Each week, the Star-Advertiser publishes a graphic entitled “How Your Lawmakers Voted” on major issues.

Last week, Congress addressed important issues like health-care coverage, protecting people with pre- existing conditions, disaster relief funding, and funding for unaccompanied children at the southern border. What stood out to me was the blank column where U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s votes should have appeared — she was absent (Star-Advertiser, May 13).

Hawaii is a small state, with only two votes in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is vitally important for our representatives to show up and do the jobs they were hired to do. In this instance, the entire 2nd District of Hawaii was left without a voice while these decisions were being made.

We deserve better. Gabbard is free to chase her political ambitions, but she should not be neglecting the responsibilities the voters of Hawaii have given her when they sent her to Washington, D.C.

Scott Parker

Kahului

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