Jayapal Hits Milestone Helping Constituents

SEATTLE, WA - With an approval rating of about 19 percent, the U.S. Congress is not the most popular institution around. But that popularity is probably a lot higher among people who have received help from a Congressperson's constituent services staff.

Each member of Congress has staff who take care of constituent problems, basically helping individuals navigate the federal bureaucracy. U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal's staff recently hit a major constituent services milestone, helping over 700 people in the district over the last two years.

Jayapal's staff have helped 760 people since 2017, saving an estimated $1.5 million for people in the 7th Congressional District.

In the district adjacent to Jayapal, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith's staff helped over 600 people during the 114th Congress (2015-17). Smith's office hasn't compiled figures for the 115th Congress yet.

One person Jayapal's office helped in 2017 was Douglas Wheems, a Marine veteran battling esophageal cancer. He got cancer after drinking contaminated water while stationed at Camp Lejeune, he told Patch. He came to Seattle to get treatment at the VA hospital, but he was being denied benefits. After intervening, Jayapal's staff got Wheems $80,000 for his treatment.

"They [the VA] were stonewalling me due to the nature of my illness," he told Patch. "Jayapal's [staff] was instrumental in helping me."

Other highlights: a blind woman got $162,000 in Social Security payments owed to her. In 2017, Jayapal's staff stepped in when an "insubordinate mailman" refused to deliver packages to a downtown Seattle apartment building. Mail service was eventually restored the approximately 1,200 people who live there. They got $36,000 owed to a Vietnam War paratrooper for an injury he received while on duty.

Read the 2018 constituent services report here:

Have a federal problem you want looked at? Contact Jayapal's office at (206) 674-0040 or going to her website.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the number of constituents Jayapal's office has helped over the last two years.

Caption: U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Rep. Nanette Barragan (right) address a rally organized by Mom's Mobilize, Green For All and Moms Clean Air Force on Capitol Hill Sept. 27, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images