Davis holds town hall meeting

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 16, 2003

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis didn’t get any softballs at Monday’s town hall meeting.

Davis, Alabama’s District 7 representative, fielded questions ranging from U.S. Highway 80 to homosexual marriages before a crowded audience at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center.

The first two questions came from a man concerned about abortion and the possibility of gay marriage.

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Concerning abortion, Davis said that he could ask 100 people in the room what their opinion on abortion was and get 100 different answers. However, he wanted abortions across the world to be rare.

The question was, Davis mused, is how do we get to that point.

While Davis didn’t think the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, he said he’d support that decision.

To change the amount of abortions, though, Davis said we had to fix the way we raise children.

Another question came from Councilwoman Jean Martin. Martin questioned the $87 billion asked by President George Bush to continue operations in Iraq.

In response, Davis said that two years ago America had a projected surplus of $5 billion. Currently, the country has a deficit of $4 billion.

Davis said everyone is asked to sacrifice except those at the top of the economic strata and those making more than $1 million a year should return monies gained from recent tax cuts.

In answer to a question from Park Chittom Jr. about making U.S. Highway 80 four lanes, Davis said that he and Sen. Richard Shelby have asked for funds to be appropriated. Davis added, though, that Bush wants highway funds limited to $175 billion for this year.

Total highway funds asked for by members of Congress reaches $690 billion.

Monday was the 17th time Davis has been to Selma since he took office in January. Davis plans for a town hall meeting in each county he serves, excepting Jefferson County where he plans two, every month. Dallas County was the 11th town hall meeting Davis has held.