New faces in Congress

Jan. 4
The News-Star, Monroe, Louisiana, on Congress’ new faces:
The 114th Congress convened featuring two new faces representing northeastern Louisiana.
Bill Cassidy, who has served in the House, will move over to the Senate side to replace Mary Landrieu as the state’s junior senator.
To represent the 5th Congressional District in the house, Ralph Abraham replaces Vance McAllister, R-Swartz, who couldn’t overcome the kissing congressman scandal and finished fourth in the primary. Abraham defeated Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo in the runoff election.
Coincidentally, both Cassidy and Abraham are physicians, and both are well aware of the issues facing northeastern Louisiana with its high poverty rate and a populace with serious health and education concerns.
We encourage both men to return to the 5th Congressional District often, to communicate regularly with our leadership and to stay in touch with the needs of this constituency. It’s easy to forget the needs of the Delta when you’re inside the glamour of the Beltway.
Those regular visits to the area are something we’ve missed in recent years, particularly on the Senate side. We’d like to see Cassidy and Abraham accessible and on a first-name basis with our captains of industry, university administrators, mayors, chamber executives and economic developers.
We thank both men for agreeing to the work and sacrifice of servant leadership.
And we wish them success in this new journey. Their successful representation means that northeastern Louisiana benefits.
Online:
http://www.thenewsstar.com