Letter to the Editor: Herrera Beutler Is Out of Touch With Constituents

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In Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler’s most recent e-newsletter, her lack of understanding of her constituents’ needs is all too apparent.

Rep. Herrera Beutler claims to be working to improve health care for mothers in rural areas through her Maternal Health Quality Improvement Act. I commend her for her effort to improve health care access for mothers. However, she states in her e-newsletter that the Act “focuses on tele-health, which leverages technology so a mom in rural towns like Goldendale, Stevenson, or on a reservation can talk to a specialist in Seattle or Portland without making the long trip.”

Rep. Beutler, how can you be so ignorant of just how poor — or even non-existent for some — internet access and connectivity is for many rural citizens in your district? The Guardian newspaper, a British publication for heaven’s sake, has a better grasp than you on what an internet wasteland southwest Washington and has done extensive coverage of our situation. I live in Winlock, the poster child of inadequate internet service, which contains far too many citizens who have been completely denied internet access by CenturyLink, and where there are no other reliable providers. I squeak by at home on speeds of about 0.8 Mbps, barely faster than dial-up. Skyping is out of the question. But you’re saying that your answer to limited rural health care is through telemedicine, which has considerable bandwidth requirements? 

This is a clear and disheartening example of how out of touch Rep. Herrera Beutler is from the reality of her constituents’ lives. She is ignorant of our needs and, thus, unrealistic when proposing solutions to real problems. 

I have a suggestion, though, Rep. Herrera Beutler, that could help solve this problem of your ignorance of our real needs. How about holding some in-person town halls and really listen to your constituents to find out what we actually need, rather than wasting your time on proposals that won’t have any significant impact the problem you’re trying to solve?



 

L.L. Hauer

Winlock