Himes Visit to Western Brings Civics Lesson to Life, Inspires 8th Grade DC Trip

On Wednesday US Congressman Jim Himes, who represents Greenwich as part of Connecticut’s 4th district, visited Olivia Traina’s social studies class at Western Middle School where students are enjoying a unit on civics and looking forward too their 8th grade trip to Washington, DC in May.

Himes heard about the 8th Grade DC Trip Fundraising Committee and wanted to help by making a donation as well as visiting and inspiring students. The trip returned after a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, but the need for scholarships has increased.

The committee is a group of parents from all three middle schools who want to make sure 8th graders can go on the trip regardless of financial need.

Dancing for DC

Toward that end, they are organizing a live music fundraiser called “Dancing for DC” on January 19 from 6:00-9:00 pm at Old Greenwich Social Club.

You can purchase tickets by visiting https://greenwichalliance.org/ogsc.

On Wednesday, Himes was joined by WMS principal Dr. PJ Wax and Greenwich Schools superintendent Dr. Toni Jones, as well as Donna Rosato and Janet McMahon from the fundraising committee, and PTA president at WMS, Beth Acerbo.

Ms McMahon explained that donations for the 8th grade trip run through the auspices of the Greenwich Alliance for Education, and that the three middle school principals had all agreed it was important for all students to have access to the same educational experience. The annual fundraising need is about $60,000.

The fee for the three-day/two night trip is $809. This year the trip starts on May 21.

Himes said his own two daughters had attended Central Middle School, and both enjoyed the DC trip themselves.

Himes Visit to Ms Traina’s Social Studies Class
Congressman Himes shared his own path to Washington, DC and answered some tough, timely questions from students about Israel’s war on Gaza.

One student asked about potential impacts on Americans if the country gets involved in the war.

“I plan to work really hard to make sure that it gets smaller and hopefully gets resolved,” he said. “And, wars are enormously expensive. There are a lot of reasons we have to work really hard to bring peace to this conflict and avoid them in the future.”

Asked about how much funding was going to Israel, Himes said there was a proposal to send about $10 billion to Israel and about $60 billion to Ukraine.

“It is a lot of money, but by the standards of the annual expenditure of the government, it is a tiny amount of money,” he said. “On our national security – Pentagon, CIA, NSA – we spend about $800 billion a year, so add those two numbers – $60 for Ukraine for $70 for Israel – it is not even 10% of what we spend every year on our own security.”

As for his path to Congress where he is serving his eighth term and unlike most of his colleagues who are attorneys, he spent 10 years in banking, which led to his spot on the Financial Services Committee. He is also the lead Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.

He noted that to be a member of the House of Representatives, a candidate must be at least 25 though a college degree was not required.

(A candidate must also be a United States citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state he or she represents.)

He explained while there are two Senators from each state, in Congress the district lines reflect a goal that each member represents about 750,000 people. Connecticut’s 4th district includes 17 towns and cities, including the state’s largest city, Bridgeport, with about 130,000 residents.

Himes talked about the three branches of government and how America’s democracy had evolved over time to include more people.

He said while Supreme Court justices and federal justices were not elected, but rather appointed, and the electoral college elects the President rather than voters, he enjoyed serving in Congress particularly because members are directly elected by voters.

Polarization
Asked about challenges to getting members of Congress to agree, Himes said Congress was polarized.

“Things work when the two parties, who believe very different things, find grounds for compromise…if you’re going to get anything done, you’ve got to find ways to compromise. That can be hard,” he said. “But don’t be turned off by the arguments we have. Sometimes they get uncivil and sometimes they get personal, and that’s not okay.”

“Every once in a while you see it on TV that people will be getting personal about something. We call it a debate, but you can call it a fight. That’s a source of huge strength for this country. A lot of countries don’t allow for that disagreement.”

“You think you’re going to do well in China if you disagree with the government? No you are not.  Iran, North Kora – those countries that don’t allow for fight we have here – the debate – those are authoritarian countries.”