“The Congress shall have Power…To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.”

Sgt. Adam D. Max a flight medic with Forward Support Medical Team, Company C, 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 189th Aviation Regiment, South Dakota Army National Guard, conducts a daily pre-flight inspection, getting ready for another day on the job at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

To help ensure that members of Congress receive timely, factual, and consistent information on matter affecting the Army, Congressional Liaison Offices are set up to bridge the gap between the two. These CLOs, also known as Office, Chief of Legislative Liaison (OCLL), handle issues and requests dealing with the military that are initiated by members of Congress. There are divisions of the OCLL in both the Senate and House chambers of Congress.

As you know, members of Congress are elected representatives and answerable to their constituents. Citizens are legally entitled to have their voices and concerns heard by their elected representatives and receive answers, information, or resolutions to those concerns.

Members of the military may also use this recourse if they feel that they are being wronged by the Army. Civilians can also use this chain to address issues related to troops as well. Congressmen take very sincere and active interest in their constituents’ problems and will insist each inquiry be given sympathetic consideration, equitable treatment, and timely response. And while every inquiry deserves to be looked into, it is sort of an unspoken understanding that any issues brought before Congress actually rise in importance and scope to that level since vast resources will be expended to look into them.

Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case. I’ve seen Soldiers file congressional inquiries because they had to serve a 24-hour duty over the Christmas holidays. I’ve seen military family members file a congressional because a spouse was given an article 15 for smoking pot. And I’ve seen a congressional filed because a civilian didn’t like the way to was spoken to or about by a member of the military even though the conversation wasn’t related to official business.

Regardless of the purpose for using the congressional route to deal with military-related problems, it is imperative that the individual making such a complaint ensures that:

1. He has all the facts.
2. He has exhausted other official channels first.
3. The nature of the complaint rises in scope and importance to something that a United States congressman needs to address.

These aren’t rules and they aren’t disqualifiers for taking any complaint seriously. The American people have a right to and deserve to know how their tax money is being used. They deserve to know how their sons and daughters are being treated and that such treatment is fair and equitable. The American people are entitled to that, which is why these procedures are in place.

Once the military receives a congressional inquiry, there are a number of steps that military investigators should take, regardless of the complaint:

1. Read the inquiry twice, first quickly, then slowly, and highlight or make note of each allegation or concern.
2. Investigate each area of concern (phone calls, background files).
3. Gather information, know the policies (Army regulations, law).
4. Prepare a reply to the Member of Congress, responding to each concern.
5. Know who will be signing the response so the reply can be worded as if you were in that position of authority.
6. Coordinate response with each office with any interest in the matter, including Congressional Activities Office.

Most responses to inquiries will go back through the OCLL, so draft responses are sent to that office and returned for corrections or clarifications.

What’s important to understand here is that all congressional inquiries affect the mission whether legitimate or not. The military has only 5 working days to respond to the inquiry and extensions are not only difficult to obtain, but require at least an interim response with an explanation of why the extension is needed. In certain instances, OCLL will grant an extension without an interim reply. Congressional Activities Office will seek an extension if you’re so close to having a complete answer that an interim reply may not be warranted.

Typically, most congressional inquiries deal with such issues as habitual mold in barracks, Soldiers not being paid correctly over an extended period of time, toxic leadership environments when the chain of command is unresponsive, and other serious issues. They honestly range the full gamut of issues.

What congressional inquiries should not be used to accomplish is revenge and personal attacks. In today’s volatile economic and political circumstances, Congress has much more to worry about than whether someone got their feelings hurt, especially if the person making the complaint isn’t the person whose feelings were hurt. They should not be used to “get back at” someone that you simply disagree with. There is no formal process for redressing a grievance that must be followed and no definition of what constitutes a grievance. So, while what actually constitutes a legitimate congressional inquiry is an objective matter, due diligence should be exercised.

Congressional inquiries are serious matters and should be used only in extreme and limited circumstances. I’m not saying they shouldn’t be used – they should. This is an important and effective tool in getting to the bottom of very complex problems. Caution should also be used because if these things are filed frivolously or callously, they can constitute harassment and used to support cases of defamation of character and libel, especially if they are ignorantly filed without accurate information or based on generalities. When the unit or Soldier is in a combat zone, even more care should be taken to ensure that a congressional is the correct course of action.

Soldiers should consult with legal or a personal lawyer before filing a congressional to ensure they have all their bases covered, but this is by no means a pre-requisite. Civilians should do likewise before attempting to ruin the career of a decorated Soldier with false and faulty information – especially one currently residing in a combat zone.