Congressman Dan Boren Pays Visit to Grove

Congressman Dan Boren and several of his staff members paid a visit to Grove this week for a get acquainted session with 20 or so community leaders.
Rep. Boren noted that Hurricane Katrina put a hold on most of the congressional legislation which brought about an unexpected break that afforded him time to visit many of the counties in his district.
He fielded questions from the group on Iraq, Energy, China, the budget deficit, and highway funding.
"We are borrowing from China which is setting us up for some tough times," he said, noting that in the year 2041 the entire budget will be devoted to interest on the national debt. On Energy, he said he supported the Anwar drilling project in Alaska where "nature can co-exist with drilling."
He said we need more production as well as reduced consumption. "It takes 800 government permits to build an oil refinery," he said. "China is growing at 10% per year and they are planning for the long term, while we plan for the short term."
On Iraq, he said "we seem to be taking a step backward, the number of Iraqi troops is decreasing, which will cause a delay in bringing our troops home." "Our military is stretched, but we can still extricate ourselves over a period of several years."
He said he and others have introduced a Meth Bill patterned after Oklahoma's, which the Senate has passed. "I think President Bush will sign this bill," he said. He added that Meth is currently being made in Mexico and shipped through Heavener, OK and being handled by workers in the chicken plants. The money is then shipped back to Mexico and there is no appearance of it around Heavener in the form of limos', fancy cars, etc.
Boren was accompanied by Peter Regan, Chief of Staff; Ben Robinson, District Director, Muskogee; and Jeff Berrong, field representative from Claremore.
In Photo: Carol Fortner, County Clerk, with Rep. Dan Boren.