A Visit to Our Congressman
On Friday, October 11, Traci Paice and I made a quick visit to Congressman Ken Buck’s office in Greeley, Colorado. A few days earlier, Traci had sent Congressman Buck an email expressing support for the impeachment inquiry, and she got a response wherein he claimed Speaker Pelosi “lacks the power to initiate such an inquiry on her own.” He said the House must pass a resolution. Concerned with this response, Traci posted his letter in the comments of an MWEG Discussion Group post about the White House’s intent to not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
Because Congressman Buck is also my representative, her comment caught my eye, so I copied the letter and Traci’s questions into Basecamp, an online platform MWEG uses to coordinate and communicate. Right there on Facebook and in Basecamp, MWEG members from across the country shared helpful research and historical documents that refuted Congressman Buck’s assertions. Traci compiled everything into a letter to present. We signed our names at the bottom while sitting in the front seat of my minivan.
When we arrived at the office we were greeted by a staffer and taken to a small room and given the opportunity to talk and share our concerns. We laid out the points that caused us concern in Congressman Buck’s letter and the legal arguments we had found that contradicted him.
We tried to really emphasize that we are not asking him to make a declaration of guilt or innocence, but that we want him to come out publicly in support of the process. We acknowledged it is a scary time for Republicans to speak out. President Trump and his supporters have been attacking anyone who expresses a contrary opinion. But we told him he needs to be brave. We pointed out that new polling says a majority of Americans favor the inquiry. We also emphasized our concern that government institutions are in danger when the President says Article II of the Constitution lets him do whatever he wants and then Congress looks the other way. We said the proper way to remove someone from office when you disagree with their policies is through elections, but if the integrity of our elections is compromised, citizens can’t have faith in that. We said we are not calling for impeachment due to policy but for an impeachment inquiry due to possible “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
It was hard to gauge the response of the staffer. She was quiet and attentive, but she didn’t give much away by her expression. She did give us the contact information for the Congressman’s legislative director and promised to forward the letter to him. We’ve already gotten an email with her expression of thanks for the “smiles and civil conversation” we brought.
The meeting was simple to arrange. I called ahead that morning to ask if we could stop by and was told we didn’t need an appointment. I gave an approximate time we’d arrive to make sure they wouldn’t be gone to lunch. Some offices might not be that easy to get into, but it never hurts to try. I’ve done it once before, but this time was so much better to go with a friend! (We had only met in person that afternoon, even though we live not too far from each other.) Give it a try!
Jillaire McMillan is the Director of Organizational Outreach for Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
