Thursday, Feb. 11, 1965 University Daily Kansas
Page 5
Near or Far, Solons Still Face Problems
WASHINGTON —(UPI)— Reps. Spark M. Matsunaga, D-Hawaii, and Joel T. Bryohill, R-Va., face unusual problems because of the distance between Washington and their homes.
"My biggest difficulty, I suppose, is keeping in personal touch with constituents," says Matsunaga. "When you try to do business by telephone or letter, you lack certain elements which go toward easier and better understanding."
Matsunaga lives almost as far from Washington as you can get and still be in the United States—5,000 miles away in Honolulu. Broyhill lives nearer than any colleague, in an Arlington home only seven and one-half miles from the Capitol.
MATSUNAGA's 12-HOUR jet flight to work compares with Broyhill's 20-minute drive. Broyhill gets home every night, but Matsunaga can swing only about four trips to his district per year. Because of the $465 fare, he usually leaves his wife and five children behind in their Capitol area home in suburban Bethesda, Md.
Chief problems for the congressmen involve the amount of personal contact they have with constituents. Matsunaga does not get enough and Broyhill gets too much.
"ANOTHER PROBLEM is not getting news from home immediately," he says. "Sometimes I learn about happenings back home, such as
deaths and marriages, too late to take any appropriate action."
Broyhill's constituents are forever stopping by his office.
"This is not only because it's so easy to get here from Arlington," he explains, "but also because so many of my constituents are tied in with the federal government and, naturally, my district is federally oriented.
"Many constituents come to me with matters which most people don't take to congressmen—trash collection, traffic tickets, marital disputes, juvenile delinquency cases."
Hawaii: A State
WASHINGTON — (UPI)— Hawaii has been a state for close to six years now, but a sizeable segment of the American public apparently seems to think it is a foreign country.
Or at least this is the conclusion which members of Hawaii's congressional delegation are tempted to reach. The state's two senators and two representatives are regularly favored with mail bearing addresses such as "Embassy of Hawaii," "Hawaiian Ambassador" or "Hawaiian Consulate."
Many of the letters ask about visa requirements for entering Hawaii. A fifth grade teacher wrote recently to request "coins and stamps from your country."Another teacher wanted to exchange U.S.money for "Hawaiian currency."
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