As the nation goes to war, congressional offices will find events will cause a shift in a variety of aspects in office operations. In addition to the uncertain legislative agenda, congressional offices will face questions dealing with outreach, resources, Member scheduling, and staff responsibilities. And many offices will need to increase their contact with military liaisons in order to provide constituents wartime services and respond to Member needs.

Below is a series of management issues that you may face. They are designed to help Chiefs of Staffs, Legislative Directors, State & District Directors, and other managers to think through these critical questions, and provide advice and resources to address the extraordinary demands now placed on you and your office.

Following are some of the questions and issues congressional offices may face during times of war.

Contact the base public affairs liaison to educate your office on what services the military offers its troops and find out if and how the office can be of service. Since the military “takes care of its own,” congressional caseworkers need to know what sorts of matters should be referred to the military and what issues caseworkers can work on directly.

Any role congressional offices can play in educating reserve and National Guard families as to what services are available for them would be helpful. Once the reserve and National Guard units are mobilized, their families can tap into the support network and services at the base where they are assigned.

The state Adjutant General (see state government directory for telephone number) can tell you where the National Guard units are in the district/state and their deployment status. Offices can also make direct contact with the local units.

The National Guard Bureau for the Departments of Army and the Air Force (703-607-2786) can help with any problems National Guardsmen or their families have regarding mobilization; trying to enlist; or family financial hardship.

Offices cannot send letters to deployed constituents or their families. For national security reasons and for the protection of privacy, it has been standard procedure for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and National Guard not to release the names and addresses of the men and women in the military to the public, including congressional offices. Members should explore other options for communicating with families through base communication channels.

However, for those who want to send general notes of support, you can send an e-mail to a non-specific service member through “Operation Dear Abby."

The American Red Cross can get word to service personnel in case of family emergencies. Congressional offices should get contact numbers for your local Red Cross chapters for constituent use if they need to contact deployed military to communicate news of family death, sickness or birth. The message is delivered to the commanding officer who will relay it to the deployed family member. If the commanding officer approves a service member’s leave in response to the message, the Red Cross can help arrange transportation home in coordination with the military aid societies. More information here.

There are 961 Red Cross chapters standing ready to help families by briefing them about what they can expect, including what support services are available on base; tips and a checklist for deployment; and how to use the Red Cross during a family emergency.

The Federal Communications Commission also has created a program, "Calling Home," to help military personnel and their families stay in touch and reduce the costs on long distance phone calls.

The United States Services Organizations (USO) delivers special care packages to deployed military. Rep. Bob Ney’s office helped coordinate the delivery of 400 care packages to an Ohio National Guard unit preparing for deployment. Constituents can no longer send packages to “Any Service Member” in the aftermath of anthrax attacks, but they can donate $25 to cover the cost of a package that includes prepaid international calling card, toiletries and sunscreen.

[IMPORTANT NOTE: As of this writing, House and Senate rules prohibit Members from engaging in any solicitations for money, volunteerism, or other things of value. This means that you can't encourage people on your Web site to donate to groups supporting the troops. Therefore, you can't provide links to the section on the American Red Cross Web site that asks for donations. You CAN, however, provide information on those groups, and provide links to their general home page (like www.redcross.org). To comply with the rules, if you provide a Web site link, it's important that you do not say that the link is for the purpose of a donation; rather, that you are merely providing them the link for informational purposes.]

The Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve (1-800-336-4590) can answer employer questions regarding mobilized employees and their job rights. Unfortunately, the outreach unit of this guard/reservist organization by law cannot have access to the names of the employers of the reservists, so the office has to locate employers on its own.

Congressman Jay Inslee’s office held a roundtable discussion to discuss mobilization and its impact on individuals and their employers. Members from the Army Reserve, Army National Guard, as well as local city and county officials discussed TRICARE health care support, the mobilization impact on sole proprietors and small business, pay differentials, etc. The participants gave the Member ideas on what he could do to help with their problems.

Should the Member visit local bases during the war or when the troops come home?

This is an office-by-office determination depending on the Member’s judgment; the advice of the base’s commanding officer; and the deployment status of bases/units in your district/state.

The Member can call or write the commanding officer, or staff can call the base public affairs liaison. The commanding officer will pass the request to the public affairs liaison for action. Members should seek the advice of the commanding officer or the public affairs liaison about the timing of the visit. If a base or unit is getting ready to deploy, they are working overtime and may not welcome the extra work involved in a visit. Even if the military personnel on the base are deployed, there are families on and around the base who may appreciate a congressional visit.

Finally, get current information on your bases and units. Some will have only a portion deployed, and some will be ghost towns after deployment.

What are some of the critical communication issues we will face as an office?

When any crisis occurs, communications is a key element for coordinating services, addressing constituent needs and demands, and maintaining the appropriate image for the Member. As a manager, you should ask:

• What information should your office provide and to whom?
  

• What vehicles will your office use to provide the information?

• How will your office use its Web site to notify constituents of updated information?

• Will the Member contact the local Red Cross chapter and ask if doing a Public Service Announcement would be helpful to its cause?

• How will office handle anti-war protesters: specifically, office sit-ins (including civil disobedience); rallies; petitions; and letters and e-mail?

• How will the Member respond to district/state casualties; individual funeral services and larger memorial services?

How might the war affect the internal management of our office and what steps might we consider to address the changes?

The war adds another element of responsibility and work on congressional staffs. Moreover, the potential for another terrorist attack in Washington or elsewhere in the US adds anxiety and stress to jobs that are traditionally stressful to begin with. As a manager, you should ask:

• How will the office handle internal communications to keep everyone informed?
  

• Will there be an increase in casework as a byproduct of events?

• How will the war affect staff work load? (i.e., will the caseworker or LA handling military matters suddenly be overwhelmed?)

• How will the office manage potential workload problems? Will we need to provide staff with additional training?

• How will this affect the Member’s schedule? Will you now want to drop some events from the schedule and add new ones?

What can the office do to prepare for another terrorist attack or other unexpected event?

There’s a saying in crisis management: “Once you hear the thunder, it’s too late to build the ark.” Most of the important work in dealing with a crisis comes in the form of preparation. CMF has created a "Crisis Management" summary of issues and questions you can review to assist with crisis management planning which include:

• What Decisions the Office Needs to Make
  

• How the Crisis Might Influence Future Office Plans

• The 6 Most Common Mistakes in Managing Crises

Bonus question: How should we change our Web site to adapt to the war?

CMF created a special report in March 2003: "10 Ways to Use Your Congressional Web Site in War." The report reviewed about 200 congressional Web sites looking for the best examples of Members who provide links for those that want to help, services for families, updates on congressional actions.

If offices have other resources or ideas to effectively serve constituents during war time, please contact us.