U.S. Rep. Carter’s office has a workday in Marble Falls
U.S. Rep. John Carter speaks with Carol Nicholson of Granite Shoals about the current state of policing during a mobile office event at the Marble Falls Public Library on March 16. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
U.S. Rep. John Carter brought his office to Marble Falls during a mobile event at the library on Thursday, March 16. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., residents were able to apply for aid from caseworkers, plan trips to Washington, D.C., and seek nominations for various congressional programs for students and veterans.
The congressman was available to constituents during the lunch hour.
“We invented this a long time ago,” said Carter, who represents U.S. House District 31 in Texas, which includes Burnet County. “We have rural counties scattered all over, and we have services that we really believe in that help people. Casework is very important to me.”
Constituent liaisons at the mobile office helped residents cut through the red tape of a number of federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, Department of State, Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Department of Labor.
“You can get all these services online, you can get them in the mail, and other ways,” Carter said. “If you can meet one on one with a casework person, it’s even better.”
While Carter has represented Central Texans in Washington since 2003, the current congressional cycle is the first time the longtime congressman has served Burnet County following statewide redistricting by the Texas Legislature in 2022.
Carter said he shares many of the same core values of his new constituency in the Highland Lakes.
“I think we think much alike about life,” he said. “We think that the government is too big. My campaign was to take more of Texas to Washington and less of Washington to Texas. That still is my campaign.”
Carter spoke with residents about topics such as policing, human trafficking, the economy, and the Texas border during the event.
“We talked a lot about law enforcement,” he said. “Our law enforcement across the country has been very challenged by this administration.”
Another key point on which Carter touched was the dying respect of governance.
“We’re losing respect for the government,” he said. “You don’t have to like them. Your party doesn’t have to like what the other party is doing, but you have to respect the system.”
Carter believes the shift is detrimental to the nation’s progress.
“Historically — at least in Congress — we’ve never attacked the system, we’ve attacked the individual,” he said. “Now, the world is attacking the system, and our enemies — the people who don’t like us — are working overtime to keep that going. That’s not good for America.”