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Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
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Congressman Jack Kingston, R-GA, responds!
December 06, 2006 4:23 PM
As you may recall, we did a story Monday night Nightline/Tuesday morning Good Morning America talking about how few D.C. workdays Congress has had this year. HERE'S THE FREE VIDEO, if you missed it.
Congressman Jack Kingston, R-GA, (WHO HAS A BLOG OF HIS OWN) took issue with the report.
So I invited him to respond.
CONGRESSMAN KINGSTON WRITES:
"Many people assume that Congressional work is strictly done in Washington, but the truth is far from this.
"Serving in Congress is actually a 60-70 hour a week, two-part job. The first, and more visible of the two, is legislative and D.C.-based. It involves voting for legislation, debate, Committee and Caucus work, etc. – the stuff you see on C-SPAN. But the other major part of the job which often goes unnoticed is back home in the district – listening and learning.
"For example, last year I hosted 25 town hall meetings regarding Medicare Part D. The year before that I held 17 town hall meetings on Social Security. In addition I made over 200 speeches and meetings with Veteran groups, farmers, energy, tax, health care, educators, and environmental groups. And I met with many individuals who had problems with the federal government – people who don’t have business cards and don’t know doctors and lawyers personally. These are the people who don’t have lobbyists, the time, or the budgets which allow them to come to Washington and meet with me.
"Meeting with these groups gives me much needed, unfiltered, outside-the-Beltway information and it counterbalances the influence of Washington – party politics, interest groups, and PAC money. Spending more time in Washington means Members are less in touch with those that they represent. It gives us legislation born within the beltway, passed within the beltway, and supported by the beltway brokers. That formula is bad for America.
"Republicans, my Party, lost the majority for a number of reasons – scandals, spending, “the bridge to nowhere,” Iraq, and history, but the primary reason is that we didn’t deliver. We didn’t resolve issues from immigration reform, permanent tax relief and tax simplification, health care affordability, fuel independence, etc.
"We did not lose the majority because we were out speaking with our constituents instead of being in Washington. We lost it because we didn’t make good use of the time when we were here
"Jack Kingston
"Member of Congress"
December 6, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (5)
Everyone needs a break from something, we are all human after all
Posted by: Anton | Aug 23, 2007 9:40:46 AM
Since I work for a large government agency, I have seen various Congressmen and Senators running interference for their contituents when there is a problem. Usually, a Congressman's or Senator's office will send a letter of inquiry, with a staff contact person listed, to try to resolve the constituent's complaint. All replies go to the staff contact, and the representative's personal involvement is minimal. It is an EXTREMELY rare case when a representative personally gets involved.
According to his own words, Mr. Kingston would have us believe that he's doing all he says and more. However, what he isn't saying is that he undoubtedly has a local office, if not several, staffed with capable assistants who handle many problems in his name. He also isn't mentioning his Washington staffers who handle all the tasks he's listed and coordinate with his office(s) back home. And he certainly doesn't discuss the time he spends in Washington at fund-raising activities, behind-the-scenes party activites, and so on. As Shakespeare said far better than I could: "Methinks he doth protest too much."
Posted by: chuck | Dec 7, 2006 8:20:15 AM
Mr. Kingston, as a Georgian, I cringe reading your comments.
How dare you, Congressman, complain about being separated from your family while you vote for legislation to separate forces from their families. Not, 4 lousy days a week, but day in and day out, 24/7, month after month.
Excuse me? You vote to deploy young men and women and then complain that you have to show up to work more than 2 days a week?
I repeat - how dare you?
A lot of Georgians would love a job that paid $35,000.00 per year. While you whine about being required to do yours at $165,000 per year?
I repeat - how dare you?
You know, there's a simple solution to your "problem" here. Stay home in Georgia and quit drinking that water in DC. It contains an ingredient which makes all who drink it forget who and what they really are.
Posted by: Roxanne Jekot | Dec 7, 2006 4:34:00 AM
So Jack flies out on Thursday and returns Tuesday....hmmmm, by my calculation he works one day a week in Washington.
The rest of us are required to work Monday through Friday, whether it "affects our marriages" or not. But I guess we all can't be Republican Congressmen, eh?
Seriously, I'd have more respect for these folks if they were just honest and say "screw you American taxpayer" instead of this song and dance from Congressman Freeloader.
Oh, and by the way, I posted a form of this comment at his blog and he refused to print it. Again, not surprising.
Posted by: joe | Dec 6, 2006 11:09:13 PM
While I disagree with Mr. Kingston on nearly every policy issue, I have to agree with him on this one. Most Members are working pretty hard whether they're in session or not. As a former Hill staffer, I took exception to Tapper's reporting on this one (showing empty basement hallways and stairwells - c'mon Jake!) Granted, the Republican leadership got little accomplished this year, but Tapper should have at least acknowledged that Members' obligations are as much at home as they are in DC.
Posted by: suburbandem | Dec 6, 2006 7:32:06 PM
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