William S. Cohen Papers | Senate Constituent
Service Records
MS 106.3.2 Constituent Service Records 1979-1996
Congress devotes substantial time and resources to the provision of
constituent services. These services include answering requests for
information, responding to inquiries regarding legislative issues,
assisting groups in the home state with their efforts to secure
federal grants, and helping individuals who are having specific
difficulties involving the Federal government (casework).
Constituent service was a high priority in the Cohen office in
Washington D.C. and in the six Maine offices in Augusta, Bangor,
Biddeford, Lewiston, Presque Isle, and Portland. The bulk of the
records in this series consist of correspondence that was handled by
a Correspondence Management System (CMS). This system, used in
Cohen's Washington D.C. office, was used to produce responses to
constituents' individual letters. Records from the Biddeford and
Presque Isle state offices are also found in this series, and they
document various projects, such as a study on the erosion of Camp
Ellis, a dredging project in Wells Harbor, and the closing of the
Loring Air Force base in Limestone, Maine. Due to their confidential
nature, casework files, which are individual requests for
assistance, are not included in this series.
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Revised:
03/19/2019