By: Justin Gick ‘16

Features Editor

For this month’s Ask the Professionals, I had the opportunity to conduct a phone interview with Congressman Rob Andrews, before he left office. This is what we talked about. I first asked the Congressman how he became involved in politics. When he was a freshman in high school, his father lost his job. It was a very tough time for his family.  He was not really old enough to understand what he could do about it, but he was old enough to know that maybe the government could help. He got interested when something happened to his family. After high school, the Congressman shared that he attended Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

I also read in the Congressman’s biography that in the last election he broke the record for the number of votes cast. I wanted to know if it was difficult for him to make the decision to leave office since he was so popular. Congressman Andrews said it was very hard.  He loved his job and was very grateful for his constitutes. However, it was not hard when he thought about his family. He is married to Camille Spinello Andrews. She is an Associate Dean at Rutgers Law School. He has two daughters who are nineteen and twenty one. After twenty four years of public service, he feels as though he can do more for his family if he were out of public office.

I asked the Congressman what he felt his greatest accomplishments were while in office. He said there were a hundred and fifty thousand people who brought problems to his office. A family   may be having difficulty attempting to adopt a child from a foreign country and they are unable to get the child through immigration. There may also be an issue with Medicare.  Our office has helped families communicate, support, and get authorization to pay for their parent’s operation. I have also been instrumental in helping members of our community when they were getting kicked out of their home or apartment. Congressman Andrews said he believed in assisting as many people as he could. His goal was to try and help all one hundred and fifty thousand people.  That meant the most to him. It is when he felt the most successful or had achieved the most.  If people felt safe, comforted, listened to, and heard, then he accomplished what he set out to do.

I wanted to know what the Congressman thought he did not get accomplished while in office and what he wished he had been able to do. Congressman Andrews said he would have liked to have seen more manufacturing and jobs come back to our area. He pointed out that there are some and they are working on others.  We need more. He would like to see more things made in New Jersey and keep manufacturing in our own country.

I was interested in knowing what the Congressman’s views were on education. He feels that it is the single most important thing for our country’s future. He thinks America’s schools are much better than critics say they are but, they are not as good as they should be. He thinks we do not put enough money into our schools and that we are skipping on investments for education that could make change.

Next, I explained to the Congressman that in the past, it felt that he was extremely supportive of teachers. Unfortunately, now the general consensus is that he no longer supports or listens to them. I asked why he thinks this happened. Congressman Andrews said, “I did not know that this was the general consensus.” He feels that he supports teachers very much and he said he has always worked with teacher organizations throughout his career. The last time he checked, teachers were great allies and he was very happy that they were.

Congressman Andrews has been a Representative for over twenty two years. I told him that it is obvious that he was very popular with the people of New Jersey and he enjoyed representing them.  It was evident by our conversation and the passion in his eyes, he truly loved his work.  This brought me to the question,  “Why wouldn’t you just wait until your term ends in ten months to leave?”   Congressman Andrews said an opportunity was mentioned to him by a law firm.  The offer was only going to be there for a month or so.  He knew it was a matter of taking the job or not taking it.  He thought it was a job that he could do well in and do good things in and that is what he felt wanted to do.

I inquired what appealed to the Congressman to take the new position at the law firm of Dilworth Paxson. He said it is a firm with a great reputation of community service and they are very active in their community. They are smart and compassionate people that he likes and admires. More importantly, the men and women he will be joining motivated him to make the change.

My final question to the Congressman was, “Since politics has played such a large part in your life, do you see yourself returning to it in the future?” He said, “You never say never!” However, he does not think so. He thinks his future will be about helping clients and becoming a great lawyer. He will be helping his community in other ways. The Congressman stated that “you don’t have to hold public office to be a public servant”! He is sure there are ways he can contribute to his community without holding a title.

Before I hung up the phone, I asked the Congressman if he would be available for a picture at some point before he left office. He invited me to stop over. A couple of days later, I was able to visit his Haddon Heights office and meet him in person. He shared with me that I actually had received the last photo and interview with him as Congressman. I thanked him for the interview, being able to meet with me during his very busy last couple of days, and his political service. I wished him the best of luck in the years to come.

(Before I got this interview with the Congressman, I was watching the news the day he made the announcement that he was stepping down. I went over later that night to his office. I was able to meet NBC 10 reporter Cydney Long.  She suggested that I try to get an interview with the Congressman before he left office. She gave me some helpful suggestions. I took her advice and it worked out. I wanted to send a special thank you again to Ms. Long!)