CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The morning after Matt Van Epps won his Tennessee 7th District election to Congress, he traveled to Washington, D.C.

“I had a couple of briefings, and then I was sworn in (that) Thursday morning,” Rep. Van Epps said. “Then, I started voting right away. I had some great folks on the floor who helped walk through everything. … For those very first two votes, I submitted the green card, they were yeses and they were votes to counter the Chinese Communist Party. They were very straightforward votes.”

In this week’s Clarksville Conversations, Charlie Koon chatted with Van Epps about adjusting to his new position, as well as to Washington D.C.

Committee and subcommittee assignments

The Dec. 3 special election was required after former Rep. Mark Green resigned from Congress in June, with his term only about halfway complete.

Van Epps compared his special-election D.C. onboarding to how things are usually done for Congress members after regular elections. “They have two months to go through a very deliberate onboarding process, and they get the 101 on everything from office setup to voting to committee assignments and how those committees operate.”

By contrast, Van Epps had 36 hours, and he was thrown right into the thick of things. “I’ve been assigned to two committees: I’m on Homeland Security, and Science, Space and Technology. I had my first hearing for Homeland Security, and it was the annual hearing on threats to the homeland.”

He said it was a three-hour hearing, and he stayed the whole time while using three of his five minutes on a quick opening statement and some questions about AI and foreign threats. Van Epps has also been assigned to two Homeland Security subcommittees: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, and Transportation and Maritime Security.

“I’m excited and eager to jump in, because I think the cyber and AI subcommittee is so relevant, there’s so much going on and so many things we need to work on,” Van Epps said. “Then, transportation touches a whole lot of things. We’ve got big events that are coming up here – America 250, the Olympics – and there’s several other large events here on the horizon, including the World Cup. We’ll be taking a very close look at all of those.”

Clarksville, Franklin field offices

Van Epps confirmed he will have public offices in Clarksville and Franklin. With the field offices being closed following the special election, Van Epps said he and his team’s first priority was rehiring the teams that were previously in those offices. “In very short order here, Clarksville and Franklin will be back open and operational. We’ll be there to serve all constituents.

“That was our top priority with this, to get them back up and running so that folks that need assistance, that want information, will have resources and assets available. So, we’ll have those offices up and running really soon.”

| MORE: Deanna McLaughlin to resign from City Council to work for Congressman Matt Van Epps

Public town hall meetings

Van Epps said they are also working on a schedule for town hall meetings, which is expected to be laid out after the new year. “I really look forward to being out and, number one, being present and listening, so that we can drive really good progress here and get the things done that we talked about on the campaign, to get things done that are great for our district and for our country. Then, to also thank everyone.”

He said he’s honored and humbled to be serving, and he’s thankful for the voters who got him there. “I’m fighting hard already, every day, and we’re going to operate like we’ve never earned it. I’m grateful and excited to be in this position,” he said.

Charlie Koon contributed to this report.

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