Column: Week in Review & Look Ahead

Statement

It was a busy week of traveling around the Eighth District and speaking with Minnesotans. If there's one message I hear most, it's for lawmakers to put politics aside and just get the job done -- it's jobs, jobs, and jobs. As your representative to Washington, I'm committed to common sense solutions for our struggling economy. As such, I will support any proposal -- regardless of party affiliation -- if it will put us on a path toward a stronger economy, job creation, and greater prosperity for our children and grandchildren.

Park Rapids Town Hall Meeting

We had a big turnout of over 100 people in Park Rapids for my office's thirteenth town hall meeting in the past year. The overarching areas of concern from those in attendance were our mounting debt and bloated federal budget. During these troubled economic times, American workers feel it most in their pocket books, and families have been forced to restructure and adjust their own budgets to make ends meet. Our government must do the same. As always, I look forward to continuing this critical dialogue with my Eighth District constituents in the coming weeks.

Keystone XL Pipeline

This pipeline project is a bipartisan, common sense proposal our economy can benefit from right away. The president, who has 21 days to act in the best interest of American workers, may stress the urgency of creating jobs now, but his actions are pulling the emergency brake on job creation policies. Importantly, House Democrats wrote in a letter to President Obama that this project will "create 20,000 direct jobs" and "spur the creation of 118,000 spin-off jobs." Furthermore, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) says the Keystone XL extension is "estimated to create 20,000 high-paying manufacturing and construction jobs," and the AFL-CIO agrees. Overall, this project is the best thing we can do for American workers.

Labor Roundtable

I met with state and local labor officials in Duluth for a roundtable discussion on the condition of the economy and the best initiatives for American workers. We talked about Minnesota mining, the Stillwater bridge, and legislative proposals that will impact Minnesota workers most. Next week, I will be announcing the formation of a labor advisory council which will work to review such matters.

Esme Murphy Show: My conversation with Esme included military funding, the budget, and a long-term payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance extension.

Hibbing Essar Steel Tour: I stopped in Hibbing for a product presentation and facility tour at Essar Steel.

Grand Rapids Kiwanis: Many thanks to the solid group that turned out for my meeting with the Grand Rapids Kiwanis this past Tuesday (photo).

Harbortown Rotary: Thank you to the Harbortown Rotary which was kind enough to spend some time with me on Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Duluth.

Walker Mayors Roundtable: I convened with a group of area mayors for a meeting to discuss the local challengers to our Eighth District communities.

Duluth Ore Port: I met up with the people from Canadian Northern to hear about their operation.

Next Week

Next week, the House will convene to vote on a resolution relating to the disapproval of the President's exercise of authority to increase the debt limit, as agreed to under the Budget Control Act (BCA) passed by the House this past summer. For the record, I voted against the BCA and the raising of our debt limit because the bill lacked necessary spending reforms. We must get our runaway national debt under control for the sake of future generations. Our ever-increasing $15.2 trillion national debt remains our greatest national security threat.

Mobile Offices

Each week, members of my staff will head out from my three district offices in North Branch, Duluth and Brainerd to hold what are known as mobile offices. If you have a question about federal benefits or a question regarding your dealings with a federal agency, please stop by at the given locations at the times listed so you can speak with one of my staff. The list of mobile offices for Thursday, January 19 and Friday, January 20, 2012, can be found here. As always, you can also reach my casework staff by phone at (651) 237-8220, or toll free at 1-888-563-7390. It is my privilege to have provided my constituents access to mobile offices in nearly 140 Minnesota cities and townships since this past June.

Commitment to Constituent Outreach

It is my duty to provide Eighth District constituents unprecedented access to their representative in Washington. To date, this responsibility has amounted to thirteen public town hall meetings, five senior town hall meetings, eleven tele-town halls, mobile offices in nearly 140 different cities and townships, numerous roundtable discussions, and three permanent district offices where we conduct office hours -- anyone is able to schedule an appointment. My primary focus is to create more jobs for the 8th District; I look forward to continuing this conversation with my constituents.

Social Media

One of the best ways you can keep up to speed with what I'm doing in Congress is through social media. I encourage you to follow me on Facebook and on Twitter.

Rest assured, I will remain an independent, conservative voice in Washington; I promise to uphold the fiscally conservative principles the people of the 8th District entrusted upon me. It is a privilege serving you as your elected representative to Congress.

Very truly yours,

Chip

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