JEFFERSONVILLE — U.S. Rep. Trey Hollingsworth is one of several members of Congress who isn’t holding a town hall with constituents during this week’s recess, despite several requests for one.

The Republican freshman said he prefers speaking with residents of Indiana’s 9th District through individual meetings, where he believes better discussions can occur.

“The focus is on having meaningful, individual dialogue with Hoosiers rather than ramping up the volume, because I think what a lot of people don’t like about D.C. is the screaming and talking at each other instead of the talking collectively about how we get a better outcome,” Hollingsworth said during an interview at the News and Tribune’s Jeffersonville office Tuesday.

Hollingsworth would rather go “narrower but deeper” when answering to Southern Indiana residents because complex policy issues can’t be properly explored through 30-second answers, he said.

“If we get to the point where we’ve had so many meetings and there’s just no time to accommodate all those meetings, maybe we’ll try to take the pool wider but shallower, but right now, I want to build a personal relationship,” Hollingsworth said.

Constituents can request in-person meetings with Hollingsworth through his website.

“I definitely believe we should have as productive and effective policy discussions as possible with as many people as possible,” he said.

Constituents regularly visited Hollingsworth’s district office at Quartermaster Depot in Jeffersonville on Tuesday, speaking to staff members about their concerns.

“We just wanted to hear what the Congressman’s stand on various issues, from the Affordable Care Act to the environment to the [President Donald] Trump-Russia connections might be, and where we might be headed under Mr. Hollingsworth’s guidance,” said Floyds Knobs resident Gordon Farnsworth on Tuesday after he visited the Jeffersonville district office. “We didn’t speak to the Congressman, but a number of the answers we got were actually more positive than we expected.”

Still, Gordon Farnsworth and Janie Farnsworth said they’d prefer a town hall.

“I would like to see a town hall with Congressmen across the country,” Janie Farnsworth said. “I think we’ve got, with the change in administration, enough questions that people need answers. I think that would be an appropriate step.”

Several echoed that sentiment on Hollingsworth’s official social media pages.

Hollingsworth estimates he’s received about 9,000 letters from constituents in the last six weeks alone. His communications director, Rob Burgess, added staff doesn’t have enough hands to answer the volume of calls coming in.

“There’s no shortage of activity,” he said Tuesday.

In his first six weeks in Congress, Hollingsworth said he has focused on policy that brings about “incremental progress for a better future” for Hoosiers.

In addition to introducing a term limits bill as he promised during his campaign, Hollingsworth joined House Republicans in voting to start the process to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“I do believe the answer is a robust, free market option where insurance companies are competing to deliver the best possible solutions,” he said.

Hollingsworth said he hasn’t seen “credible” replacement proposals that wouldn’t go into effect the same time the ACA would expire. Nor has he seen any that don’t include a provision that pre-existing conditions aren’t screened out in the underwriting process of insurance, he said.

“There’s a real problem in the health care market and the health insurance market,” he said. “I think the attempt to address it by more command and control in Washington — my personal view, that was misguided. And we’ve seen really perverse and terrible outcomes for the American people and the cost of health insurance and the cost of health care overall has continued to suffer on account of that.”

Hollingsworth also emphasized the need for immigration reform, saying he supports Trump’s temporary travel ban and plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Both, he argued, would be first steps in stopping illegal immigration and terrorists from entering the country while reform takes place.

“I believe the American government owes its citizens a burden of proof in saying that we have a safe and effective vetting system ...” he said. “Until they can look you in the eye and say we can tell the difference [between someone who is and isn’t a terrorist] and we have a reliable, effective way to do that, I think it’s warranted that they say we need to stop that process and make sure we’ve got that in place, and then we can restart the process.”

He also supports legal immigration reform that he believes “takes too long and is too onerous and paperwork-driven and challenging.”

“I believe that this country is and can continue to be a bastion attracting many different types of people here,” Hollingsworth said.

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Elizabeth is the Southern Indiana government reporter for the News and Tribune. She is a Louisville, Ky. native and graduate of Western Kentucky University. Follow her on Twitter at @EMBeilman.

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