By Maggie Alves
On July 18th, 2016, the Earthscope Media team had the privilege of
interviewing Congressman Jared Huffman at his local office in San Rafael.
Huffman represents over 700,000 people in California’s second district, the
northwest portion of California, ranging from the Golden Gate Bridge to the
Oregon border. Huffman is a member of the Committee on Natural Resources and
the House
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Huffman is an avid community member and an
outspoken environmentalist. He works tirelessly to protect the environment and
advocate for new important legislation. Despite his busy schedule, he loves
connecting with his community, particularly the youth, and was kind enough to
devote an hour to our group.
After assembling in front of the building to review our questions,
we entered through the large front doors. The waiting room was filled with
flags, certificates, legal papers, and framed photos, including one of him with
Obama. Once in his office, it didn’t feel like I was standing in the office of
a respected political figure. The office perfectly reflected his personality;
fishing and family photos covered the walls, there was a UCSB Sports Hall of
Fame plaque for men’s volleyball, and official documents. Seeing a face in
person that I have learned so much about in school was a surreal experience.
His staff were incredibly friendly and accommodated to all nine of us being in
a small space. Huffman addressed each of our questions thoroughly and made sure
he clarified all his statements.
The issue I asked Huffman about regarded his own bill: The Drought
Relief and Resilience Act of
2015. This was the first bill he ever asked for public input on. The
“crowdsourced” bill received thousands of comments from the public, many of
which were inputted in the bill. The bill has not been voted on, but would be a
huge stride to combating the drought. Huffman states, “My bill provides
emergency funding to stretch existing water supplies: deploying efficient
irrigation technology, drilling wells, and building pipelines.” It also plans
to quickly upgrade treatment facilities, repair leaking infrastructure, improve
urban and agricultural water use efficiency, improve desalination technology
and water recycling, recharge and clean depleted groundwater aquifers, and
better manage headwater forests and watersheds. To learn more about the bill,
visit https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/2983.
At the end of the forty-minute interview, we asked about what it
was like to be in politics. Huffman explained it was the same as any other job;
some things he loved, and others he did not. Everyone is politics is there
because at some point they were extremely passionate about something. To me,
the most remarkable part of the experience was seeing how down to earth and
humble he was. He conducted himself professionally, shook all of our hands, and
gave each question thorough and in-depth responses; you could tell he didn’t
think of himself above anyone. Politics is not meant for people who only want
their names in headlines; it’s meant for people who are passionate and will
work hard to see the changes they want in government. I feel so lucky to be
represented in politics by someone who cares and reflects the interests of the
community.
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