Guest column: O’Halleran: ‘Working for Arizona families’

When I was elected to represent Arizona’s First Congressional District in the U.S. House, I made a commitment to my constituents to fight for accountability and transparency from your elected representatives in Washington.

That is why I released my Annual Report to Constituents, a look back at the work my staff and I accomplished for Arizona families in 2019.

Over the course of 2019, I

• held 460 meetings with organizations, communities, local governments, businesses, tribes, families, and individuals across Arizona and in Washington, DC

• held 26 in-person town halls and 1 telephone town hall;

• organized 156 mobile office hours to connect Arizonans with caseworkers;

• sponsored 31 bills, resolutions, and amendments;

• cosponsored 264 bills and resolutions, 82% of which were bipartisan;

• visited 50 individual towns and communities across Arizona;

• closed 422 casework cases on behalf of constituents;

• saved Arizonans $871,253 in owed benefits and pay from federal agencies;

• sent 87,098 response letters and emails to constituents;

• and covered 12,546 miles across Arizona for official business.

Arizonans can view my full report on my website.

The House of Representatives secured key wins for the American people in 2019 as well.

We voted to ratify the USMCA, a deal to improve international trade, protect our workers and environment, and create enforcement provisions to ensure all trading partners are held accountable.

We also took action to lower the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs by passing the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which included my amendment that would improve health care in rural areas, as well as efforts I championed to expand Medicare to cover vision services.

Together, the House of Representatives passed comprehensive appropriations to keep our government open, including extended funding for programs I have championed like community health centers and the Special Diabetes Program for Indians.

As always, my goal is to be accountable to you. I keep a full list of my Arizona and Washington, DC meetings on my website, and have introduced five bills to clean up Washington and hold lawmakers accountable.

This year, I’m looking forward to continuing to work across the aisle to lower the cost of health care, grow our rural economies, and honor our veterans. I am excited to hold more town halls and meet with more Arizona families to hear directly from you on how we can work together to accomplish these goals and learn about the issues facing your individual communities.

It is an honor to represent you in Congress. I have three physical offices in Arizona’s First Congressional District and one in Washington, DC; my door is always open to you. I encourage you to reach out to me with your thoughts or contact my office if you are having an issue.

Tom O’Halleran is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Arizona’s First Congressional District. A Democrat, he lives in the Village of Oak Creek.

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