As a follow-up to my letter in the Dec. 11 Thousand Oaks Acorn ("Unhappy with our U.S. congressman"), please note that I received a courteous call from our congressman, Elton Gallegly, in which he explained that his office does indeed answer letters from constituents, but that it might appear otherwise since it often takes more than two months for letters to Congress to pass through the anti-anthrax terrorism security systems in place since 9/11.

He advises all citizens to write to his local, rather than Washington, office for that reason. He further explained that his Christmas card wasn't actually a solicitation for his own campaign funds; but rather an offer to let citizens buy White House Christmas tree ornaments, which are very popular and which many have asked for in the past.

He did acknowledge that the card might not have made that as clear as we would like, and he will review the wording to see if it needs to be rewritten.

I'm satisfied, and I wish our congressman a Happy New Year! John Barchilon Thousand Oaks