News from Rep. Ron Barber: Holiday Cards for Troops and More

Dear Friend,

It is an honor to represent Southern Arizona in Congress. The best way for me to do my job is to keep in touch with you. I hope you'll take a minute to read this update on my work at home in Southern Arizona during the past week. Please contact my office if you have any questions about federal legislation or if you need help solving problems with a federal agency. You can also sign up for my e-newsletter and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Holiday cards for troops

My offices in Tucson and Sierra Vista are collecting holiday cards to be sent to members of the armed forces and veterans. This can be a challenging time of year for our veterans being treated at the VA and our brave troops who are away from their families as they serve our nation. I ask Southern Arizonans to join me in sending a holiday message to each of these men and women to let them know that our thoughts and good wishes are with them. The cards will be sent to troops from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and Fort Huachuca who are deployed overseas and distributed to veterans at the Southern Arizona VA Medical Center. A brief message of thanks should be written inside each card. Envelopes are not necessary, but if you include them, they should be unaddressed and unsealed.

Cards should be brought to my Tucson office, 3945 E. Fort Lowell Road, Suite 211 at the northeast corner of East Fort Lowell Road and North Alvernon Way, or to my Sierra Vista Office at 77 Calle Portal, Suite B-160. The deadline for dropping off cards is Friday, Dec. 14 at 5 p.m.

If you have any questions about participating in this project, please contact Wendy Erica Werden in my office at 520-881-3588.

Thank you for helping to make the holidays brighter for our troops and veterans.

Military service academy nominations

Each year, I have the privilege of nominating several young people who live in Southern Arizona to be appointed to service academies. This past week, my Academy Nominating Committee convened to interview 22 outstanding applicants. I was pleased to attend a number of the interviews and meet the applicants. The nominations are extremely competitive and the committee considers factors such as academic achievements, extra-curricular activities, leadership, physical aptitude, character and motivations. Southern Arizona has a proud tradition of service and meeting these young people gives me confidence that this will continue.

Southern Arizona’s new observatory

Arizona is considered one of the top states for the biosciences. Last week, the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 started a new chapter that will cement our reputation as a leader in scientific research by dedicating the Landscape Evolution Observatory.

The observatory will provide researchers with a new platform to study a wide range of topics related to landscapes, water, carbon and biological systems. The observatory is the result of years of hard work and is one of the world’s biggest earth science experiments. The project is a scientifically innovative achievement and is an impressive engineering and construction feat. The Landscape Evolution Observatory promises to be an important tool for the community and education.

These are just a few of the activities going on in Southern Arizona and Washington as we wrap up a busy year. As always, my offices are open and ready to help if we can. Please contact me if I can be of service to you. If you are experiencing issues with a federal agency, my office may be able to help you resolve the problem. Click here to contact me or call my office in Tucson at 520-881-3588 or in Sierra Vista at 520-459-3115 for more information.

Yours sincerely,

Ron Barber
Member of Congress