Bob Wise: “I want to talk about the telecommunications bill, but I also want to say that communication from my constituents is very…”

“I want to talk about the telecommunications bill, but I also want to say that communication from my constituents is very important to me because that is one of many ways that one deals with issues and shapes views. But unfortunately, during this debate, that very communications has been compromised for the first time in the time that I have had the privilege of serving in the House. I hold up, Mr. Speaker, generated communications, letters with names and addresses of constituents ranging from Martinsburg to Harpers Ferry, to Weston, to Charleston, to Ravenswood, to Ripley, all across the State of West Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I hold up 550 letters. This was the amount of mail coming in in the last few days on the telecommunications bill, all expressing one point of view. We decided to do a survey to find out whether people and genuinely been behind these letters. What I found, Mr. Speaker, was that in contacting 15 people, we found 8 people of the 15 who were unaware that their names were on one of these letters. We found out, Mr. Speaker, that of the 15, 3 were deceased and he had been dead for 6 to 7 years. We found out that 4 people were aware. What that means, Mr. Speaker, is about two-thirds of the people listed here may not have actually communicated with my office, but their names were used to represent it. This is an outrage, Mr. Speaker. I encourage my constituents, as all my colleagues do, Mr. Speaker, to write, to express their opinions.…”