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VA 6th District Congressman Cline speaks to
high school government classes
CLARE KIRWAN
editor-in-chief
I
n a red polo and dad
khakis the 6th district
congressman, Ben Cline,
walked into the outside caf-
eteria to speak to students
taking government classes,
Sept. 1, 2023. When Cline
offered to come to HHS the
history department jumped
on the chance to foster civic
engagement within students
taking AP, honors and reg-
ular level U.S. government
classes.
Cline began his talk not-
ing, “I’m a politician, I talk
like I breathe,” and stressed
the importance of answering
the questions the students
had. AP government student
Claire Sprague was excited
to listen to the conversation
and hear students’ questions.
“I’m hoping that we’ll have
a respectful environment
here where people will be
able to ask their questions,”
Sprague said.
Cline represents the 6th
district, which encompasses
the west-central part of the
state including the Shenan-
doah Valley and Roanoke
County. In his fifth term he
represents over 750,000 Vir-
WANTING CHANGE A group of government students speak to Con- ginia citizens and finds it dif-
gressman Ben Cline. Cline visited students on Sept. 1, 2023. “I want to ficult to talk with all of his
answer questions because I have town hall meetings in every county constituents.
and city that is in the 6th congressional district,” Cline said. PHOTO “I want to answer ques-
BY CLARE KIRWAN tions because I have town
hall meetings in every coun-
SEPTEMBER 29, 2023 PAGE DESIGN BY ADRIAN KAVAZOVIC
ty and city that is in the 6th
congressional district. There
are dozens of high schools,
so I don’t get to Harrison-
burg High very often. In fact,
I think the last time I was
here was a couple of years
back, it’s good to be back,”
Cline said.
Cline was born and raised
in Rockbridge County and
spent the first years of his
career as a lawyer. Now, in
his 21st year as a government
official, Cline carries a copy
of the Constitution with him
everywhere he goes. De-
spite now being a federal
representative in Congress,
he holds his days in the VA
House of Delegates as a state
representative very close to
his heart.
“The way I approach be-
ing a federal representative
is different than the way I
approach being a state rep.
At the end of the day you are
accountable to the people,
you are there to make poli-
cies that are in line with the
voters that you represent. In
keeping with the functions
of government that the Con-
stitution and our founders
designed the system for, the
way they designed the sys-
tem was three levels of gov-
ernment, federal, state and
local, limited in scope for the
federal, limited in scope for
the local,” Cline said.
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