By By ANNA M. LEE Managing Editor
Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) visited Brewton this Thursday as part of his town meeting tour of this district.
Bonner spoke about several topics before taking questions from the crowd, including his support for troops in the Middle East. He had the opportunity to visit troops in Iraq in December and reports that their morale is high.
Another topic of discussion at the meeting -- and across the nation -- was recent expansion of the Medicare program for prescription drugs.
Bonner said a change was necessary because 42 million senior citizens are today faced with choosing to purchase medications or to pay their living expenses.
Bonner also addressed an attendee's question about the status of a constitutional marriage amendment.
Citing recent isolated condoning of same sex marriage across the country, Bonner said, "I think the president and many of us are concerned (because) judges are not appointed to make laws, but to interpret them. Mayors are not given the authority to ignore the law.
A constitutional amendment would preserve the traditional definition of marriage as a union of a man and a women, but give states the individual authority to recognize the civil union of same sex couples, Bonner said, and hearings on the matter are expected to take place in the next few weeks.
Bonner also spoke about No Child Left Behind and federal funding for education.
No Child Left Behind, was meant to encourage school systems to make improvements at the local level to receive more funding at the federal level.
Bonner noted that federal spending on education is now at 156 percent of what it was in 1996.
Bonner plans to hold about 40 town meetings like this one through out the year and he has also made it his goal to visit every elementary, middle and high school in the district.