Morris greets Obama
Monday, February 13, 2006
Printable FormatSays D.C. doesn't connect with constituents
JOLIET HERALD NEWS
By Christina Chapman
MORRIS -- Sen. Barack Obama is concerned the large issues that affect people in Grundy County are not being dealt with in Washington, he said Friday during his first visit to the area since his November 2004 campaign tour.
"There are a lot of good ideas in Washington and a lot of smart people in Washington. It seems like sometimes there is a disconnect between the priorities in Washington and the priorities of the folks I'm meeting back home in Illinois," he said.
Obama was welcomed by a standing ovation in the overcrowded Grundy County Administration Center board room where all seats were filled, causing people to line hallway walls. Visiting high school students had to sit on the floor in order to get a glimpse of the U.S. senator.
Welcomed by state Rep. Careen Gordon, D-Coal City, and introduced by Morris Mayor Richard Kopczick, Obama held his 43rd town-hall meeting in the state to address questions and concerns of citizens.
As he took the podium, he said he was glad to be back in Morris.
"I have a lot of good friends and supporters in Morris and the surrounding areas," he said.
After one year and one month in the Senate, Obama gave the crowd an overview of some of the issues he has faced in Washington.
Large issues like rising health-care and education costs -- which he became aware of as concerns while campaigning -- are not getting enough attention in the Senate, he said.
"There wasn't a single day in Washington last year that we spent debating serious health-care issues," he said.
He continued to say that the budget does not reflect the concerns he hears from the citizens of Illinois. President Bush's proposed budget cuts education, he said, and health care is a priority, but there is no plan to deal with it.
Obama also highlighted some of his accomplishments in his first year, including getting a seat on the Veterans Affairs Committee and working on energy independence.
"We were able to get a provision in that I introduced to expand the use of E85 gasoline," he said.
E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline for cars. Obama said it can save drivers about $10 on a tank of gas. He is pushing for increased access by passing a bill giving incentives to gas stations to pump E85.
Obama also shared his thoughts on his experience in Iraq in January.
"Our troops are doing an unbelievable job," he said.
"At the same time," he added, "there is no military solution to the problem in Iraq. It's really a political situation between the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds."
He said America's role now is to tell the Iraqis they are responsible for uniting their country and they cannot be forced. By the end of the year, he said, the war in Iraq will have cost the United States $400 billion.
Obama spent the second half of his meeting answering questions on Social Security, pension reform and the war in Iraq.
One man was interested in "the big picture on pension reform." Obama explained that when companies go bankrupt, workers should not be paid their pensions after the creditors are paid, but before all others.
"The first commitment should be to the workers," he said. Another resident brought up Exelon Corp.'s radioactive water spills at the Braidwood Nuclear Station.
Colleen Chastain of Godley told the senator of the water contamination issue. Obama said he was unaware of the recent spills of tritium and asked her to give her information to his staff so he could familiarize himself and start making contacts to ask questions.
"It is not an issue that trickled to Washington yet, but when I get back to my office I'm going to start asking questions," he said after the meeting.