This week saw Representative Mike Fitzpatrick taking care of his standard duties and obligations without producing anything of significant note. A quick glance at his Facebook page shows that Fitzpatrick took time this week to raise awareness of the JFK Assassination Anniversary, the Eagles victory over the rival Redskins, and for supporting Alzheimer's awareness. While these actions are of relatively little import, Fitzpatrick did take time to address some more pertinent issues.
On a more practical note, Fitzpatrick also included on his Facebook a link to a site with information regarding the retrieval of important documents that may have been destroyed. With the recent disasters in Illinois and Colorado, I found this information to be of a far more pertinent and useful nature. Fitzpatrick's constituents may not be directly affected by these disasters, but the information is nonetheless useful to have. It is also a clear attempt by Fitzpatrick to show that he is one of the "good guys" that genuinely care about the well-being of Americans. In a lot of ways, it serves the same function as his posts about the Eagles do: it shows he's just regular dude, in touch with the interests and concerns of those he represents.
In terms of legislation, Fitzpatrick lended support for two bills of note. The first, the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2013, would "create common standards for financial data provided by government agencies, and expands the amount of data that agencies are required to provide to USASpending.gov." In the wake of our own class budget simulation, I felt like this bill was very apropos. I know from personal experience just how difficult it is to dig up any financial records when it comes to government spending, and I feel this bill is clearly intended to make legislators more responsible for their financial policies since they will be more readily available to citizens.
This week saw relatively limited amounts of activity by Representative Fitzpatrick. He's simply maintaining a "good brand name" with his constiuents, showing his support for local sports teams and being active in the community. These actions may be of negligible significance on the grand scale of things, but they certainly go a long way towards establishing a positive connection with his constituents. As we've analyzed all year, this base of support at home is absolutely essential to the pursuit of more national agendas in Washington, which we also see this week through his support for the Digital Accountability Act.
Sources:
https://www.facebook.com/RepFitzpatrick
http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/11/05/replacing-your-important-papers
http://www.gop.gov/bill/113/1/hr2061
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