Ro Khanna, Mark DeSaulnier win national constituent service awards

This post is part of the California 2020 Countdown, our weekly roundup of California political news. 

Two Bay Area congressmen were named among the best in the country at serving and interacting with constituents after winning awards from the Congressional Management Foundation.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, won the foundation’s constituent service award, and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, won the transparency and accountability award, two of only three House members honored nationwide. The foundation, a nonpartisan group that’s been working with Congress for more than 40 years, grades lawmakers on their effectiveness in areas other than passing legislation.

The foundation lauded Khanna’s office for its work helping constituents navigate the immigration system with issues like getting visas or being stranded abroad after losing their documents.

Almost half the residents in his Silicon Valley district were born outside the U.S., and nearly two-thirds speak languages other than English at home, according to Census data — among the highest rates in the country. Khanna’s office has staffers who speak Hindi, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.

“We have probably more language facility than any other office,” Khanna said. “It’s the complexity of the immigration cases, the speed with which we resolve some of the immigration and veterans cases, and the priority we really put on casework.”

DeSaulnier won for his office’s high number of town halls and mobile district office hours, holding 83 public events over the past four years. The events are livestreamed online, and the office makes sure every attendee who submits a question gets a response, the foundation noted.

“One of my goals in this job has always been to increase the public’s trust in Congress however I can,” DeSaulnier said. “This award is a recognition that we are working hard and making an impact.”

The awards are determined by a committee of former members of Congress and staffers who review applicants’ work in a blind selection process. The foundation also named the late Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, as lifetime achievement winners.

“The Khanna and DeSaulnier offices can be a model for other members of Congress,” said Bradford Fitch, the foundation’s president. “These offices are really at the top of their game.”