Tina Smith: “I was privileged to travel to Austin, and an hour's meeting turned into a half a day's meeting, as I found in this good…”

“I was privileged to travel to Austin, and an hour's meeting turned into a half a day's meeting, as I found in this good man a man of the West, a man who understood from whence he came in rural parts of Texas. I represent the State of Oregon. I come from the dry side of Oregon, a side not unlike many parts of Texas. People do not think of Oregon in those terms, but many parts of Oregon are arid. My neighbors are people who farm the earth, fish the rivers, the ocean, and they harvest timber from our mountains. It was interesting to watch the election results 4 years ago and to see the diversity of voting between urban and rural places. Overwhelmingly, rural people voted for George W. Bush, as did I because I am from a rural place. In my first meeting with George W. Bush, I began to discuss the issues of the people I serve and who elected me. I could tell in an instant that he got it, that he understood.”