FRESNO, CA ( KMJ) – On Thursday, February 23rd, constituents across California held candlelight vigils in the neighborhoods of Congressional representatives asking “Have you seen my Congressperson.”
The events are part of the “Courageous Resistance” of the California-based Courage Campaign.
They were joined by members of SEIU’s #FightForCA campaign to highlight how they say GOP members of Congress have refused to conduct local town hall meetings during the Congressional recess.
Residents are calling out Rep. David Valadao (CA-21), Rep. Jeff Denham (CA-10), Rep. Devin Nunes (CA-22), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (CA-48), Rep. Ed Royce (CA-39) and Rep. Steve Knight (CA-25) for failing to meet with them and addressing concerns of safeguarding health care coverage and protecting immigrant families.
Pedro Ramirez from the California Labor Federation showed up at the rally outside Congressman David Valadao’s office in Hanford.
Ramirez and the others are calling for Representative Valadao to speak to them face-to face on how he will help immigrant families and protect health-care coverage.
“It’s very simple, just show up and talk to them. if you do it in a respectful manner and you have a respectful dialogue then a lot of good information can be passed down, a lot of misinformation can be disproven, and he can lay out his plans.” – Pedro Ramirez, California Labor Federation.
Anna Raquel Vetter, the Deputy Chief of Staff & Communications Director for Congressman David G. Valadao (CA-21) released the following statement: “While organizations such as SEIU are busy pushing their political agendas, and exploiting media coverage, Congressman Valadao is spending his time meeting with constituents across his Congressional District. Speaking with constituents about the issues most important to them is one of his favorite parts of his job.”
Protestors in the Central Valley also showed up in Turlock at Jeff Denham’s office and in Tulare for Devin Nunes – whose office released this statement: “It’s nice to see these left-wing activist groups and the SEIU keeping busy.”
Click below to listen to the story by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
