Congressman John Tanner

Water-level view of Reelfoot Lake at dusk, link to Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee

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August 31, 2009

TANNER TALKS WITH MORE THAN 12,500 TENNESSEANS IN SERIES OF TELEPHONE TOWN HALLS

Seeks Input on How to 'Keep What Works and Fix What's Broken' in Health Care System

8TH DISTRICT – Congressman John Tanner talked with more than 12,500 participants through live 8^th District Telephone Town Hall Meetings in August, in addition to meetings throughout the 19 counties that make up the 8^th District.

More than 3,300 residents participated in a Telephone Town Hall Meeting Congressman Tanner hosted August 31. Almost 3,000 people participated in a similar meeting August 28.

Participants asked questions and shared comments on health care reform proposals being discussed in Congress, job creation, energy exploration, veterans’ benefits and other issues.

Tanner talked with more than 6,300 seniors from the 8^th District in a call AARP hosted August 17 to discuss health care.

“We appreciate the time people took to talk with us in this relatively new format so we could include as many people as possible from the more than 300 communities throughout this district,” Congressman Tanner said. “It was helpful for us all to hear the questions and concerns of so many families in these district-wide meetings.”

Tanner has also been visiting all 19 West and Middle Tennessee counties in the 8^th District to talk with providers, patients, families, seniors, civic leaders, small business owners, veterans and others who have ideas on how to keep what works in the health care system and fix what is broken.

Co-founder of the Blue Dog Democrats, Tanner serves on the Ways and Means Committee, where he chairs the Social Security Subcommittee, and on the Foreign Affairs Committee. A veteran of the U.S. Navy and the Tennessee Army National Guard, Tanner chairs the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and is serving a two-year term as NATO PA President.

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