A Visit from Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen
Raritan had the pleasure of meeting with their congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen last Saturday, March 24th. Rodney Frelinghuysen is now serving his 7th term in the U. S. House of Representatives. His office receives tens of thousands of letters annually (75 % are by email). He, with his staff, tries to answer every one. In addition to his 14 years as a congressman, his life experience includes serving with the Army in Vietnam. Here at this “town meeting” the public had an opportunity to ask questions to their elected representative. The meeting was held in the Raritan municipal building. The courtroom’s seats were filled, it was standing room only. With over 100 people in attendance, it was a who’s who of Raritan. Present was the current borough council, old borough council members, the new mayor, two old mayors, and the county sheriff.
A staff of several people accompanied Rodney to the meeting. Their overall goal seemed to be to provide as much information as possible to the public. This was done in many ways besides just his talk. Outside in the lobby there were numerous newsletters and articles available for anyone to take home with them. One could even sign up to receive Mr. Frelinghuysen’s e-newsletter .
Rodney’s roots are in Raritan. He is related to Fredrick Frelinghuysen whose former residence is now the Raritan library. Rodney is a cousin of Joseph S. Frelinghuysen, a U.S. Senator, who lived in Raritan in a mansion where the Burger King stands today. His opening remarks were 15 minutes long. He stated that he enjoys meeting with the public. His town meetings are basically question and answer sessions. He informed the crowd that many other congressmen have stopped having “town meetings” as they just get beat up by the public.
After the opening remarks, for the next hour he took questions from the audience. Those in attendance quickly saw what Rodney meant about getting beat up at this town meeting by the public. The first question was about the war in Iraq. It was asked heatedly —” when will this war end ? It has been four years, $400 billion dollars have been spent, and thousands of our soldiers have been killed. When is it finally time to bring our troops home ?” Rodney’s answer was (paraphrased) Pre-determined artificial time tables are a poor way to run a war. The U.S‘s resolve is being closely watched by our enemies and friends. Also, we must remember what Saddam Hussein was. And if we leave Iraq too soon, it could become barbaric, causing tremendous suffering on the Iraq people.” Rodney seemed to understand the war well. Much of his knowledge is first hand, as he has been to Iraq a number of times, including twice in the last ten months. There he spoke with both the soldiers and the officers. One of his opening comments had been “you can debate the war, but you must be proud of our troops.” This generated applause from the crowd.
Other topics were the idling of the diesel trains by Johnson Drive. Residents stated that as many 8-10 trains will idol all night long. (These trains are very difficult to start, that is why they are left running.) It generates both pollution and noise which greatly reduces the quality of life for the nearby Raritan residents. One woman said she had a study about the pollution caused by the trains and it’s harmful effects. Rodney said that he would set up a meeting with NJ Transit to discuss the problem.
Other questions were on border control from Mexico and keeping English as the common language. One Raritan resident angrily said that we should send our troops to Trenton – since we have “run away criminality” in New Jersey. He further went on to exclaim that he has little confidence in local, county, or state government. He concluded by telling Rodney in a very polite tone- “And I appreciate you listening to me.” At the end of the meeting Rodney Frelinghuysen presented mayor Jo-Ann Liptak with an American Flag that had previously flown outside the U.S. Capital Building. After the meeting, Rodney talked with several residents and then was off to host another “town meeting” in another town.