The congressman will be at the Stockton firehouse Saturday, April 2, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
By: Linda Seida
STOCKTON Congressman Rush Holt will host a town meeting at the Stockton firehouse at 9 Mill St. Saturday, April 2, from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
Later that day, Rep. Holt, D-12th, will hold a second town meeting in Ewing from 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the council room of the municipal building at 2 Jake Garzio Drive.
Topics to be discussed are "wide open," according to Pat Eddington, the congressman’s communications director.
Rep. Holt will report to his constituents on his recent activities as well as "what’s been going on legislatively and policywise and hear their concerns and ideas," Mr. Eddington said.
Two recent town meetings, one in Middletown earlier this month and one in New Brunswick last month, saw an average attendance of about 100 people each. The hot topic on people’s minds was President George Bush’s plan to privatize Social Security.
"Social Security has been a huge topic the last couple of meetings," Mr. Eddington said.
Rep. Holt will discuss Social Security again if that’s what people want, but he welcomes a range of issues, according to the congressman’s spokesman.
"He certainly does not want this confined to Social Security," Mr. Eddington said. "People should just come with their questions. He wants to leave it as open a discussion as possible. He invites the public to bring up any issue that’s on their mind. He really wants to hear from the public."
In addition to Social Security, the town meetings provide opportunities to ask questions about "job creation, Medicare, prescription drugs, hometown security, education or other issues on your mind," according to the congressman’s Web site.
Rep. Holt, 56, resides in Hopewell Township. He serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He is the ranking minority member on the Intelligence Policy Subcommittee. He is on temporary leave from the House Committee on Resources.
His office has undertaken "a major push" to get constituents to the town meetings and hear their views, according to Mr. Eddington.
‘People who have signed up to receive the congressman’s e-mail updates’will be receiving notices soon of the April 2 meeting if the haven’t already. Some constituents also will receive automated notification via telephone.
‘Those who would like to be added to the e-mail list to receive the congressman’s newsletter, may sign up at http://holt.house.gov on the Web or call his district office in West Windsor at 750-9365 or his Washington office at (202) 225-5801.