Coffee With My Congressman

Coffee With My Congressman
By Marilyn Walton
NAPS Western Region Vice President

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) invited constituents to join him in downtown Vacaville at a local coffee house on St. Patrick’s Day. Thompson serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.

He was expecting about 50 attendees, but 250 people attended—standing room only. Vacaville is a few miles from Travis Air Force Base; a large number of military, federal and postal retirees live there. Most attendees were concerned about cuts by the current administration impacting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Living in a small town, residents also are concerned about possible changes to their mail service.

I had the opportunity to shake Thompson’s hand and thank him for supporting H.R. 82, the Social Security Fairness Act. As a Civil Service retiree, I was pleased to receive an increase in my Social Security payment, as well as back pay.

I commend Thompson for traveling around his very large district to meet with voters in large town halls and smaller venues to keep them updated, as well as with informative emails. The meeting was friendly; everyone was pleased to have face time with our representative.

It is great to attend NAPS’ Legislative Training Seminar in DC each year. But it is even more important for us all to take the opportunity to meet with our lawmakers at home.