It's been an exciting and active past few weeks since I have last written. In April, I was selected to be one of ten members of Congress to attend the "Presidents' Summit For America's Future," convening in the birthplace of our nation, Philadelphia. I was chosen, I think, because of the community service in which I was heavily involved in my previous job....that of a TV anchor in Green Bay, Wisconsin. I often point out that this job of a Congressman is really kind of like full-time community service.

The three-day session of Volunteerism was highlighted by several themes. Most important was the bipartisan nature of the sessions. In fact, President Clinton and all of the former Presidents were main speakers, politics was not their issue....their theme was always pointing to the success of volunteering. (In fact, one of the highlights of the nighttime entertainment for Summit attendees was, for me, the on-stage appearance of five of Philadelphia's finest old Rock-n-Roll talents...Bobby Rydell, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Chubby Checker and Grover Washington Jr., all together performing "The Twist.")

But the Philadelphia summit was much more than speeches or fun...it was just the start of a movement to get more people to help one another. The one-on-one relationship between a volunteer and someone he or she is helping can often be a life-changing relationship. I have seen that during five years of hosting a TV segment called "Little Brother-Little Sister" which matched youngsters with a positive adult role model. For many of them, it became a turning point in their lives.

It is in that spirit that I decided to return to my congressional district to begin a new project called "Volunteer Days." I have committed to volunteering personally several hours a month, if only as a personal example of what the power of volunteering can do. "Volunteer Days" began with a visit and reading session to a neighborhood resource center in Green Bay, sharing time with mothers and children. At the Center, the parents, children and volunteers all come from the neighborhood, and they spend five hours a week learning the same skills -- a practice that lets the child depend on his or her parents as educators. Parents who take part in the program are encouraged to share their skills with other families in the community. (I also brought along "Corky," my Irish Wolfhound, to my first Volunteer Day. She was a hit with the kids.)

Back in Washington, the whirlwind pace of the job of a freshman Congressman continues, even though the House of Representatives itself has not been held to a hectic pace. As of this writing, I don't believe that we've had much more than 100 recorded House votes. That can be interpreted in many ways. Some might say that, as a body, it means we haven't done any damage by enacting new laws. Others might say the pace is part of what's wrong with Congress. I am finding that the slow, more deliberate nature of Congress is probably good for the kind of work that we do....make laws. It really allows time and due consideration for changing the laws that govern us all. And, if speed is required, say, for instance, to find the funding to respond to the flooding disasters in the Dakotas and Minnesota, the legislative body can act in a hurry.

It's a bit early for me to make political judgements, but most of the political analysis I read suggests that perhaps the reason for the slow and uneventful pace of Congress thus far in 1997 is due to the uncertainty of leadership on the part of the Republicans. The Republicans, I am finding out in all ways, great and small, control the pace and content of the legislation which comes to the floor. They have the votes and thus, the power base, to set the agenda, quite literally, of what proposed legislation gets to the committees and what is likely to get out of committees and onto the floor for final passage.

Back in Green Bay and the district this weekend, I had a chance for several more volunteer opportunities. I joined hundreds of community volunteers in hammering and sawing to build a new playground at a popular area park. People just showed up to lend a hand and with the guidance of three engineers, the massive playground structure took shape. On Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, thousands of people in Wisconsin joined the rest of the nation in donating food for the hungry. Postal workers and volunteers collected the food, left by mailboxes, while more volunteers joined me and some of my Appleton staff to sort and box the canned food to deliver to the Salvation Army and other food pantries for the hungry.

My trip home this weekend also brought out some stories of fifteen years ago. Wisconsin and Minnesota now have high populations of Hmong people. The Hmong are originally from Southeast Asia, and, during the Vietnam War, they gave essential military assistance to our U.S. troops. I spoke to a large gathering of Hmong veterans this weekend and learned, from those who were there, of the military service and personal contributions thousands of Hmong gave during the Vietnam war. Now, many of those are trapped in a quandary....they face death if they try to return to their homeland which is ruled by Communists or face a cut-off of federal assistance in this country, which offered them refuge in return for their war service. Their culture, their lives, their world has been turned upside down. They are indeed strangers in a strange land. Now, like most people faced with uncertainty and needing help, they ask politicians and the government that encouraged them to come here to help them. I told two groups of Hmong in Green Bay and Appleton that the new budget agreement DOES restore some of the federal funding which was cut off in last year's welfare reform law. But, right now, it's only an agreement. Like the rest of the budget, we are all waiting to see what details are forged into a final bill.

All the issues we face everyday in Washington sometimes seem distant and remote from the lives of real people back home in Northeast Wisconsin, yet, more and more as I ask the basic newsman's question -- "what does this mean to most people?" The issues of Washington do have an effect back home. I return every week to D.C. convinced we always need to find better ways to explain the complicated laws and potential legislation to folks whose lives should be made better by the laws and legislation.