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The opportunity to serve you is the most important part of this job, and with it comes a responsibility to do the best job I can. The 17th District is spread out over more than 8,200 square miles and while I work my tail off trying to get to every corner of the district, I just can't be at all places at all times.
That's why we have four offices in our area so you can conveniently keep in close contact with us. We have also hosted roundtables with business leaders and health care professionals throughout our area, forums to help our veterans get information on benefits available to them, and had both Democrat and Republican Members of Congress choose to visit our area for field hearings to see the national treasures we have here in our own backyard.
But what good are these roundtables, forums, and offices if you aren't aware of them?
We stand ready to help the more than 630,000 men and women of the 17th District, which is why we make an effort to be proactive in communicating with folks about how we can lend them a hand. In doing so, we get many compliments about our office's outreach. Folks stop me in the street and tell me how much more proactive I am being than my predecessor in communicating with them, and how much they appreciate it.
Recently, I've come under a coordinated political attack designed to distort this effort and criticize me for our outreach. It's not surprising; we know how well our customer service is working, so we expected to be attacked for this strength. But the truth is that we are doing more with less.
As your representative in Congress, I believe we must keep in contact with folks across the district, asking for your input on issues before Congress or notifying you of upcoming events and how we can help. Just ask Mark Graves of Aledo, one of many to reach out to us after receiving a mailer on the services my staff provides. Mark served our country with the United States Army Military Police in Iraq, where he earned a number of awards. The award that eluded him - the one he contacted us for help acquiring - was the Combat Action Badge. My staff got right to work on his case, and it was my honor to present Mark with the Combat Action Badge in March of this year.
It's important for you to know that we work for you, and to know the facts. The negative political attacks aren't going to tell you the truth.
Each Congressional office is allotted an annual office budget from which we pay all our expenses, including district office rent, staff salaries, office supplies, and mail to constituents. I voted to reduce this budget by 5 percent in 2011, and another 6.4 percent in 2012. For years, Congress continually saw it fit to increase their office budgets, but that stopped in 2011 when this new House took office.
On top of cutting my own budget, I saved enough to return another 8 percent or $110,000 of my 2011 budget to taxpayers, keeping true to my pledge of spending significantly less than my predecessors. In 2011, we spent a total of $151,138 less than my predecessor did in 2010, including $405,018 less on staff salaries and expenses alone. Last year we spent a total of $103,038 less in 2011 than what my predecessor spent in 2009, including $362,018 less on staff salaries. We also have four district offices up and running for approximately the same amount my predecessor operated one office. Again, we are doing more with less.
I'm proud my offices have been successfully providing high-quality services to my constituents while reducing our overall expenses and remaining mindful of taxpayer dollars. I will continue to lead by example. That's why I brought my own health care to Washington, rejected congressional pay raises and the pension, and authored legislation to tie Members of Congress' access to their federal pensions to the Social Security age of their constituents. These positions may not be popular in Washington, but I've found that the people of the 17th District believe - as I do - that Congress should be about serving people, not serving your own self-interests.
In the face of hundreds of thousands - maybe even millions - of dollars outside groups have spent to distort my record and scare seniors, we found it important to communicate the truth and the facts to the people of the 17th District. We sent five mailers with information on issues Congress was considering and actions I was taking on behalf of constituents, and asking constituents to return a tear-off questionnaire so I could better know what issues were of concern to them. We sent two postcards specifically regarding Medicare, two postcards inviting folks to the opening of new regional district offices, and one postcard inviting folks to a forum on veterans issues. And we sent three letters specifically regarding ways we could help veterans. You may have even received one of these pieces of mail from me.
This is called constituent service, and it hasn't happened in our area for a long time. I've had folks tell me that they weren't aware a Congressional Office could help out to the extent that we do. I've had people tell me that Members of Congress don't typically ask their opinion on certain issues. We've even had folks from Iowa and from other Congressional Districts in Illinois call our offices asking us for help.
As an elected official, I will never stop communicating with the constituents of the 17th District. My staff and I prioritize constituent service and communications, and will continue working to keep in close contact with folks in all corners of the district. We work for you, and that is something I will never forget.
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