EDWARDSBURG — Congressman Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, Thursday completed a three-day series of 18 public listening sessions that included stops in Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren counties.

The events, held from March 22-24, were attended by more than 2,000 southwest Michigan residents.

Upton’s chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee gives him jurisdiction over health care, energy, the environment, telecommunications, commerce, manufacturing, trade and fraud and abuse.

The listening tour allowed constituents to share their views with Upton on issues facing Michigan and the country.

Federal matters discussed included jobs and the economy, spending and the national debt, gas prices and domestic energy production, health care, Social Security, government reform and the environment.

“We listened to try to get the real thrust of what the agenda should be,” Upton told Republican faithful Saturday night at the Cass County Lincoln Day dinner. “With a new speaker, John Boehner, two big things came out. We’ve got to stop spending money we don’t have. Does anybody disagree with that?

“In Coloma, four or five students from Western Michigan University in pink shirts who were not in class were against nuclear. The Palisades plant (in Covert) is Van Buren County’s largest taxpayer.

“They’re against drilling, not only in the Gulf, which provides a third of our oil, but also in Alaska. They’re against us building a pipeline down from Canada, which is producing 4 million barrels a day of oil, which could send it to China, though the Chinese drilling off the coast of Cuba, which is happening, is okay, but it’s not okay for us to drill off the coast of Florida.

“We need an energy policy because if we allow these prices to go up, that threatens our recovery. I spoke at Portage Northern High School on Friday and was reminded that when I was in high school, we imported 30 percent of our oil. Today it’s 70 percent. We use 9 million barrels a day and produce seven. That’s got to change. With gas prices going up, we need a domestic supply. That was a pretty overwhelming message in all of these stops.”

“There is nothing more valuable to me than hearing directly from the folks that I am elected to represent. The input I receive here at home is essential to me in performing my duties, both in Michigan and back in Washington,” Upton said.

“Every stop had a better-than-expected turn out — most events were standing-room only,” including Dowagiac’s Wednesday afternoon.

“I am appreciative of everyone who was able to make it out, as well as for the many community leaders who made this tour run so successfully. As someone who has always worked to keep the lines of communication open with my constituents — whether it’s returning to Michigan nearly every week or reading and signing all of my legislative mail — I could not be more pleased with the level of interest and the thoughtful views that were shared.

“The challenges facing Michigan and our nation are simply too great and finding the best solutions will take all of us coming together. My door is always open, and I look forward to the continued input from folks in our corner of Michigan.”

Another popular topic of discussion was Upton’s recently introduced Energy Tax Prevention Act (H.R. 910), which would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

“If left unchecked, the EPA’s regulatory efforts will destroy U.S. jobs, make America less competitive and result in substantially higher energy prices for everyone. Such regulatory authority can only come from elected legislators, not unelected bureaucrats. We must not allow this administration to regulate what they have been unable to legislate,” said Upton.
Upton also addressed the 2010 health care overhaul:

“Many of us remember the President’s repeated promise that if you like your current coverage you can keep it. Well, for so many folks, that will simply not be true. Now that two federal judges have ruled the bill unconstitutional I’ve encouraged the Supreme Court to expedite a ruling before all our states spend tens of millions of dollars preparing for the state exchange.”

On the federal budget, Upton commented, “Our current fiscal path is simply unsustainable.  The time has come to rein in the size and scope of government, which have led to economic uncertainty and threaten to bury future generations of Americans under an avalanche of debt.

“American families have made the difficult choices to balance their own budgets — it is time for the government to do the same. We simply can’t continue to spend money we don’t have.”
Upton continued, “On the tax side, particularly as we close in on April 15, it is important that this Congress address real tax reform — something that has not happened in decades.

“There has been much discussion on bills like the Fair Tax and flat tax without even a hearing. I am encouraged that we can seek bipartisan cooperation in addressing the many concerns raised (last) week.”