Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504130062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN DONAHUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, addressed the questions of about 125 people in the Roanoke County Administration Building. The standing-room-only crowd asked the congressman a variety of questions, most focusing on Social Security and health care.
It is critical to balance the federal budget to alleviate financial strain on the Social Security system, Goodlatte said. Projections show the system will be bankrupt by the year 2030 if the program continues on its present course.
As for President Clinton's health care proposal, which Goodlatte opposed, "I think it collapsed under its own weight."
Medicaid, the health care program aimed at people below the poverty level, "is a great disincentive for people on it to work," Goodlatte said. He said people should be gradually phased off Medicaid as their income rises above the poverty line.
"I do not believe the bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., serves the people," Goodlatte said. "I believe it serves to perpetuate the bureaucracy."
Goodlatte spoke briefly about the GOP's "Contract With America."
"Despite the general coverage, this has been a lot more bipartisan than it sounds," he said. "The general reaction we have received is that Congress can change the direction of the country."
Judy Clayton of Roanoke said she supports the Republicans' contract. "I think it's going to make everything better," she said. Clayton particularly was concerned with welfare's becoming a cycle in which generation after generation relies upon it for survival.
Although many of those present were senior citizens, there were some young faces in the crowd. Suzanne Moore, a government teacher at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, offered extra credit to her 12th-grade students if they came to the town meeting, and a dozen did.
by CNB