Rehberg to hold listening sessions in Havre, Chinook

Montana's sole congressman, Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, will visit Havre and Chinook on a four-city tour to hold listening sessions this weekend.

"Government transparency is only useful if it's coupled with accountability," Rehberg said in a press release announcing the visits. "It's easy to sit behind a desk in Washington and wait for the phone to ring, and that's what some of my colleagues have decided to do. But I made a commitment years ago to visit each of Montana's 56 counties each Congress, to listen and learn what the people I represent think about where our country is headed." The release said the visits will put the number of his listening sessions this session of Congress to 55.

Rehberg will start at noon in Great Falls, with a session in the Cascade County Courthouse. His next stop is the Hensler Auditorium in the Applied Technology Center at Montana State University-Northern at 3 p.m. He continues to Chinook Sunday, wi th a ses s ion scheduled at the Bl a i n e Co u n t y Library at 1 p.m. and another session set for 4:30

p. m. in the Civic Center in Glasgow.

Rehberg said the sessions help him make his decisions in Washington.

"My actions are framed by the input I receive from thousands of Montanans who attend the listening sessions," he said. "That's why I voted against Obama's takeover of health care and against every single bailout including the biggest bailout of them all, the 'so-called' stimulus." Rehberg Tuesday joined eight other representatives in co-sponsoring a bill requiring that no money appropriated for that law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, be used to pay for signage at projects indicating the projects are funded by ARRA. Rehberg complained about that issue in 2009, saying it was wasteful.

Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., introduced the bill July 1. It has been referred to committee.

A White House press release said Tuesday that that ARRA is on track to meet its goal of creating or saving 3.5 million jobs by the end of the year.

Vice President Joe Biden and Christina Romer, chair of the president's Council of Economic Advisors, released the council's quarterly report on the impact of ARRA Tuesday.

According to the report, the act is responsible for about 3 million jobs people are working today. It has provided tax relief to about 400,000 Montanans and helped to spur about 10,000 jobs in the state, the release said.