On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-26) dropped by Gainesville’s Civic Center to meet with area constituents for a “Town Hall” meeting.

More than 150 locals turned out to voice their concerns and ask the congressmen questions. Some came armed with the specific numbers of resolutions, and issues discussed ranged from medical marijuana to veterans’ affairs.

But perhaps the most heated topic of the afternoon was health care reform.

Burgess, a former ob/gyn, has served in Congress since 2002, and according to his website, he’s a proponent for reducing health care costs and increasing choices.

He says parts of the system need change, although he’s staunchly opposed to the recent health care overhaul, finding fault in a lack of transparency and the bill’s large price tag, now estimated to be about $611 billion according to a July estimate.

“I see some big problems down the road if we leave this thing alone,” he told the crowd yesterday. “Would I vote to repeal this bill? Tomorrow morning.”

Burgess, who voted against the bill from the start, including its implementation four months ago said still, nothing’s signified it’s a good idea.

Burgess said attacking the funding needed to implement the bill is the quickest way to inhibit its progress.

“That’s a tremendous amount of money they have to get,” he said. “If they don’t have the $10 billion how are they going to do it? I’d like to find out.”

Burgess said he finds fault with the purported costs associated with the bill, and referred to the legislation not as a health care bill, but as a tax bill.

He explained many who voted for the bill were not made aware of the full price tag it carried. Burgess said earlier this year he wanted to know if officials knew all of the costs associated with the bill before signing off on it. After filing a request, four months later, he found out they did not.

Burgess gave a shout-out to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who he credited with telling officials that the bill must be passed before everyone knows what’s in it so it can be sent to regulators who will write the rules.

“Well I’m sorry, that’s not the way it’s supposed to work,” Burgess said.

Burgess’ comments, at times, were met with applause.

He told his constituents that while he’s not terribly optimistic the health care bill will be repealed come Election Day, he’s confident changes in the air.

“This election will be a referendum, I believe that,” he said.

When it comes to the GOP taking back the majority, Burgess was optimistic that Republicans will once again hold the gavels, therefore having a bigger influence on policy.

“And what I think, as a member of the minority, a relative recent minority as a member of Congress, was that a minority plus the majority of American people equal the fact that you could in fact make an influence in Washington,” he said.

Another hot button issue Wednesday was illegal immigration. A citizen asked Burgess what could be done about sealing the border, to which Burgess quipped, “I don’t think the 232 National Guard members brought to Texas is going to do the job.”

The congressman argued in support of Arizona’s immigration law, currently under scrutiny from the federal government.

“I gotta tell you, I think Arizona did the right thing,” Burgess said. “It had to do something to defend itself.”

On a similar note, another citizen addressed a resolution that would make English the country’s official language.

Burgess said he wasn’t aware if he was a co-sponsor of the proposed legislation, but noted it’s an issue that receives bipartisan support.

“Regardless of political party...that’s like an 87 percent issue among Democrats,” he said.

Another citizen asked if Burgess knew the official White House position of the recent decision to erect a mosque at Ground Zero in New York.

“Just for the record, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Burgess said, adding that a mosque can be built anywhere.

Burgess said he’s unaware of the White House’s official stance.


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