I received this response from my MN6 Congressman, Tom Emmer, who serves as the House Whip (the guy that twists other Republican representatives' arms to wrangle the votes needed to pass legislation. He's the ambitious type...so he likes to be on the good side of those who hold the reins of power. I have no expectation that he will stand up when the "leader" strays from good governance, prudence or decency. So far, he hasn't proven me wrong. It's only interesting to see how he shapes the narrative to support whatever nasty, cruel and self-serving thing that comes down the pike.
After another round of dismantling agencies that included impacts to a special concern of mine: library services, I wrote about my concerns and this was his response:
me with your concerns regarding the Institute of Museum and Library Service funding cuts. As your Representative for the Sixth Congressional District of Minnesota, your views are very important to me, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.
The executive order instructs the institute to eliminate non-statutory components and functions and to provide a report to the director of the Office of Management and Budget. The IMLS was created in 1996 and provides grant opportunities and assists with policy development for America's museums and libraries.
The IMLS was instructed by the Trump Administration to eliminate all non-statutory components. While public libraries and museums are important public institutions that provide valuable resources to Americans across the country, recently, we have witnessed the IMLS veer away from its intended mission and include politics in institutions across the nation. Our nation's libraries and museums should be nonpartisan while providing information and resources for Americans across the country.
As your Representative for the Sixth Congressional District of Minnesota, your opinions on the Institute of Museum and Library Service funding, and any other issue, are vital to shaping my understanding and work on this important issue. Thank you for taking the time to contact me, and if I can ever be of help in the future, please don’t hesitate to reach out again.
Sincerely,
Tom Emmer
So, I'm a teacher, and I read it as such. Check out the signature...work on your penmanship, Tom.
It's composed well enough to get a decent grade, but is entirely unsatisfactory in it's tone and content. My opinions are quite irrelevant to Tom, so I wish he would stop implying that they matter. I'm glad he responds to his constituents, I just wish he cared more about what we have to say. Despite the almost certain unlikelihood that I can impact any change, he's going to keep hearing from me. This is my response to his letter:
I received your response to my concerns about the administration’s executive actions to damage and diminish library and museum services that are so essential to the people of America. Without the full and robust services that our cultural institutions provide and the supervision of the Library of Congress by an experienced leader, the vibrancy of America's intellectual and democratic capacity plummets.
Your contention that "we have witnessed the IMLS veer away from its intended mission and include politics in institutions across the nation. Our nation's libraries and museums should be nonpartisan while providing information and resources for Americans across the country," is smoke and mirrors and is a profound insult to the professional librarians and curators who approach their work with a thoughtfulness and respect that the current administration completely lacks. Trump instead wants to close off any sources of information that would question his right to be an authoritarian and stifle those that hold true fidelity to facts, history and accurate information.
His actions have nothing to do with controlling the national debt as evidenced by the unnecessary and expensive parade to stroke his ego on June 14 and the proposed exorbitant tax breaks for the wealthy that will significantly increase our debt.
Your arguments have no credibility and I am thoroughly fearful for our ability to maintain a well-educated and free democracy under the repressive and vindictive leadership of Trump and his compliant and unethical compatriots, such as yourself. Please consider the irreparable harm that your actions are causing to your fellow citizens and to those that will come after us.
Andrew Carnegie, whose benevolence helped build over 2500 libraries, said, "A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert."
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