The longest serving Supreme Court Justice in history was John Marshall. He played a significant role in helping to balance the power between the states and the federal government. Marshall noted that, “To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well.”

This August I held events in every county in the Sixth District, including 23 town hall events. Every event attracted a crowd of three to four times as many people as usual. The American people are paying close attention to what is happening in Washington.

The question I heard the most was: Are they listening? There is a lot of frustration and anger out there because Washington does not appear to be listening. Instead, it is spending trillions of dollars we do not have, creating a national energy tax and proposing a health care reform package that Americans do not want.

H.R. 3200 is clearly losing support across the country. There are so many objectionable parts of this legislation that it’s hard to list all of them. There will now be no excuse for having not read all 1,018 pages of the bill. Washington can and must do better. I believe there are reforms we can accomplish, but only if we work together.

If our leaders are listening to their constituents, they will drop this piece of legislation and work toward a bi-partisan health insurance reform bill. Lawmakers will return to Washington after Labor Day and we will find out whether or not they were listening.

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