Having called Rep. Dave Reichert’s office multiple times recently, I take gut-wrenching offense to his comments regarding the 700 calls he received about the Muslim (travel) ban.

He said the callers did it to disrupt his staff, and they think only their opinions matter. He claims to have concerns about the ban, but I did not sense any outrage except about me, and 699 others, speaking up.

He said it made it tough to “serve his constituents such as veterans and seniors seeking help with their individual problems.” Am I not a constituent who also needs help? Do only veterans’ needs matter? Should I wait 25 years to be a senior before speaking?

I did not know 699 other people were calling, and I did not call to hurt anyone. I called because innocent people were being hurt.

As a Jewish woman, I am terrified when I see a religious minority scapegoated, and their rights violated. This is how the Holocaust began.

You tell me, Rep. Reichert, what justifies a phone call to your staff? If not thousands of innocent people being harmed, then what?

I, for one, would not have called and bothered you, had you taken a strong moral stand in the first place, and denounced the ban in no uncertain terms. Something I still have not heard.

Those 700 callers are your constituents, begging you to protect them from Trump’s/Bannon’s white nationalism. Represent us, don’t shame us.

Michelle Caplan

North Bend