Mary Jo Kilroy: “I believe that a great strength of our democracy is in our First Amendment. It allows for the robust exchange of ideas…”

“I believe that a great strength of our democracy is in our First Amendment. It allows for the robust exchange of ideas and opinions. I welcome that. I want to hear what my constituents are thinking, what concerns they have, concerns about how health care will work for them. I want to listen to them discuss the lack of health care and how that affects their life, the high cost of health care and how they are coping with that. I have held town halls, roundtables, small groups, over 20 meetings in my district over health care. And this week demonstrations for and against health care reform were held in front of my district office. Unfortunately, some of those opposing health care reform went too far. Instead of making their arguments against the bill, they engaged in abusive language directed at one of my constituents who suffers the terrible ravages of Parkinson's disease. They treated him like a beggar. They threw dollar bills at him. They did not respect his humanity, did not respect his right to give his opinion on the health care bill. This type of protest goes too far. It has crossed a line. The health care legislation is about respecting each other's rights as human beings. And when it comes to needed medical care, it should respect our rights as citizens to express our opinions.”