By John Waters, Publisher

On August 22, Congressman Ciro Rodriguez held two very different “Congress on Your Corner” town hall style meetings. One was in Alpine, held at Alexander’s Restaurant, and one later that same day was in Marfa, at the Presidio County Courthouse.

What most constituents in attendance at both meetings wanted to ask Rodriguez about was H.R.3200 - America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, a 1,017 page piece of House of Representatives legislation that landed on the House floor like a magnitude 8 earthquake, sending shock waves across the country.

In Alpine, Rodriguez faced an overwhelmingly conservative gathering of about 100 residents who were concerned with healthcare (most were against the public option); with abortion, (also, mostly con); and about the overall role of government (again, mostly con).

In Marfa, a smaller and more liberally-inclined group addressed the congressman on healthcare, rural local sanitation, and rural airports.

However, in a departure from the rancor and contentiousness that has marred other town hall meetings throughout the country recently, the Alpine meeting was civil and diplomatic. Despite the crowded conditions forcing some attendees to sit on the floor and jam the entryway, and the oppressive heat inside the restaurant, citizens maintained civility, patiently waiting for Rodriguez to hear their concerns.

Rodriguez handled the crowd with deftness and displayed equal aplomb, dodging the question of whether he would vote for or against the healthcare reform bill. Near the end of the meeting, Rodriguez told the audience the he grew up in a political machine-controlled San Antonio. Consequently, he asserted, he has fought such machinations his entire life. “One of the problems I’ve always had is with people telling me how to vote…I try to respond to the needs of my constituents.”

Shortly after the scheduled 1 p.m. start time, Ring Huggins (Terlingua) introduced himself as a member of the Terlingua Liberation Front, a group whose aim (according to Huggins) is to “defend the Constitution.” Huggins directed his statement to the Congressman, uttering a quote he attributed to Thomas Jefferson*: “The government that governs least, governs best.” The thunderous applause to that statement was indicative of much of the sentiment that would permeate the meeting. [*While this quote is often attributed to Jefferson, it is of unknown origin, and is also variously attributed to Thomas Paine, Henry David Thoreau and John O’ Sullivan, editor of the United States Magazine and Review.]

During the over two-hour meeting, Rodriguez asked citizens to raise their hands before speaking and said he would then call on them, allowing either questions or statements to follow. In an effort to allow nearly everyone to be heard, Rodriguez did not immediately answer questions and moved from person to person offering them an opportunity to speak.

Off in one corner of the restaurant sat Sheriff Ronny Dodson, uniformed and quiet.

One of the first citizen comments on healthcare came from Roger Siglin (South Double Diamond) who proclaimed, “I support the public option. I love it.”

Siglin’s comments were followed by those of another Alpine resident: “At the end of the day, somebody’s got to pay. And I’d like to know how to pay for the bill.”

One resident wanted to know who will pay for the healthcare proposal, why illegal aliens aren’t deported, and why they weren’t in jail, rather than being “on the dole on public tax dollars.”

Kathy Rudy (Fort Davis), told the Congressman, “I’m afraid for the first time as an American that my government can’t be trusted…. I fear the government tampering; I fear the unknown in this….. Your constituents, sir, are afraid.”

Ron Sanders (Alpine) said, “I oppose the public option and I’m real concerned about the public debt.”

Fran Sage (South Double Diamond) said she supported the public option, energy bills, gay rights, funding for national park infrastructure projects while she opposed subsidies for nuclear power plants.

In answering a question on whether he had read the 1,000-plus page House version of the bill, Rodriguez responded: “Yes — [but] I can’t assure you I understood it all.”

Abortion was on the minds on many Alpinians. Melissa Wash said she was against illegal aliens receiving Social Security benefits and she opposed abortion.

“I don’t want government in my healthcare and oppose abortion, totally. It’s murder,” seconded Joan Neubauer.

“Abortion has killed 43 million babies. We got to stop killing babies,” said another.

Many people were also unhappy with lack of advance notice of the meeting. A formal press release announcing the meeting was not issued by Rodriguez’ office until the Thursday afternoon prior.

Rodriguez defended his use of “robocalls” in notifying citizens of the meeting, saying they are cost-effective. “The cheapest way to advertise is usually — and I know it’s a pain — is…robocalls. That’s not anything unusual; I’ve always done that…. This is not bullshit, this is what I’ve been doing,” said an exacerbated Rodriguez.

The Congressman added that he has been holding town hall meetings for as along as he has been in office (with 100 informal coffee meetings, he claimed) and challenged any Texan member of Congress to meet that number or to match his commitment to such public forums.

“A few quick misconceptions, based on what I see [in] this bill and what I’ve seen indicated is …there is no money going to illegal [aliens]…. Having said that, let me tell me you the process is very fluid, and so its very fluid and the Senate’s [version] is most likely the version that will take precedent,” explained Rodriguez, adding there is no language in the bill to cover abortions.

In describing the overall goals of the bill, Rodriguez noted, “What we’re looking at is addressing the needs of those that are so-called ‘uninsured.’ That is not the poor, because [they are covered by] Medicaid. It is not the elderly, because [they are covered by] Medicare. It is the individuals [who] fall in between making $20-$80 thousand a year. Most of those are rural individuals and so that’s what the attempt is [to cover them]. And we feel, as more people get covered — and if they are not covered we’re already paying for them [anyway] — we feel by getting them covered they will pay a little bit and get engaged…. Any society ought to be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable.”

Rodriguez also criticized the pharmaceutical industry stating, “No one has had the guts to take on the pharmaceutical industry.” The Congressman condemned the industry for spending money both on advertising prescription medications to consumers and “contributions to politicians.”

In late August, the Associated Press reported: “The pharmaceutical industry’s primary trade group spent nearly $6.2 million lobbying in the second quarter on health care reform provisions, the confirmation of two top federal officials and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America spent about $5 million on lobbying in the year-ago period.”

In Marfa, the Rodriguez spoke to a more subdued group of 24 citizens in the hushed and rarefied chambers of the Presidio County Courthouse.

While many in the courtroom asked about health care, the sentiment was more one of concern and hope, rather than the atmosphere of distrust and fear that suffused the Alpine meeting.

One of the first questions to Rodriguez in Marfa was, “There are a lot of silver-haired people [in the room]. We’re very concerned about the proposal. Please sum up your position on healthcare.”

As at the Alpine meeting, Rodriguez allowed the public to ask questions or to make statements and indicated he would address their concerns after everyone had spoken.

Joe Goldman (Alpine) told Rodriguez he was concerned about high unemployment rates throughout the nation, and proposed that the government reinvigorate the Civilian Conservation Corps to work on national forests, parks and other projects.

Karen Davidson, a registered nurse, told Rodriguez she advocated health care reform and that she has witnessed a decline and shift in patient care over her 30 years in the profession. Davidson said she has seen concern for the patient become subordinated to concern for corporate profits.

Former Marfa mayor David Lanman said he was concerned about the corporatization of healthcare, noting that “the corporation’s bottom line in healthcare is to make money.”

Marfa resident Buck Johnson said, as a self-employed person she was “very much in favor of the public option.” Buck added she has health insurance, although it is a plan that covers only “catastrophic” accidents or illness, and has a $5,000 deductible.

Rodriguez said that while H.R. 3200 or the Senate version likely would cost $1 trillion over the next decade, doing nothing would cost the country $4.4 trillion to cover the expenses incurred by the estimated 48 million uninsured Americans.

Congressman Ciro Rodriguez’s press secretary, Rebecca Chapa, told the Gazette, “The Congressman can’t definitively say yet, because the bill will change as it works its way through the Senate. Also, there are concerns [Rodriguez] has with provisions for reimbursement in rural areas and with the amount of taxes that could affect small businesses. It’s too soon to say because the current bill will very likely not be the final bill….Also, he’s not opposed to the public option, but wants to hear more about the co-op option, as well. It could be that there are different ways to approach the same goal, which is accessible healthcare for all.”

Congressman Ciro Rodriguez met with over 100 constituents at Alexander’s Restaurant in Alpine on August 19. During the 2-hour-plus meeting Rodriguez was peppered with questions and statements of concern mostly about healthcare— with abortion, the economy, and illegal immigration also on the minds of the citizenry. (John Waters, photo)