In early August I was invited to an evening with my U.S. Representative Karen Bass, at a local middle school not far from my house. I had known about the event a week or so beforehand because I regularly get emails from my representative of the 37th district of California. I'm the kind of person that emails her petitions that many organizations I'm a part of formulate in order to convince her to lean towards a stance I favor in a particular piece of legislation or issue. She is a Democrat who has been serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011 and is on the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees. Karen Bass is actually the kind of public servant I look up to. She is a minority and considered liberal and is very amicable in demeanor. The event was held inside the school's library which was modest in size. I would guess there were about one hundred people there. There was a brief introduction by Bass in which she spoke of her career background and overall concentration of what she does in Congress but most of the time was allotted to the questions and concerns of the attendees. If you had something to say you would line up on either side and wait until it was your turn to speak into the microphone that an aide would hold up for you. She allowed a lot of people to speak and then she would answer the varied questions all at once until the next wave of people would say their bit onto the microphone.

She was able to manage this quite formidably without forgetting to address each issue that came up. And I have to say I was quite surprised of the myriad of topics discussed on that night. There was a woman who spoke about deporting Melania Trump because apparently she should not be considered a legal citizen because there are inconsistencies with here visa history and possibly committed visa fraud. The woman seemed bitter that Melania can get away with this and told us that it took her 25 years to become a citizen herself. I was shocked and instantly sympathized with her. Someone brought the issue of mail theft before Bass and the representative told everyone that her office has been getting many calls about this issue. This was very eye-opening for me. Never would I have thought that in the year 2016 people are stealing other people's mail. It just made me gawk and feel ignorant. And remember mail theft is considered a felony and a person can face up to five years in a federal prison. The topic of impeachment of a President came up because someone asked what can we, as concerned citizens, do If Donald Trump becomes President. Bass like many others didn't know how to answer that question. Unless the President conducts an act that is illegal there really isn't much anyone can do. Someone sarcastically and with a hint of sass blurted out, "A coup" as a possible solution. Audible laughter occurred throughout the library but right after my chuckle I felt a bit uneasy of the thought of that transpiring out of desperation.

Just when I thought this evening couldn't get any better there was a young woman who spoke about the discontent she felt over the AUMF. Never would I have thought someone would bring that up and I was relishing in joy in the discussion of this topic from a U.S. representative no less. For those of you who don't know, the AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force) is a piece of legislation that was passed a couple days after the September 11 attacks that basically authorized this country to commit endless war wherever it seemed fit to any responsible party in relation to the attacks. This authorization is what has led us to two wars and the continuation of fighting against Islamic militants worldwide. As a side note, I want to bring to light that there was one representative who opposed this legislation and that was Rep. Barbara Lee also from my state of C.A. She is currently trying to repeal this resolution and if you choose to do so can join in her petition to Congress here. Bass agreed with the discontent and recognized that it had massive amounts of loopholes but unfortunately I don't remember if she said she was willing to strike it down if it came to a vote once again.

The issue of increasing homelessness was brought up. Bass mentioned something that really resonated with me. She said that those of us belonging to the younger generations don't realize that homeless rates were very low back when she was younger. She said young people have grown up thinking that homelessness is normal when in actuality that was not how it was just a generation ago. She acknowledged there was just a concentration of it at Skid Row but it wasn't anything like what we see today in which rates have spread all over her district. I recently read an article in the LA Times stating that this November we are to vote on the ballot whether or not to spend money to build housing for the homeless. The article states, "The measure, Proposition HHH, is designed to finance 8,000 to 10,000 units over 10 years for chronically homeless people, including veterans, seniors and foster youth. It requires approval from a supermajority, 67% of city voters, to pass."

There were many other issues discussed including funding for disease, veterans affairs, police brutality, breaking and entering, campaign finance reform, etc. And then it became my turn to speak which happened to be the second to last question(s). I told her that my questions concentrated on the Middle East and the disastrous policies that have pervaded there. I asked her two main questions which were about what does she propose we should do about our relationship towards the regressive regime of Saudi Arabia in which the U.S. is aiding by giving cluster bombs for them to use in the Saudi's war with Yemen. Second I asked her about what she intends to do in regards to our country's drone warfare which has made us many enemies and which has perpetuated the machine of war. Let's just say when she finally got around to answering my queries she didn't necessarily directly address my concerns. She agreed with my notion of the Saudi regime being regressive and still living by standards of the past. She gave an anecdote about going to the mall with two of her colleagues and having to wear the appropriate attire (burqa) for being out in public. I was dissatisfied with her answer because I believe she did not catch what I was trying to ask which is was how do we break up ties with the Saudi government. I guess I should of have been clearer.

The answer to my second question was also underwhelming. She didn't neither condone nor condemn drone warfare, which was something I was looking to find out her stance on. Perhaps she believes it is a necessary evil but I shouldn't speculate. When everything ended and we were allowed to speak with her personally I told her that I didn't want to leave empty-handed and that she didn't really answer my question on drone warfare. She responded by telling me that she indirectly answered my question when she spoke on how when defense appropriations bills came up she always votes against it and will continue to do so. I thanked her and went on my way. Overall this experience was transformative for me and gave me a pep in my step while walking back home thinking about all of us who showed up at that event and really experiencing and contributing to an untainted form of democracy, which is the meeting of constituents and their elected official.