Listening to Constituents at Last Week’s Town Halls

As your representative in Congress, an important part of my job is listening to your concerns, and last week I did just that crisscrossing the district to meet with people at five town hall meetings. I held my first town hall Monday in Rockport where I was impressed by how the folks wanted to dive into real policy issues, like Obamacare and Social Security. My next stop was in Victoria, where a standing room only crowd talked to me about issues including taxation, energy prices and the botched Iran deal. I ended the day back in Corpus Christi with a town hall in Flour Bluff at the Ethyl Eyerly Senior Center. With a packed house of more than 140 attendees, we had a great discussion on a broad range of issues from veteran care to U.S. foreign aid. I live-streamed the Corpus Christi town hall on Facebook, and the video can be viewed here.

Thursday, I headed north to Bay City where we had a spirited discussion that focused on getting the country back on track by reining in government bureaucracy and overregulation. My town hall tour ended that night at Provisions Bistro in Wharton where I met with a very engaged group of constituents. After a moving Pledge of Allegiance led by local veterans, we spoke about the VA’s disappointing treatment of vets, the separation of powers in government and how to get people back to work. I also had the privilege of meeting Anthony, a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome and his mother, who were an inspiration to everyone at the town hall.  Anthony is fortunate to have such an inspirational and caring mother. I also live streamed the Wharton Town Hall which can be viewed here.

I want to thank everyone who came out to my town halls and those who watched live on Facebook. I especially appreciate your comments, concerns and insights. Meeting with the people I am privileged to represent is a great way for me to learn what’s going on in their lives and how I can best represent you in Washington.  Washington’s broken and if we’re going to get back on the right track I need to hear from you on what we should be doing. If you missed me this time, please be sure to follow me on Facebook to receive updates on what I’m doing at https://www.facebook.com/Farenthold.