Political Quotes

“Staff assistants are the first person a visitor sees or hears in my D.C. office. First impressions are lasting impressions, so even though they are the lowest on the totem pole, they are very important. Staff assistants welcome visitors from the district. They help direct them and, many times, conduct tours of the Capitol. They help constituents with hotel information and lists of other tourist venues. Flags flown over the Capitol are highly sought after. These flags are requested for memorial events and thank-yous. Many times they are needed in a timely manner and, most times, have a specific date that the flag should be flown. Staff assistants ensure that this is done. The tough part of the job is answering the phones. Sometimes these calls are overwhelming and will get rolled to another staff member. Many times the callers are just plain mean and nasty. Just like in baseball, if the caller says the magic words, they are gone. There is no need to put my staff in that position. It is sad that adults act this way and young adults have to put up with it. The next position in my office is the legislative correspondent. For me, these folks are concerned with writing and mailing letters in response to inquiries. Since I do not do bulk mailings, this job is even more important in that individual letters received by my office receive an individual response by me. Most of the time, I have constituents thanking me for responding.…”