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Earl Pomeroy Only One Who Responded

As many of you know, I was very mad at the way the idiots at UC Santa Cruz treated military recruiters. They created a threatening environment and then chased them out of there (actually, the recruiters decided they should leave before violence broke out). I wrote to over 100 members of Congress. I explained earlier how I got a lot of non-working email addresses but that I received a great deal of responses that I had to use some web form and that I had to be a constituent. As I stated, it is amazing to me that members of Congress can make laws that effect every one of us but when we try to contact them we have to be a constituent. Perhaps we should be allowed not to follow a law they introduce if we are not a constituent, but I digress. Earl Pomeroy, a Democrat from North Dakota, was the only member who took the time to respond.

Thank you for contacting me regarding a recent protest at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz. I appreciate hearing from you.

I understand your concern over a planned protest by a student organization at UC Santa Cruz, a school that receives federal funds, to express their disapproval of military recruiters. As you know, the military recruiters left after protesters stormed into the career fair. Upon leaving, some recruiters found that the tires of their vehicles had been slashed. On March 6, 2006, the Supreme Court reversed a federal appeals court ruling in Rumsfield v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights (FAIR). This decision upheld the constitutionality of the Soloman amendment, which specifies that federal funds may not be provided to higher educational institutions that deny military recruiters access to students equal to that provided other employers. I assure you that I will keep your thoughts and concerns in mind as I continue to closely monitor this situation.

Again, thank you for contacting me. To receive updates on this and other issues, visit my website at www.house.gov/pomeroy. Should you have any additional questions or concerns in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,

EARL POMEROY
Member of Congress

Of course he had an appropriate greeting but I left that out for security reasons. I do not know that he specifically addressed my concerns more than he said he would keep them in mind while he monitored. I do not know what there is to monitor because it is pretty obvious but I give him credit because he responded.

This man took the time to write to me even though I am not a constituent and even though I did not use some web form. He wrote back when my own representatives did not. So I just wanted to say that the folks in ND have a member who at least pays attention to people.