Patch Gets To Know Congressman Bill Johnson

MARIETTA, OH — Congressman Bill Johnson has been Ohio’s 6th Congressional District Representative since 2010. He says his first decade being our congressman has been crazy. “Our district is the longest one east of the Mississippi River. So I spend a lot of time on the road.” A quick look at our district shows that it spans more than a dozen counties, and stretches all the way from the border of Pennsylvania down to the border of Kentucky.

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Johnson has a close connection to Marietta though. His wife LeeAnn is from the area and sits on the board of the Peoples Bank Theater. He says when he’s in Marietta he likes to visit our golf courses and restaurants. “I like going to the Galley. I like going to fairs and festivals here, like the Sternwheel Festival.” He says he loves going to see a show or concert at the Peoples Bank Theater. He made a point to share how much he loves summertime boating in Marietta.

But Johnson sees issues facing our energy-rich district. He sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce and says he’s working hard to keep good-paying energy jobs in the area. “The Thorla-McKee Well in Noble County was the first oil-producing well in North America. A lot of people don’t know that. This area’s always been very energy-rich.” He says with the energy underneath our district and its history, he’s going to continue fighting against the liberals' war on coal and fracking.

Another issue near and dear to his heart for us is broadband internet access. Johnson says that this pandemic highlighted the need for better internet access, as students more and more rely on it to do schoolwork. “I know as a parent, and I’ve talked to parents, having to sit in a Wal-Mart parking lot to be able to get your child’s lessons from school. Or a teacher having to sit in a parking lot of a convenience store to be able to conduct your class online.” He said we need more long-term solutions than are being provided by the Biden administration.

Johnson says he hears about the internet infrastructure issues facing our district every day. Because lack of good internet access doesn’t just affect those in school, but also those who need online healthcare, and people who have to work from home. “There’s no silver bullet. In some places it’s going to require a wireless connection, in others fiber optic, some others will need a hard-wired cable.”

Johnson only had good things to say about the people who live in his giant district. He said this district has some of the hardest working people, people used to adversity and challenges. “Children don’t do well in isolation. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel as we move out of this pandemic.”

Johnson had a parting message calling for folks to keep in mind that we’re Americans first. “We have a political system in this country, and every November we go to the polls and vote. That’s our most fundamental right and freedom to do as Americans to do that. But we should not let politics and ideology define who we are. We’re Americans first because the strength of our nation is not in our politics, not in our government, it’s in the indomitable spirit, the heartbeat of our people. That is what has produced the most powerful, prosperous, free nation on the planet, is our people.”

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