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By Kathryn Wellin
Staff Writer
Charlotte Observer

Newly elected congresswoman Virginia Foxx stopped in town last week to listen to local leaders' concerns and let them know she intends to assist Iredell County.

Foxx said she realizes Iredell leaders and residents sometimes feel a "little picked on" since the county is divided into two Congressional districts as well as three state Senate and four state House legislative districts.

"I want to make a real special effort to let you know I care about Iredell County," she said at last Thursday's "listening tour" stop at the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce.

Foxx, a Republican from Watauga County, replaces now-Sen. Richard Burr in the 5th District U.S. House seat, which includes Troutman and the rest of Iredell northward.

The top priority for two of the featured speakers, county commissioner Steve Johnson and Statesville Mayor John Marshall, was federal funding for Statesville Regional Airport.

The city has borrowed $5 million to extend the runway and improve landing systems, money it expected the federal government to provide, Marshall said. The county has agreed to pay the city back after July 1, when it starts receiving property tax revenues from the upgrades.

The upgrades helped attract Lowe's Cos. Inc. to relocate its corporate fleet there, adding more than $100 million to the county and city's tax base.

Troutman Town Manager Donald Duncan told Foxx that companies looking to relocate to Troutman are also interested in using that airport.

Foxx said: "I promise you that if that's your No. 1 priority, it's my No. 1 priority."

Johnson and Duncan also asked Foxx for help finding homeland security money for a radio communications system law enforcement agencies and first responders could use countywide.

Foxx told the group homeland security and national defense are the top national priorities, but said finding extra dollars will be tough because President Bush wants to reduce the deficit and make permanent recent tax cuts. Foxx said as a member of the House Government Reform Committee, she would explore changing government rules to move money toward the radio system.

Johnson and Iredell-Statesville Schools Superintendent Terry Holliday expressed concern about No Child Left Behind, Bush's federal education reform legislation. No Child Left Behind rules require that if schools do not meet certain testing expectations, local districts must provide other school choices for students at those schools.

Johnson called it a "back-door unfunded liability."

Foxx, a member of the House Education Committee, said she does not expect them to "open that Pandora's box." She urged Holliday to challenge the state Board of Education and Department of Public Instruction on whether they are interpreting the federal legislation correctly.

Representing the chamber, attorney Daryl Davidson of Statesville asked Foxx to look into making health care insurance and worker's compensation more affordable for business owners to provide to employees. Foxx said she is anxious to work on tort reform and reducing government health care paperwork to reduce those costs.

"We want to have an office that provides the very best constituent service that can be provided," she said.

Statesville attorney David Benbow, a GI peacekeeper at the Korean demilitarized zone from 1968 to 1969, challenged Foxx to seek clarification on the country's goals and mission in Iraq, and a possible exit strategy.

Foxx said she trusts Bush that America needs to be in Iraq now for national security, but added that resolving the situation there is "on everybody's mind." To contact U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, call (202) 225-2071 for the Washington office or (336) 778-0211 for the Clemmons, N.C., office.