For the next month, Eighth District Congressman Rep. Lynn Westmoreland will try to juggle the duties of a new homeowner and a Congressman.

“I’m putting up towel racks right now,” said Westmoreland from his new home near Grantville. Westmoreland moved to western Coweta County two months ago from Sharpsburg and is loving his life in the country.

“I used to live near exit 51 and now I’m near exit 35, but I can get to the airport in the same amount of time because of less traffic,” he said.

His new home puts him almost in the center of his new district that will officially go into effect in Jan. 2007, although Westmoreland will have to run in the new district next year.

“We lose part of Newton, Jones and Bibb counties, but pick up the rest of Fayette and Coweta counties,” he said.

Westmoreland also picks up additional parts of Heard, Meriwether, Spalding and Troup counties.

With Congress in recess for almost a month, Westmoreland has time to reflect. He’s been amazed at the physical size of the bills.

“In Georgia, the majority of bills are one or two pages, but on the federal level, the bills can approach 900 pages,” he said.

Different committees also handle different portions of the bill, which means bills go through several committees before reaching a final version when it hits the House floor.

“It’s a lot more complex process to get a bill passed,” he said.

Westmoreland said the days also stretch a little longer. On the last day of the session last week, Westmoreland said voting began at 3 a.m. and went late into the night. For the next month, he’ll be holding town hall meetings around the district and seeking input from residents before he heads back to Washington in January.

“It’s going to be a busy session, especially with the elections coming up this year.”

Westmoreland has heard rumors of people running against him, but said no one has officially announced.

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