Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to hold telephone town hall meeting
Those hoping to attend a town hall held by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers during the February Congressional recess will need a telephone.
The congresswoman announced on her campaign Facebook page late Sunday that those interested could fill out a form on her campaign website to participate in the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Those interested in phoning in will have to provide a name, phone number, email address and physical address to receive information for how to phone in.
McMorris Rodgers does not routinely hold town hall meetings during the February recess, choosing in past years to hold events in August. The decision to hold a telephone town hall is in line with other Republican lawmakers nationwide, including Rep. Peter Roskam, a suburban Chicago Republican who's faced criticism from citizen groups in his district for not holding live events with constituents.
Groups have been staging protests at McMorris Rodgers' downtown office, opposing the GOP's stated plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, among other causes. Visitors have been critical of the office's decision to limit the number of visitors in the office to two-at-a-time in the public waiting area at the front of the office, a decision that was influenced by an opinion from the city's fire marshal. City officials say the two person limit applies to the waiting area, not the office as a whole, which can safely accommodate 30 people.
McMorris Rodgers was in Walla Walla on Friday, and is holding several meetings in Spokane on Monday, most of which are closed to the media. The congresswoman met with members of the refugee assistance groups World Relief and Global Neighborhood on Monday morning, who said the meeting was productive and allowed refugees to share their stories of navigating the country's immigration system in the wake of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting re-settlements. Look for a full story on the telephone conference, and the refugee meeting, in tomorrow's edition of the Spokesman-Review.
