5 months ago
Congressman Jim Marshall says he still thinks Congress will pass a health-care overhaul this year.
Marshall, a Macon Democrat, sat down with 13WMAZ's Randall Savage Tuesday morning to discuss health-care and other issues.
He heard from hundreds of people in the Eighth Congressional District on the health-care issue during several forums this summer.
Marshall said he's still sorting out at least five different health-care bills now before Congress and waiting to hear President Barack Obama's Wednesday-night address in which the president is expected to state what he wants.
But he says failure to fix the nation's health-care system will eventually bankrupt the federal government.
Marshall says he still wants to reform the nation's private health system rather than depending on the so-called "public option," a federal health-care system that would compete with private insurers.
He told 13WMAZ: "I favor a private system, private insurance, privately-operated hospitals, you know, physicians, etc. I prefer that because I think in the long run that can help us keep costs down."
On other issues, Marshall said again that the U.S. has a difficult road ahead in Afghanistan in subduing the Taliban and al Qaeda.He said an unstable Afghanistan threatens our national security, partly because it is next door to Pakistan, a nuclear power.
Marshall said he thinks we can meet President Obama's timetable of withdrawing most U.S. troops from Iraq by August 2010.
He thinks we'll need to keep some troops there for some time to come to support Iraq's government.
And the congressman also applauded President Obama's speech to the nation's schoolchildren Tuesday. He said he had urged the president's staff to schedule such a talk to highlight the importance of education and and staying in school.
