Jess Weltha-Bales is a legislative fellow in the office of Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (VA-07) where she manages the defense, national security, foreign affairs, and cybersecurity portfolios.
Jess graduated from Iowa State University with bachelor’s degrees in political science and public relations and from Norwich University with a master’s in public administration. She served the past eight years as an active duty Army Logistics officer and continues to serve in the Army Reserve.
Jess accomplished impressive work with Congresswoman Spanberger’s office. She was the lead staffer for two bills introduced by Rep. Spanberger: H.R. 4445, to repeal the joint resolution entitled “A joint resolution to promote peace and stability in the Middle East”, and H.R. 3537, the United States Foreign Service Commemorative Coin Act. Jess also drafted two congressional letters led by Rep. Spanberger: the first on a nuclear Iran, which 255 congressional members cosigned, and the second in support of reauthorizing PEPFAR, which 75 congressional members cosigned. She managed the vote recommendations for the NDAA amendments by providing recommendations on over 200 different amendments and introducing two original amendments. After her fellowship experience, Jess will work as a Legislative Assistant for Congresswoman Spanberger.