To Oregon Union Members and Their Families:

Many of you may have read a recent Oregonian article regarding the constituent services my office provided Andrew Wiederhorn at his family’s request. It is important for you to know the article was misleading and I want to emphasize the following five points to set the record straight:

1) Members of Congress are asked to intercede with federal agencies. Last year, our office responded in writing to over 36,000 constituent inquiries, including requests for help with federal agencies like the Veterans’ Administration, the Social Security Administration, the IRS, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Bureau of Prisons. We responded to every request. Mrs. Wiederhorn made her request after a court ordered that her husband receive proper medical care. No special favors were requested or given by our office. Our office has never weighed in about the length of a sentence for this or any other individual.

2) There was no effort to conceal the letter we wrote on her behalf. We authenticated our letter at The Oregonian’s request. If there is any impropriety implied in The Oregonian’s statement, “it was not written on congressional letterhead,” let me clarify: The Oregonian received an electronic version of our letter. Electronic copies of letters are not on letterhead. The original letter we sent is on my letterhead, as required by the rules of the US House of Rep.s.

3) As of April 29, 2005, I owned 200 shares of Fog Cutter stock worth $740, not “as much as $15,000” as stated in The Oregonian’s story. My most recent financial disclosure statement clearly states that I own $1,000 or less of Fog Cutter stock. Had The Oregonian given us fair opportunity to respond before the story ran, we would have set the record straight.

4) Our campaign has not accepted a donation from Mr. or Mrs. Wiederhorn since 2001.

5) As my press secretary stated to The Oregonian, the rules of the U.S. House of Reps. require that we disclose any prior relationships with constituents when writing a federal agency about them. In working within the confines of House rules and because my wife and Mr. Wiederhorn grew up together, our staff chose the word “friend,” disregarding later developments in his life.

In closing, I am honored to hold a position of public trust and take full responsibility for everything my staff and I do. The letter should not have been sent. It was the wrong thing to do. I have an obligation to you to be certain that we carry out our duties with a solid measure of common sense. I will work hard to earn your trust in the way I conduct my job and the way we run our office.