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Washington, D.C.- I believe Members of Congress have two overriding responsibilities to their constituents that trump all others. The first simply is to be present when House votes are called, and to vote with my conscience and my constituents in mind. The second is to be accessible to my constituents, so they can let me know how they feel about votes I’ve made or am about to make.
There are a variety of ways that I communicate with constituents; whether it be through personal office visits, letters, phone calls, e-mails, media interviews, or even my website. This constant back-and-forth flow of communication keeps my constituents informed on what I’m working on, and keeps me informed on what they think is important. However, I’ve always felt that face-to-face contact is the most effective form of communication. That’s why, every congressional session (every two years) I conduct 100 town hall meetings, where constituents can ask questions and air their concerns.
The Third Congressional District of Oklahoma is a vast stretch of land, encompassing more than 34,000 square miles of northern and western Oklahoma. The district includes all or portions of 32 counties, stretching from the panhandle to parts of Tulsa, and from Yukon to Altus in the southwest. It takes almost half the state’s land mass and is the 20th largest congressional district in the U.S., out of 435 congressional districts.
There are 342 towns in my congressional district. I make a concerted effort to visit as many of these towns as possible during my town hall tours, which I schedule during the times Congress is out of session. When scheduling these meetings my goal is to give an opportunity for all of my approximately 690,000 constituents to attend a meeting near them, and I make sure each of the 32 counties are represented.
At a typical town hall meeting, I open by giving a summary of the most pressing issues facing Congress today, and I give my opinions about how best to deal with these problems. Then I yield the floor to the constituents, giving them an opportunity to inform me of any pressing local needs. For example, in my town hall meetings in eight northern and western Oklahoma counties last month, two of the most common concerns were the war in Iraq, and the Energy Bill. Like me, people are concerned about bringing our troops home as soon as possible, but they want to ensure we leave behind a stable and free Iraq. On the energy legislation, they want to decrease our dependency on foreign sources of oil, and they want to end the boom-and-bust cycles that have plagued Oklahoma’s economy in the past.
Along with writing, phoning, or e-mailing me, I encourage all my constituents to attend my annual town hall meeting in their area. You’ll probably learn something new about what’s on your neighbors’ minds for improving our state, but more importantly, so will I. |
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