Dear Congressman Mitchell:

The current debate over health care reform is one of the most important issues facing Congress this year. It is clear that reform is needed to provide better access to care, making health care coverage portable, making health insurance more affordable and providing ways to help those who are currently uninsured.

Given the importance of this issue, we are deeply disappointed that you have refused to hold any public forums, town halls, or community conversations where we, your constituents, have an opportunity to hear your ideas, ask you questions and get real answers face to face. We happen to believe that when you represent a Congressional District you need to be a leader and that includes having a point of view and personally standing in front of your constituency, however tough that might be, to hear what they have to say.

We feel, that to best represent us, you must have answers to the important questions of the current plans being proposed regarding their massive cost, their failure to cover all of the uninsured, their reliance of government bureaucrats to make medical decisions, their massive cuts in Medicare or the tax increases on small businesses which would cripple our economy.

In your absence, on Wednesday, September 16, a public town hall was held anyway because, we the citizens of Congressional District 5, felt the need to express our concerns and opinions.

So, here are some simple questions that reflect the sentiment of that meeting:

• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that facilitates a government option or government run co-op or exchange leading to a government take over of health care?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that adds additional debt to our national economy?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that requires compulsory enrollment in a health insurance plan, including an individual mandate?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that pays for health care reform on the backs of our seniors through Medicare cuts?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that raises taxes of any kind on any individual or company to pay for health care reform?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that puts the government between our families and our doctors?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that leads to the rationing of health care?
• Will you commit to vote against any bill or amendment that allows and pays for treatment for non-United States citizens?
• And, will you commit to vote against any rule that would bring any bill or amendment to the floor that does any of the previously mentioned issues?

We look forward to your answers – which we would be happy to hear at a public, in-person town hall at your earliest convenience.

Thank you for your consideration and we hope this input will allow you to make the right decisions when it comes to health care reform.

Respectfully,