U.S. CongressmanPATRICK McHENRY

HICKORY - More than 1,400 people packed the Lenoir Rhyne University auditorium for a health care town hall meeting Tuesday night hosted by Congressman Patrick McHenry.

Due to the extremely large crowd, the meeting had to be moved from the city hall at last minute.

Right off the bat, Congressman Patrick McHenry made his feelings known about his position on the health care bill.

"There are some fundamental things we have to do to curb the cost of health care and the choice should be in our hands," said McHenry.

HICKORY, N.C. -- A town hall meeting hosted by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-Cherryville) Tuesday night unfolded just as the congressman hoped it would: uneventfully.

Just the idea of a town hall meeting has been controversial since the debate over health care reform swung into high gear. Across the country, many of the events have involved yelling as conservatives expressed frustration over the plan being championed by Democrats in Washington, D.C.

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A town hall meeting drew heated debate about health care Monday evening in Mooresville.

More than 700 people showed up to talk with Congressman Patrick McHenry, a Republican serving North Carolina's 10th district.

Many people could not get inside the Mooresville town hall. Firefighters stood at the doors to make sure it wasn't filled beyond capacity.

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MOORESVILLE – The health care debate came to Mooresville Monday evening as Rep. Patrick McHenry continues to crisscross his district holding town hall meetings.

Hundreds showed up to the meeting, but many had to be turned away. The Republican congressman had to stand on a table to address the waiting crowd.

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A CNN poll released Wednesday found that 71 percent of adult Americans were very likely (41 percent) or somewhat likely (30 percent) to attend a “town hall meeting or some other public forum where voters got a chance to speak” on health-care reform hosted by a member of Congress in their communities.

If you’re a North Carolinian and hoped to offer your two cents at one of these events, you’re probably out of luck. As of Tuesday, based on calls to the office of every member of the state’s congressional delegation and searches of their Web sites, only one had scheduled any public forums in his district during the August recess: 10th District Republican Patrick McHenry, who over the next three weeks is planning a town hall meeting in each of the 10 counties he represents in the House.

Continue reading here: http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=5562

The August recess sends members of Congress back to their home districts and many are getting an earful. 10th district Congressman Patrick McHenry held a town hall meeting in Mitchell County on Thursday night.

The forum was well-attended, standing room only. McHenry fielded questions from a civil and mostly-friendly crowd.

Continue reading here: http://www.wlos.com/shared/newsroom/top_stories/wlos_vid_703.shtml

The group Congress set up to shine light on the Treasury’s handling of the $700 billion financial system bailout is facing internal criticism about its own secrecy...

...McHenry, in an interview, called the decision to keep the meetings private “ridiculous and bizarre” and noted that even the Fed releases detailed minutes of its Federal Open Market Committee meetings three weeks later.

“The Federal Reserve makes more consequential and large decisions about our monetary policy than this board ever could,” he said.

Continue reading here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ax2E.RQjJC_w#

While the economy seems to be on an upswing, the high unemployment in the Greater Hickory Metro is still of great concern.

This is why it was encouraging to hear that Congressman Patrick McHenry voted this week in favor of replenishing the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund, which covers the cost of extended unemployment benefits for jobless workers. The Department of Labor anticipates the fund will run out in August.

It is obvious the 10th District congressman recognizes the importance of helping jobless workers and their families in these tough economic times.

"As we work to end this recession and rebuild our local economy, it is critical that we provide the support our displaced workers need to get back on their feet. People are hurting, and we have a responsibility to help folks weather the storm," McHenry said.

Here is why his vote was so critical to the region.

Unemployment in the Greater Hickory Metro was 15.4 percent in June, the highest jobless rate among the state's 14 metropolitan statistical areas. This ranked the area No. 1 in joblessness in the state for the sixth consecutive month.

According to the N.C. Employment Security Commission, 12,200 more people in the Greater Hickory Metro were unemployed in June 2009 than in June 2008. About 6,900 of those people had been employed in manufacturing.

And while the national economy seems to be improving, the economy here is still weak at best. These unemployment numbers do not lie. It is an employer's job market here and competition for the available jobs is fierce.

Another factor of the jobless equation here is that about 33 percent of the Hickory region's jobs are in manufacturing, compared to a national average of 12 percent.

To help address this issue, McHenry supported the reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program, which provides health care, job retraining and financial assistance to workers whose jobs are sent overseas as a result of trade policy — mostly manufacturing jobs.

We do not always agree with Congressman McHenry, but his decision to support these two bills deserves praise.