While many members of Congress have spent their summer recess getting yelled at by constituents at unruly town-hall meetings, Rep. Doris Matsui has opted for a quieter approach.The Sacramento Democrat has not hosted a single town hall meeting this month and has no plans to do so before Congress returns to work in September to tackle a $1 trillion health care bill. She's sponsoring only one event next week, where constituents can call her on the telephone to ask questions.
Matsui's absence on the town hall circuit stands in contrast to how most other members from the Sacramento region are handling Washington's most volatile issue of the year.
On Wednesday night, Republican Rep. Dan Lungren was in Rancho Cordova, hosting his third town hall meeting. Last week, an overflow crowd packed a meeting at Citrus Heights, prompting Lungren to use a police microphone to address a crowd gathered in a parking lot.
Next week, Republican Rep. Tom McClintock is planning four face-to-face meetings with constituents. And Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson has had five town hall meetings during the recess, with another planned in Eureka next week.
Matsui said her telephone meeting will allow her to reach out to more constituents without having to turn anyone away due to space constraints.
"I'm not taking away anything from some of the town halls that have been going on," Matsui said Wednesday. "But it seemed to me that not everybody got heard and sometimes the loudest people in the room overwhelmed some of the thoughtful ones who really wanted to ask a question. So I felt this is the best way to proceed."