Mainers: I want to hear from you

A request, and an update on my work on the border and Ukraine

Dear Mainer,

This week, I spent some time writing to you about my recent work in Congress to broker a deal to end the chaos at our nation’s southern border and to send military arms and ammunition to Ukraine for its defense against Russia’s invasion of its sovereign borders. 

This work has been my central focus for weeks, because I recognize that a nation is only as strong as its borders, and that America’s future is bleaker if Putin is allowed to steamroll Europe. 

But there are other topics that I want to focus on in this letter, and this month especially, I want to use this space to seek input from you about the hopes, dreams, and challenges of your families and communities. Still, there are a few things about my work on the border and Ukraine that I want you to hear directly from me. I’ll share those at the end of this letter. 

First, let’s talk about Mainers.

In my last post, I said I wanted to engage in a conversation about Maine’s future. Lately, I’ve been splitting all of my time between serving you in Washington and trying to spend as much time as I can with my wife, Izzy, and our daughter Rosemary as we prepare to welcome our new baby girl any day now. 

That means I haven’t had as much time to talk with my constituents as I’d like. So I have a favor to ask: Can you write me a letter? Not a letter about a bill in Congress or something that cable news pundits are talking about, but a letter about yourself and things that have less to do with politics in Washington and more to do with life in Maine. Things like: 

• your biggest challenges at home and work

• your kids or grandkids

• the things that keep you up at night

• your dreams, and what might be holding you back

• your community

• your thoughts on today’s society

I’m curious, for example, if the parents reading this letter can find childcare, or whether their kids' school is meeting their expectations. I want to know what small-business owners would change to take their enterprise to the next level. Or about what your communities have gained — or lost — during your lifetime. I want to know if you’re getting the hours you want at work: Can you make ends meet? Do you have enough time to spend with your family and friends?

I know it’s hard to believe a member of Congress might read a letter like this, or care what you might write. But I think that in today’s fractured culture and fractious political environment, this is the type of conversation that can lead to better politics and real democracy. 

I also think this kind of communication should be a two-way street. So here’s what I’d say in a letter to you: 

I love public service. But every time I hug my wife and daughter to leave for the week, I worry I’m missing days of a young life and family that you can’t get back, and I wonder when the right time will be that I am home for dinner and the bedtime routine every night. I balance these concerns and questions with the high value I place on public service, my love of country, and the great honor it is to represent you and to work for such a great purpose: a strong, free, healthy, and happy America for all of us. 

While I think our future is a hopeful one, I lose sleep thinking about my daughter's childhood in a world of rapid technological change and intense social media engagement and exposure. This is fear of the unknown, because I grew up without the internet and I got my first cell phone when I was 20 years old (it flipped open). I increasingly wonder about the dreams my parents and my wife, Izzy’s, parents have and how we can help make that a reality. 

I think a lot about how different conditions or arrangements could help my family and other families in my community meet these challenges — whether it’s new economic tools, family support, or community institutions such as our church. I’m sure you do too. So tell me what you want for the future, and what could empower you, your families, and your communities to make your life in Maine the best it could be. 

The only catch is this: If you decide to join this conversation, you have to send a letter. I’ve learned through my time in DC that it’s easy for special interests to overwhelm digital platforms to achieve their own ends. So send a letter to my office: 

Congressman Jared Golden

RE: February Letter

1710 Longworth HOB

Washington, DC, 20515. 

No matter if you find the time to write me back or not, thanks for taking the time to read my letters and I hope you’ll continue to read them as they come.

Now, about the border and Ukraine

If you’ve been following the news, you’ve likely heard about my work with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA, and eight of my other colleagues — four Democrats and four Republicans — to break the gridlock and address the crises at our border and in Ukraine. 

This is not an exhaustive explanation, but I did want to share a few thoughts on this plan with you directly: 

1. All nations, including ours, must maintain control of their borders. When we can’t enforce the law at our own border, it creates instability that undermines our society. 

2. America is a nation of immigrants, but our current immigration system is broken and in need of reform. However, the most immediate goal must be to regain control over the chaotic situation at our Southern Border, where an unprecedented volume of crossings has created the conditions that allow Mexican drug cartels to open the floodgates for deadly fentanyl to flow into our communities and, ultimately, kill Americans. 

3. The bill I have introduced with my Republican colleague, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, is an attempt to address that critical need. It is not a comprehensive immigration reform bill (As we’ve seen, the House majority has no appetite for such a package). Ours is a border control bill that would act as a one-year tourniquet to slow the mass influx of migrants arriving at our border so that federal, state, and local law enforcement can take a breath and re-establish control. The immigration system, from courts to host communities to organizations that help immigrants, could use this time to clear their backlogs. 

4. The world is changing around us in destabilizing ways and America cannot hide from the growing danger that could someday arrive on our shores, if left unchecked. Putin’s Russia is a restive world power that increasingly acts to undermine democratic governments, including our own. Putin has made clear that his ambitions do not end in Ukraine, and our NATO allies are warning of additional military confrontations. I believe it is better to send American arms and ammunition to help Ukrainian soldiers stop Russia in Ukraine today than to do nothing and risk a future Congress having to decide whether to send young American men and women to fight and die on European fields as they did in previous world wars.

5. Some critics of military aid to Ukraine say it’s a waste of taxpayer money. Setting aside our national security interests, the truth is that this is also good for our economy. Almost all of the money spent by Congress on Ukraine aid would go to American manufacturing facilities, where highly skilled American workers with good-paying, middle-class jobs make arms and ammunition. By supporting Ukraine, we stimulate our own nation’s production economy and strengthen our manufacturing base.

You can read more in the op-ed I authored with Rep. Fitzpatrick, and I’ll be speaking more on it through other channels in the coming days. 

I hope to hear from you soon, 

Your Representative in Congress