For Tulare County’s working poor, Devin Nunes has offered no representation

We have all heard the complaint: Why vote, since it doesn’t matter because politicians don’t listen to us. It is true of one such politician: Congressman Devin Nunes.

In 2016, Nunes was only focused on the election of Donald Trump, raising millions of dollars from special interest groups and serving on Trump’s transition team. In 2017 to now, as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, his only focus has been defending Trump from the ongoing investigation of Russian meddling into our democracy and our right to hold free elections.

But what has Nunes, R-Tulare, done here in the 22nd Congressional District? He has not addressed the issue of poverty, which is 28 percent in Tulare County. An estimated 128,800 people live in poverty in Tulare County, and this goes far beyond people on some type of aid. This includes the working poor. In the county, 76.2 percent, or 78,260 students, qualify for free or reduced lunches; 55 percent, or 253,000 people, are on Medi-Cal.

The county’s agricultural economy is dependent upon reliable labor, which is typically provided by immigrants. Absent a path to citizenship, a guest worker program or some sort of immigration fix, there is tremendous amount of uncertainty for the future of agriculture in our county.

In the fiscal year 2019, the federal budget is $4.4 trillion, 27 percent of which is discretionary spending. These funds can have a significant impact on health and human services, education and housing. Our congressman should be working on using his influence to bring more of these funds to his district.

These are some of the reasons that our organization made numerous attempts last year to schedule an appointment with Nunes. Since April 2017, we have made more than seven attempts to meet with our congressman, to no avail.

As part of the 2000 redistricting effort, many of us worked hard to ensure that Tulare County was represented by one representative, instead of divided between two others. Since 2003, Nunes has been our representative. Agriculture is our No. 1 industry and employs 30 percent of the county labor force. Considering how important agriculture is to his constituents, the congressman should have been working with his Republican colleagues to get the farm bill passed.

Why continue voting for someone who does not spend his time in Washington representing his constituents? Why support someone who does not work on matters that are most important to his constituents?

This story was originally published May 30, 2018 at 11:06 AM with the headline "For Tulare County’s working poor, Devin Nunes has offered no representation."