters. Overdue pensions were started, Medicare red tape was unsnarled, and passports were expedited. Our staff helped in emergencies and tragedies; sometimes they simply got the attention of a department that needed a bit of a jumpstart to respond to what should have been a routine transaction. We made ourselves available, even keeping the office open on Saturdays so people who were not able to call during the week could still reach a person who whose only purpose in being there was to be helpful.
Whatever these folks did, they did with skill and courtesy. In the process our folks developed a reputation as people who cared and were therefore one of the best in the Capitol for constituent services. Did that made me proud of their work? You bet. But I was even prouder when I saw them take the time to show other Senator’s staff members how to get the kind of results the Helms staff did. Helping citizens mattered more to them than competition or reputation.
Another group of staff members worked as legislative assistants, doing research and helping to prepare, and subsequently move legislation through the Senate process. These people were experts at what they did, who were knowledgeable in both their areas of specialization and the layered process that brings a proposed bill through each step that moves it closer to law. This fine work brought them into contact with scores of people, inside and outside of government. Their understanding of these people, and the rapport they had as a result of working well with them, often gained for us a high degree of cooperation that might otherwise have been impossible.
It may have been my background in journalism-- (and as a former staffer myself) but I made it a practice to stay close to the work of my folks. I had a policy of reading and approving even "form" letters so as to make sure they were proper in both content and tone. Also, I insisted on seeing as much as possible of deluge of mail coming to us. After all, people were writing to me, and hearing from me. I wanted to know what was on their mind--and that was a big help!
These letters provided important information on issues that really mattered to people. One example stands out in my mind. It led to a change in federal policies, because it exposed the absurdity of a policy that scores of people had allowed to flourish, even promoted.
A father from Plymouth, NC wrote to tell me about his family's struggle to put three children through college. He wasn't writing to ask me, or his government for a handout, he just wanted us to be fair and logical about how we spent the money he earned and we didn't allow him to keep. Listen to his frustration:
Hon. Jesse Helms:
"For the past 6 or so years we've been trying to get 3 children thru college. (At one point all 3 at the same time.) Now I found out there was an easy way to have accomplished this. I could have bought each one a gun and sent them out to commit a crime and their education probably would have been paid for.
At the same time I learn of this, every governing body that affects us has either already raised our taxes or is in the process, claiming that they have cut all spending to the bare bone. The honest hard working taxpayer is being blasted from all sides while the criminal gets light sentences, early releases, lawyers paid for, air conditioned cells with color TV and carpet; plus a college education.
It is no wonder we're having a crime wave. The better it is made for them, the more crime you're going to get.
Please answer one question for me, Why?"
This poor man had read an article in the local paper that made him wonder if his family was approaching their problem the wrong way by working and saving for school. (If his children broke the law and got sent to prison, they would be eligible for Pell Grants and their educations would be free, just like the prisoners in the article). This made the taxpayer mad, and he fired off a letter to his Senator (me) that set off a chain reaction because it exposed a foolish flaw in the administration of Pell Grants that was unnecessarily costing taxpayers more and more money each year.
It was never the intent of Congress for this sort of thing to happen, but liberal bureaucrats had allowed an entire industry of educational programs to go behind bars and sign up students who could never blame traffic for being late to class. If they had skipped the publicity the practice might still be going on!
Our staff people researched the issue, and I took my constituent's letter to the Senate Floor to share with my colleagues as I introduced an amendment to halt this practice. We had immediate success, and with the continued leadership of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, this practice was permanently ended. The full benefits of the Pell Grant have been returned to the students and families it was intended to assist.
The task of training prisoners has likewise been returned to the administrators responsible for prison management.
A great deal of good came from that one letter.
Just as we regarded every letter or card or call seriously, we took every citizen seriously! My office and my staff were in place to serve all the constituents. (There is no place for political payback or special treatment in a Senator=s office). Senators are sworn to serve all of the citizens, not just the ones who like us.
People who take the time to contact their Senators are entitled to a thoughtful, informative, and respectful response. Opinions may not always be changed, but the correspondent should know why his Senator is voting in a certain way or why the provisions in a certain bill are beneficial or even harmful!
Interest groups frequently generate a flood of mail on particular issues. The temptation is to ignore these stacks of word for word letters, especially when they were pre-printed, but we regarded this as an opportunity to respond.
The Freedom of Choice Bill that was promoted by former Senator George Mitchell is a good example of that. The folks at NARAL, the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, targeted me and other Senators (whom they expected to oppose the bill). NARAL asked thousands of people to send a postcard telling me they supported choice and wanted me to vote their way. The mailroom was a busy place for several days.
Our response to each and every postcard and letter on the subject was a letter thanking the sender for voicing his or her opinion--and detailing the provisions of the bill that made it impossible for me to support it. With all the facts in their hands, hundreds of people wrote back to say they had no idea the bill contained provisions like the ones we told them about, and they were no longer in favor of the bill. Even those who did not change their minds knew that my position was based on a study of the facts, not uninformed reaction.
My staff knew that nothing could undo our work faster than poor information or poor preparation. We had some basic rules. No one could suggest an amendment to a bill or a change to a law unless they had thoroughly read the bill or the law itself. (And, I had a personal rule B I never voted on a bill or amendment I hadn't taken the time to read for myself. Doing my homework may have cramped the Helms' social life, but I know it kept me from making votes I would later regret.)
Information that we were to present as fact had to be correct in every detail. This meant checking and double-checking sources. It meant picking apart facts to expose weaknesses. It meant detailed research to assure that an opponent would have no surprises to spring. It meant being "bullet proof" so that no one could dismiss our position because we didn't properly support it.
This was tough work, but my folks rose to the challenge. They took great satisfaction in their work because they knew we were making a difference, not just in policy but in people's lives.
Other Senators envied my staff and sometimes quietly sought their help. The opportunities for these young people came from every quarter. While I loved them and loved their loyalty, I never wanted any staffer to turn down greater challenges or bigger fields of service. We missed each one as he or she left, and welcomed new members to our family.
Just as there was a demand for people from my staff, there was a demand to become part of it. I loved the energy and enthusiasm these new people brought, and didn't mind the chance to teach them a thing or two about avoiding split infinitives and making sure you knew where you stood on an issue and why you stood there. It gave me a great deal of pleasure to see these young people grow in their understanding of how government works, and in their determination to make it work better.
Over the years, the bond between staffers has grown even stronger. In 2003, they had an official reunion in Raleigh, and it thrilled Dot Helms and me to see so many, and hear about so many more people whom we always knew were the best of the best enjoying so much personal and professional success.
Among them are teachers, pastors, lawyers, a professor or two, business people, a sprinkling of politicians, foundation heads, a few mothers who have taken up careers as full-time homemakers, policy consultants, and a network of public servants in the White House, the Department of Defense, at NATO, leading the staffs of the Senate Majority Leader and other Senators--and a happily retired grandma! What a blessing these people were to me, and now to our country.
Dot and I have loved them all--and they have known it.
One day some of them might be tempted to write their stories from our years together. If they do, be sure you buy it, but remember not to believe a thing they say about the way I drove.
Senator Jesse Helms (retired)
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