Womack Stands His Ground

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack’s listening tour definitely turned contentious last week.

The congressman pushed back, answering constituent challenges to specifi c votes and his contributions to divided government in Washington.

The free-wheeling session in Fayetteville has since been the subject of coft ee shop conversation and in commentary online, most of it critical of conservative Womack’s interaction with constituents in what is arguably the most liberal spot in the Third District.

Womack drew specifi c criticism for an exchange with a young mother of two, working two jobs, who asked why he voted to cut Pell Grants for college students like her but favored subsidies to big oil companies.

The exchange got heated and awkward, but some of the criticism aimed at Womack is unwarranted.

It is based less on what happened in the Happy Hollow Elementary School cafeteria on Wednesday than on a subsequent newscast or other secondhand information.

The woman grew frustrated as he answered and she eventually walked out of the meeting, telling a waiting television crew that he had suggested she join the military.

He didn’t say that.

The congressman had pointed out that he had joined the military to secure his college education. He also told the crowd that he didn’t think the country owes everyone a college education, the latter being one of few remarks he made that drew applause.

Womack actually got more testy in a later exchange with a dift erent constituent regarding due process for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, or GITMO.

“You hit a chord with me,” he said, thrusting a fi nger at a male questioner and raising his voice.

“How can you defend due process for people who are not citizens of this country?”

Womack read from documents to cite the federal law and hammered his point home.

That issue came up late in what was a twohour open session that began with relatively soft encouragement for the congressman to do more for veterans and progressed quickly to many more prickly points.

“Our side,” Womack toldone questioner, “believes the only way to hold down spending is a balanced budget amendment.”

Womack was making the point that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives has only a third of the decision-making power in Washington and cannot send a balanced budget amendment to the states for ratifi cation or enact any other measures unilaterally.

But it was his reference to “our side” that resounded.

The Third District, a woman constituent said, is “not one side or the other.” She asked Womack how often he had reached out to the other side and added, “I want to know my congressman is not part of the problems but part of the solution.”

Hers was one of several questions about the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, where public approval of this divided Congress has sunk to record lows.

Womack cited some specifi c examples of his own bipartisan work, cosponsoring some legislation with Democrats; but he also acknowledged his role in House leadership as part of the Whip team, which involves soliciting support for Republican positions.

The point Womack made most clearly was his belief that he is representing “the prevailing opinions andbeliefs” of Third District voters.

“I hear from these people every day,” he said.

Womack told the Fayetteville crowd there are issues on which they would have to agree to disagree and that they have “the freedom to vote my tail out of off ce.”

As Womack well knows, his replacement is highly unlikely, given the Republican tilt in the district.

So he repeatedly and confi dently emphasized that he believes he’s on the right side of the issues for most people in the district and the nation.

“On the fundamental things we all believe in, there’s going to be a divide,” he said.

“That’s part of who we are.”

Womack said he hoped “some of what we do is pleasing” to the Fayetteville crowd but stood by his contention that he represents the district’s majority.

Give the guy credit for being honest. He believes what he believes.

He’ll show up and hear other opinions. This particular session went twice as long as planned and extended as stragglers asked questions of the congressman one on one.

But how he represents the district won’t change.

BRENDA BLAGG IS A COLUMNIST FOR NWA MEDIA.