Over 200 people attended the annual Bronze Elephant Banquet, a fundraiser for the Spartanburg County Republican Party. The event was held at the Piedmont Club on Monday and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham was scheduled to be the keynote speaker. Graham, however, never showed up.

The lawmaker was summoned to Washington to assist President Donald Trump in matters related to the volatile Turkey-Syria conflict. According to a press release, Graham joined Trump and his team for phone calls with key leaders in the conflict.

District 5 Rep. Ralph Norman and District 4 Rep. William Timmons attended the event.

Timmons serves on the Financial Services Committee , which works with banking, insurance and small business transactions. "It gives me the opportunity to have a seat at the table to talk about things important to the Upstate," Timmons said. "GE and Boeing have a very strong interest in the export and import bank (so) it's an opportunity to let South Carolina have representation on important issues."

Timmons is also a member of the Modernization Panel. It's a one-year, bipartisan committee made up of six Republicans and six Democrats that strives to help Congress function more efficiently. "Right now, (Congress) meets 131 days a year, of which 66 of those are travel days," Timmons said. "So we really only meet 65 days a year. I'm working hard to make sure that we can meet more."

The committee cannot move legislation but it can make recommendations. It requires a bipartisan effort of eight votes to get anything done. Timmons recently made a public pitch to extend the panel beyond this year.

"Getting people that are willing to work across the aisle, that are trying to make things better in Washington, is something we need to continue and encourage,” he said.