My Letter to the Legislator

Dear Legislator,

Thank you for your service. Thank you for all you do for the United States and all of us. It cannot be easy to be in your role. You must receive countless communications that ask, demand, threaten, or beg. I don’t think I can imagine the sort of uncomfortable dilemmas that you must face regularly.

I am a high school teacher. My wife is a high school counselor. Like you, we are public servants. Like you, we do our best to serve our kids and our community. Like you, we are often servant to masters who don’t agree and with whom we sometimes disagree.

While I may agree with you on some issues and disagree on others, this letter is not for or against any particular policy. However, in one respect, this letter is going to be like the others; I do have a request: I hope it is something you are already doing.

This email is not to ask you to support or reject any particular rule, bill, or action. It is not to yell, scream, beg, or complain. It is to ask you to do the right thing, to listen to your inner conscience, your sense of duty and morality and to act from that center.

I urge you to hold the historic values of democracy and the United States close when you make decisions that affect so many, to remain true to the values that are the foundation of our nation. I urge you to make sure that the legislative and decision-making processes are fair, honest, transparent, and forthright – and that they serve the long-term interests of our country. Please build bridges and be inclusive. Please investigate questions that pose dangers to our countries and find clear and objective answers.

You must be pulled in many directions. At times, you are asked, for political reasons, to support and defend things that you think are wrong. I implore you to take the time to consider, research, listen, and learn. My biggest mistakes are when I have moved too quickly, rushed into decisions, or allowed loud voices to pressure me into doing things that did not sit well with me.

Consider your legacy. Look at the leaders of the twentieth century; while their policies and actions are remembered, they are heightened or tainted by their moral character. We remember what they did, but how and why they did took those actions is what fills the history books.

I know you know this. You don’t need a letter reminding you. However, given all the communications you receive and all the burdens put upon you, I wanted to make sure that a voice in that enormous chorus was singing with you on this very important note.

Once again, thank you for your service, and thank you for, even sometimes in the face of great pressure and price, maintaining your integrity and our great country.

Yours sincerely,

David A. Hirsch