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June 10, 2010 - Ashe Mountain Times

by Ron Fitzwater

North Carolina Fifth District Congresswoman Virginia Foxx hosted a tele-town hall on Tuesday, June 8, as part of a national campaign by the Republican Party to encourage citizens from across the United States to make suggestions to GOP representatives on issues that concern them.

Getting underway shortly after 5 p.m. callers spent the majority of their time concentrating on two issues: illegal immigration and the recently passed federal healthcare law.

The tele-town hall was not set up as a question and answer event but rather as a chance for citizens of the district to express their opinions on any issue they wished.

"I'm not going to try and answer questions tonight because I want to get a maximum of callers on to make their comments. This town hall is about hearing your ideas for what we should be doing in Congress," Foxx said.

"This is all part of the larger program called America Speaking Out which is meant to give you a voice in creating a new governing agenda for Congress.

"My Republican colleagues and I are working to do everything we can to give power back to you the people and we are asking all Americans to be a part of building a new governing agenda because we know you are the people who are in charge in this country."

John from Yadkinville started the question/comment event endorsing the recent stance on immigration by the state of Arizona.

"I think we need to take a firmer hand and do what the federal government is supposed to do and do what Arizona is trying to do by securing our borders. We also need to get the people who are here illegally out and stop giving them any benefits like food stamps and medical treatment," he said.

John's comments were echoed by most callers who were concerned about what was repeatedly referred to as a "flood of illegal immigrants."

A few callers specifically referenced two points pertaining to immigration, punishing employers who use undocumented workers and "anchor babies" [children born to illegal immigrants that have citizenship by birthright].

"Enforce the laws on them [employers] that would cause the illegals to deport themselves and we would get rid of them and the anchor babies and all of that to cut down on our taxes and cut down on our deficit," said Lamar from Staesville.

Thomas from Winston-Salem expressed his displeasure about a rumor he had heard that Foxx was not in support of repealing the current health care law, a point the Congresswoman was quick to refute.

"You know you are not the first person that has told me that and I don't know who is publishing that information but I have stated 150 to 200 times that I am very much in favor of repealing the health care bill, but I want to replace it with ideas that Republicans had which is to take care of people with pre-existing conditions and to let people get into pools to be able to buy insurance at a much lower cost.

"You know the bill that President Obama pushed, and that the Democrats passed, does not really make health care less expensive or insurance less expensive, it makes it more expensive," Foxx said.

Subsequent calls dealt with Congressional and government employee health care coverage, responsible governing by Republicans, the economy, jobs, term limits for elected officials and the British Petroleum oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

Due to the need to vote on current legislation, Foxx ended the town hall just after 6 p.m. but invited those still on the line to leave their questions for her to answer.

In closing, Foxx invited all who were listening to click to the America Speaking Out website at www.americaspeakingout.com as yet another way to get their concerns heard by GOP members in Washington.