Wednesday, November 13, 2002

I would like to express my disappointment of our representatives, you know, the representatives of the UNITED States of America. Since when do the representatives of our government send back e-mails with this response: "Due to the high volume of e-mails ... we can only respond to the constituents of our district ..."? I've never heard of such a thing.

Don't individuals of the United States of America pay federal taxes that help support representatives at a federal level? But, let me get this straight, our representatives of the United States of America are too overwhelmed to talk to anyone other than their constituents whom live in their district? Yes, I think I have it right now. Do these representatives think that they live in a bubble where nothing that happens outside their district matters?

"Due to the large amount of correspondence my office receives, replies will only be sent to constituents of the 26th District of California."

"In the weeks to come, if you are a constituent, you will receive a written response from me regarding your message."

"Because of the overwhelming number of e-mails I receive every day, I can only respond to residents of the state of Arizona."

"Due to the volume of mail my office receives, I am unable to respond to individuals who do not reside in Ohio's 13th Congressional District."

"At this time, I am only able to respond to residents of the 5th Congressional district."

"If you are a constituent and have written concerning a legislative issue, I will be responding to your inquiry as soon as possible."

I am in utter amazement at the responses that I have received from our "public servants." How is someone's voice supposed to be heard in OUR government when representatives close off all contact with other taxpaying citizens (who help supplement their public service pay checks), other than the citizens in their districts?

I have been writing every Congressman and Congresswoman to express my concerns over identity theft, the largest growing crime in the United States. Identity theft affects people from all walks of life from every background all over the United States. It is a crime that affects the most vital group of our country, the hard-working, taxpaying citizens. This crime grinds people's lives to a halt and shows the inadequacies of our government to protect its most productive sector. This is a crime that can put innocent people in debt or worse, jail with a criminal background for life.

This crime affects us all, in every district, every zip code, every neighborhood. I was hoping that more Congressmen and Congresswomen would be anxious to learn of "new age" crime that is affecting their constituents as well as their non-constituents and contemplating some sort of legislation to help protect these people. I think I need to go back to school to learn how government works nowadays because I obviously don't know how government is run anymore.

Anjellica G. Guthrie

Tyrone