It’s been an action-packed first two months in Congress, marked by both excitement and a sense of frustration at the lack of action in Washington to reduce our debt and create jobs. When I’m in Washington, I work to advance initiatives that will strengthen our state, grow our economy, and tackle our ever increasing federal deficit. As soon as we finish voting, I make it a priority to return home to North Carolina and be visible in our communities — that’s why I’ve held 22 public meetings in the district so far. I believe the work we do on the ground in our communities is just as important, if not more, as the time we spend voting and attending committee hearings in D.C.

Some of this important work is done right in our office in Concord and now in our newly opened office in Rockingham. Serving you well means providing first rate constituent services and being accessible to hear your needs, thoughts, and concerns.

What can we help you with?

— Help with a federal agency: If you can’t get an answer from a federal agency in a timely fashion, or if you feel you have been treated unfairly, my office may be able to help resolve a problem or get you the information you need. Here is a brief list of examples that involve government agencies and programs: IRS and tax matters; Social Security and Medicare benefits; passport services; immigration matters; veterans’ benefits; federal worker injury compensation; and student loans.

— Passport services: My office can help you through the passport process. Just a reminder that you need to allow enough time to actually receive your passport, which can take up to four to six weeks from the time of application.

— Military academy nominations: If you’re a high school student and would like to be nominated to one of our nation’s service academies, contact my office to go through the application process.

— Tours of Washington: If you’d like to visit our nation’s capital, please reach out to my office to arrange a tour of the Capitol and other national attractions.

— Flags: You can purchase an American flag through my office and you may also request that your flag be flown over the U.S. Capitol. Flags can be flown for a specific person or event on a specific date with enough advance notice.

— Congressional art competition: Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Students can submit entries to my office, and a panel of judges from the district will select the winning entries. The winning works are displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.

Nothing brightens my week like hearing a success story from our team in North Carolina as they work to solve a problem for one of the hardworking citizens in our communities. I’d like to share an example of one of these recent stories. A few weeks ago, a constituent came into our Concord office upset because the Social Security Administration was going to take away her February disability check due to an overpayment error. Without that check, the constituent informed us that she would not be able to pay her rent and would be evicted from her apartment. Our office called the Social Security Administration and worked with them to have her February check sent to her and arranged a payment plan to make up for the overpayment error. We are happy to report that all is fixed and the constituent did receive her February Social Security check.

In addition to helping constituents like the one mentioned above cut through the red tape that often gets tangled around government services, I would like to keep you up-to-date on all the legislative news in Washington and our district. Please visit us at http://hudson.house.gov, or you can find me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for daily links, videos, and news. Be sure to sign up for my weekly e-newslettet.

Please don’t hesitate to contact my office if we can help you in any way. We are here to serve you.

— U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson represents the 8th Congressional District. He can be reached at 704-786-1612.