The calls across the country for elected members of Congress to hold town hall meetings have spread across the country, and the congressman for the New York 19th Congressional District, John Faso, as was noted in this space two weeks ago, has joined many of his colleagues in refusing to hold a town meeting.

He has said he prefers to meet with people one on one, or in small groups of six to eight people. It should be noted, however, that when it comes to meeting with larger groups for the purpose of raising money for his next campaign, it’s a different story. He attended a fundraiser in Albany on February 22, where the donation for a dinner was $2,700. Outside, about 150 protestors had gathered to demand a town hall meeting—an optic which is perfect to reflect our current political situation.

There are about 711,000 people in each of the country’s 435 congressional districts. Let’s say for argument’s sake that because of concerns over healthcare, the environment and the Trump Administration’s suspected ties to Russia, 1% of Faso’s constituents wanted to speak to him directly. If Faso were to meet with eight people at a time, he would need 8,875 meetings to meet all of them. That is simply not possible in a two-year congressional term. If, on the other hand, he were to hold town hall meetings with, say, 200 people each, that would only require about 35 meetings, a much more attainable goal.

Faso, of course, is not the only congressman refusing to hold town hall meetings. Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert recently said in a statement on February 21, “the House Sergeant at Arms advised us after former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot at a public appearance, that civilian attendees at Congressional public events stand the most chance of being harmed or killed—just as happened there.”

Giffords, readers may remember, was shot in the head by a crazed gunman at a public event—which was not a town hall meeting—in 2011. So Gohmert used that isolated incident as a reason to avoid holding a town hall meeting.

Giffords, who struggled to regain the ability to speak and walk, issued a press release that said, “To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage. Face your constituents. Hold town halls.”

There was a time in the early days of the United States when every member of the House of Representatives represented about 40,000 people. Through the 19th century, as the population grew, the number of representatives also grew. Then in 1929, the Congress decided that 435 representatives were as many as would ever be needed. And so, while the population has soared, the number of representatives has not. Now each represents about 711,000 people.

That ratio of lawmakers to citizens is already nearing the zone of taxation-without-representation, and any further policies that erect barriers between the citizens and those who make the laws by which they must live are not acceptable.

Of course, not all lawmakers have abandoned the idea of holding town hall meetings, and the meetings that have taken place have provided lots of gripping footage for cable news programs.

One of the most dramatic moments came at a town hall meeting hosted by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), when a woman who feared that her husband would lose his health insurance shouted at him, “My husband is dying…. And you want to stand there, with him at home, [and] expect us to be calm, cool and collected? Well, what kind of insurance do you have?”

Faso has said he does not believe that town hall meetings with hundreds of people are productive. While it may be uncomfortable to witness that woman openly and very publicly share her plight with her fellow citizens, to suggest it has no productivity or value is to entirely miss the point of town hall meetings.

When that constituent’s words prompted an instantaneous standing ovation from her countrymen, it sent a message to the senator, everyone in that audience and to the country and the world that there is now a consensus in the United States that healthcare is not a privilege available to only those who can afford it, but a basic human right.

So, have some courage Congressman Faso, hold a town hall meeting.