CONGRESSMAN HARRY TEAGUE ANSWERS QUESTIONS REGARDING PROPOSED HEALTH CARE BILL

Congressman Harry Teague spoke to local leaders representing the Home Builders Association, Las Cruces Association of Realtors and the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce who were invited to ask the Congressman about the proposed Health Care Plan Bill.

A number of local business and community leaders gathered at the Las Cruces Home Builders Association yesterday afternoon to express their concerns as to how the Health Care would impact their businesses and employees.

Congressman Teague stated from the beginning in his opening remarks that he has some serious concerns with the legislation and he had addressed his concerns in a letter to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

When asked if he had read the Bill (which is over 1000 pages) he answered, "I sat for seven (7) hours as it was read to me." He further stated that "no Congressman has the excuse that they didn't know what is in the Bill as they had the Bill read also."

Congressman Teague answered very tough questions from the various leaders in attendance and answered their questions, however some still didn't agree with them.

John Hummer, President of the Chamber of Commerce and owner of Steinborn Realty moderated the question and answer session.

One interesting point raised by Isaac Chavez, Governmental Affairs Director of the Las Cruces Association of Realtors was that there is a provision in the plan to have "surprise" home visits to verify if children are being properly cared for and meet the "parenting guideline" as defined by Congress. For example if you have a child who is overweight, the government can take your child and place them under their "protective services" to assess the child's health, diet, etc.

Congressman Teague responded that their are parents who need to be visited as this area has a high child abuse rate.

At the end of the Question and Answer period, John Hummer polled the attendees as to whether they wanted to have the Health Care Plan passed without any "Tort Reform" legislation in it? The overwhelming majority voted no. When asked if they wanted the Health Care Bill currently proposed, again the majority voted against.