By MARY CLARKIN

The Hutchinson News

HUTCHINSON -- U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Fowler, has bought a home in Hutchinson, but he will continue to maintain a home in Fowler and use the latter as his voting address.

Where will he spend most of his time? In Washington, said the freshman congressman during an interview Monday at The News.

Huelskamp and his wife, Angela, have four school-age children, and the logistics of commuting home to Kansas on most weekends is one of the challenges of Congress, he said. In Fowler, his weekly commute to Washington required leaving the house at 3 a.m. Hutchinson's proximity to airports - less than an hour from Wichita Mid-Continent Airport - will make the commute easier.

The only time Hutchinson had a resident in the U.S. House of Representatives was when Republican William Brown served in Congress from 1875 to 1877. Huelskamp has a district office in Hutchinson, as well as offices in Dodge City and Salina.

Since entering Congress in January, Huelskamp has conducted town hall meetings in 64 of the 69 counties in the 1st District, with four more stops scheduled this month. That will leave only one county town hall - in his home county of Meade County - to complete the circuit and his pledge to travel to each of the 69 counties annually.

Ten years ago as a Kansas state senator, Huelskamp served on a redistricting committee. Now, he is watching the redistricting process being carried out by state lawmakers, and recognizes that the 1st District needs to gain another 58,000 residents if the state's four Congressional Districts are to have population parity.

Kansas Democrats have said Republicans want to ensure three major cities that have elected Democrats - Topeka, Kansas City and Lawrence - are in separate districts. One scenario that would achieve that goal would put Kansas City in the 1st District.

"Great county if you like races," said Huelskamp of Kansas City's Wyandotte County.

The 1st District is rural and agricultural-based, with a strong energy component, too, Huelskamp noted.

Redistricting is supposed to take into account communities of interest, he said, questioning how downtown Kansas City would fit with the 1st District.

On the other hand, adding Riley County to the 1st would be "a very good match," he said.

On other topics, Huelskamp:

* Expressed concern that the coming regulations of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act could adversely affect community banks. Banks will continue to consolidate, and obtaining home mortgages in small towns will get tougher, he predicted. "The credit crisis will deepen in rural America," he said.

* Urged the White House to "get 'er done" as far as trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

* Maintained that a default if the nation's debt ceiling had not been raised in early August "was never going to happen." He said the recent downgrading of the nation's credit rating is a major concern, and there were rumblings months ago that could happen.

* Criticized the debt ceiling compromise bill that he voted against. The House violated its own rule about posting the text of legislation online at least 72 hours before a vote, he also pointed out.

* Observed, critically, that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, "didn't tell us" details included in the package, such as the assumption that the Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2012. Overall, though, he said Boehner does "a good job."