Recognizing 10th District of Michigan's District Office

Floor Speech

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Mr. JAMES. Mr. Speaker, we had a slogan in Army aviation: ``High Above the Best.'' It was a reminder that the American people entrusted us, me and my men, to provide air support for the soldiers fighting for their lives on the ground each and every single day. Likewise, in Congress, our constituents, our customers, have entrusted our staff and myself to provide air support to the good people in our district fighting for their livelihoods each and every single day.

I stand here to say that my district staff has exemplified this slogan, ``High Above the Best.'' In under 6 months in this office, my team has already delivered on a monumental constituent casework milestone in a freshman office.

Earlier this month, my team surpassed $100,000 in Federal casework dollars returned to our constituents, to our customers. They are providing that air support to Michigan's 10th Congressional District, just like Army aviators.

It is a lot of work setting up a congressional office. Both our D.C. and district teams have burned the midnight oil to get everything up and running so that we can serve you, our constituents, and deliver on the promises we made.

On top of all the work that had to be done getting our district office up and running, this staff delivered for the constituency and has returned over $100,000 in Federal dollars and about a trillion-and- a-half passport requests.

I recognize each and every single member of my district staff by name, in alphabetical other: Russ Cleary, Lisa Damon-Brown, Phil Rode, Linda Torp, and Kris Zrinyi.

I thank them all for helping me serve Michigan's 10th Congressional District, the greatest district in the United States of America.

Of the many cases my district team has closed this year, there are a couple that I reviewed that really stuck out to me.

We got a call from a veteran in our district who hadn't received his VA benefits in nearly 2 years. Together, my staff elevated this case within the VA and got them to act. Now, this veteran in my district has thousands in backpay and a monthly payment of roughly $2,000 that he earned serving our country in uniform.

My team also helped a single mother of two get her tax return from all the way back in 2015. This young mother is currently attending nursing school to better the future for herself and her two children and to serve her community. Between being a single mom and a student, she didn't have enough time in her busy schedule to work with the IRS, but she had time to give us a call. That is all that mattered. My diligent team was able to step up for her and help her to retrieve $9,000 from her tax return.

These are just two of the many stories and constituent cases that our district office worked so diligently to close over just the past 5 months--in under 6 months, under half a year. I am so grateful for all the work they have done for our constituents.

I am a combat veteran, but I am also a businessman, and I believe that constituent services, customer service, is why I am here.

Customer service, serving constituents, is my number one priority in Congress. I have served my country in combat, but the chance to serve this community is the honor of my lifetime. We are ready to continue to serve the good people of Michigan's 10th Congressional District. I thank them for trusting me to be High Above the Best.

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