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WASHINGTON — Town hall meetings are a staple of American politics, public forums where constituents can speak their minds and direct pointed questions at public officials.

But recent volatile meetings elsewhere in the U.S. have some lawmakers questioning the value of holding town halls, especially with activists urging people to use them as opportunities for confrontation.

As lawmakers contemplate sweeping changes to health care, taxes and other policies, many people in Nebraska and western Iowa have been calling on their elected representatives to host those kinds of public meetings during this week’s congressional recess.

Iowa’s two U.S. senators are holding public meetings during the recess but not the two House members from western Iowa.

And no one from the Nebraska delegation has any public meetings planned — much to the dismay of Omahan Margaret Smith, who would like the opportunity to ask them about the Keystone XL pipeline, health care and other issues.

“If any of my senators, representatives, are scared of their constituency, I think that’s the wrong attitude to take,” she said. “It looks to me like they don’t want to answer questions. And they should.”