Statement from DCCC spokesman Jeb Fain: “If Congressman Garrett’s hateful record of supporting discrimination against LGBT Americans wasn’t bad enough, his refusal to answer for it is outright cowardly. Congressman Garrett doesn’t seem to realize taxpayers aren’t paying him to hide from reporters. He owes his constituents and LGBT Americans across the country an explanation and an apology for his unacceptable and embarrassingly out-of-touch record.”
For five days, Congressman Scott Garrett has been pulling out all the stops to stay clear of reporters and dodge questions about his extreme, pro-discrimination record. Congress comes back into session today, and we wonder if Scott Garrett will come out of hiding to actually do his job this time? Unfortunately, we’re not counting on Congressman Garrett to work nearly as hard at that as he has at hiding from press – so we wanted to offer this helpful guide to finding Congressman Garrett.
Step One: You could try calling Congressman Garrett’s office at 202-225-4465, but unfortunately, Garrett’s office isn’t taking calls (we count at least 7 times so far he’s refused to comment to press).
- “Garrett’s office did not respond to requests for comment.” [Politico, 7/16/15]
- “Garrett’s office did not respond to repeated messages…” [Bergen County Record, 7/16/15]
- “Garrett spokesman Chris Carofine did not respond to requests for comment from NJ Advance Media on Thursday.” [Star-Ledger, 7/16/15]
- “Garrett’s spokesman did not immediately return a phone call to the New Jersey Herald.” [New Jersey Herald, 7/16/15]
- “Garrett’s office on Friday again did not respond to a report published by Politico that said Garrett told colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee he would not pay “dues” to the National Republican Congressional Committee because it had recruited and supported gay candidates.” [Bergen County Record, 7/17/15]
- “Garrett did not respond to requests for comment Saturday; he has not commented on the report since it was published early Thursday.” [Bergen County Record, 7/18/15]
- “A spokeswoman for Garrett did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.” [Star-Ledger, 7/20/15]
Step Two: Look for Garrett when he votes. Unfortunately, Garrett has been skipping votes (at least 5 times last Thursday) presumably to hide from press.
- “…the congressman missed five votes held at midday before the House adjourned for the weekend. Previously, Garrett had missed only 21 of 1,650 votes held since 2013, according to the website govtrack.us.” [Bergen County Record, 7/16/15]
Step Three: Try getting ahold of Garrett back in New Jersey – his district office numbers are 973-300-2000 and 201-444-5454. Unfortunately, he’s apparently not at the office, or even at home…
- “Staff at his district office in Newton, Sussex County, said Garrett was in New Jersey but not at the office, and referred calls to his Washington spokesman, who did not respond to messages.” [Bergen County Record, 7/17/15]
Step Four: With Garrett not taking calls – let’s hope he’s actually showing up to his DC office – it’s 2232 Rayburn HOB.
Step Five: Votes are scheduled to start at 6:30 tonight. Maybe he does his job and makes it this time?
Step Six: If Garrett’s still skipping votes, maybe he’s not too busy hiding to make it to his committee hearings? The next House Financial Services Committee hearing is scheduled for this this Thursday at 10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn Bldg.