Congressman Pat Tiberi

In Washington lingo, the two-week period around Easter when Congress is not in session is called the "Spring District Work Period." This short break allowed my staff and me to participate in a wide variety of valuable meetings throughout Central Ohio.

I'm normally home in Columbus on Mondays, Fridays and weekends, even when the House of Representatives is holding votes during the remainder of the week. But this two-week stretch gave me the opportunity to do more than the usual office appointments, speeches and visits.

I started off with two "neighborhood office hours" sessions, where I take my staff out of our Dublin-Granville Road office and set up shop for an evening out in the community. It was great to hear what was on the mind of folks in Genoa Township in southeast Delaware County and the Berwick and Berwyn areas on the east side of Columbus. I have held a number of these sessions since I first took office in 2001, and more are in the works, including one next month in Johnstown. I will keep you posted on details.

Last week I helped organize a meeting of school officials from Delaware County and staff from the House Education Committee and both the state and federal Departments of Education to discuss local implementation of the "No Child Left Behind" education reform law. There's no question, this new law is going to require new thinking on the part of teachers and administrators not only in Central Ohio, but across the country. It will hold schools accountable for student performance, and allow students the choice of transferring out of failing schools.

Change can be difficult, and I recognize that local schools are going to have questions about the new law and how to make it work. I believe in "No Child Left Behind"-I serve on the committee that helped write it. I am also committed to our local schools, and if they have problems with the new law, then I want to assist in solving them.

I made a fascinating visit to Mid Ohio Hematology and Oncology on Columbus' east side and received a first-hand look at how chemotherapy is administered to cancer patients. Patients come to this outpatient facility for treatment that can take anywhere from 30 minutes to eight hours. It was a real education to see how that treatment is done, and also to hear from doctors and nurses at the clinic about the challenges they face in dealing with Medicare.

Did you know that Columbus is home to the fourth largest U.S. Mail processing facility in the country? That's what I was told during a tour of the Postal Service's Columbus Processing and Distribution Center near Port Columbus Airport. It's a $130 million dollar, state-of-the-art facility that became fully operational last September. Some six million pieces of mail pass through it each day.

There was more: A review of revitalization efforts in the East Main Street/Old Town East area, a meeting with representatives of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters union, discussions with students at Hayes High School in Delaware and Coffman High School in Dublin, a speech to the Columbus Rotary, a roundtable discussion on improving trade for Ohio businesses, and questions from the media. I hope you get the picture. It was a busy two weeks-but that's what we're here for.

Congressman Pat Tiberi represents Central Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives. He can be reached by email through his website, www.house.gov/tiberi.