After answering questions posed by Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Tony Ianelli during a live taping of the weekly half-hour Business Matters television program, retiring U.S. Congressman Charlie Dent, R-15th, was feted at an informal “thank you” reception March 28 at Lehigh Country Club, 2319 S. Cedar Crest Blvd., Allentown.

The show aired April 2 on WFMZ Lehigh Valley television, channel 69.

Dent is retiring later this year as Congressman for Pennsylvania’s 15th District. He has served in that capacity since 2005 and is marking 27 years in political life. Prior to being elected to Congress, he served from 1991 to 2004, in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Ianelli posed a number of questions to Dent. When Ianelli inquired, “What’s next for Charlie Dent?,” Dent said he would probably have an announcement in the next four to six weeks.

Asked about his experience with legislative gridlock in Washington D.C., Dent said political life in the capital is “completely ideological” and that makes it extremely difficult to get things done.

Dent described President Donald Trump as “completely pragmatic, and not at all ideological,” saying that, too, is a complicating factor very often in making legislative headway.

He said there is a lot of negotiation and compromise in the legislative branch and it often appears to outsiders to be so much head-butting involved in the process of lawmaking.

Following the live taping of the television program, Dent was feted at a “thank you” reception by the chamber attendees. Murat Guzel, CEO of the Natural Food Group, Whitehall, led a toast to Dent, thanked him for his service and presented he and wife, Pam, with a gift basket.