We want to let you in on our conversation Tuesday with U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, the Republican who represents Eastern Oregon.

There are no secrets, no scoops. It’s a glimpse — and only a glimpse — into what he is working on and who he is.

Rep. Bentz was in Central Oregon and not at the Republican National Convention because of wildfires. He said he had planned to go to the convention but with all the wildfires across his district, he thought it was more important to meet with constituents, listen and figure out what more should be done in the short term and long term. He has repeatedly had conversations with federal land managers about what can be done in one-on-one meetings and at hearings like the one you can find here: tinyurl.com/Bentzforest.

Across a range of topics, there were times where Bentz seemed more interested, like anybody else. One such place was a discussion about the construction of the improvements around the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and U.S. Highway 97. It’s the Bend North Corridor Project in the lingo of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Many people see the work and think: Oh great, construction delays. Bentz felt different. As he was coming into Bend Tuesday morning from Sisters he thought – and we are paraphrasing — that he was getting to see a needed improvement he fought to fund finally come to life.

Bentz was in the Oregon Legislature in 2017. He was chosen by his caucus to go and negotiate for Republicans on the big transportation bill, House Bill 2017. It sent money to projects across Oregon. He wanted the project in Bend to be funded. Much of what a politician does not necessarily create tangible change, he said. But that work did.

We brought up an issue in federal funding that may result in less money for nonprofits, such as the Kids Center in Bend, which works with abused children, and Saving Grace in Bend, which works with survivors of partner violence. The decline in federal funding is driven in part by a decline in the source of the money. The money comes from penalties paid by white collar criminals. If you want more details, we have written about it here: tinyurl.com/SavingKids.

Bentz didn’t claim any expertise on the matter. He wanted to know what was behind the decline in penalties paid. He said anyone looking for more money from Congress is going to struggle, because everyone asks for more money. There is no easy way to turn the spigot on with concerns that the national debt as a percentage of gross domestic product is ballooning and set to balloon more. He suggested checking out the cover of the August/September issue of Reason Magazine. It has a dramatic foldout image.

What should be on the agenda, Bentz said, is a more foundational and knotty discussion about the federal budget. There needs to be a conversation about the programs that are at the root of so much federal spending, he said. He didn’t tick them off but two very big ones are Social Security and Medicare. To be clear, no, he isn’t out to eliminate them.

He said discussions about those topics are so charged that members of Congress can’t really have them. There must first be a discussion about how to have a discussion about them. It’s not going to occur before the presidential election, he said. A right time might be in the lame duck session after the November election.

Tim Trainor, editor of The Redmond Spokesman, asked Bentz how he copes with physical threats, in light of the attempted assassination of former President Trump. Bentz said his worry is not for himself, but for his family. He has made the choice to serve. They didn’t. And he also worries for local elected officials, city councilors and school board members.

“We are going to have to redouble our efforts or people are not going to take these jobs,” Bentz said.

The conversation did go to other more predictable places. We can’t recount them all. And to be clear, there are places where our views don’t align with Bentz’s. Going over those wasn’t really the purpose of our meeting.

A special maneuver to make in any conversation with Bentz is to ask him what he is reading. He is always reading, often tackling several books at once. When he has a spare moment and his phone, that is often what he is doing with it.

He gave beaming reviews of Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe by George Dyson and Water and the West by Norris Hundley. He has not been captivated by Don Quixote, “a slog.” He clarified he does like fiction, too, mentioning Raymond Chandler.

Such is a glimpse into Bentz. It doesn’t lay anything bare, except perhaps how important it will be for Congress to have that conversation about how to have the conversation about Social Security and Medicare. They need care.