SELMA — Republican Senator Richard Shelby visited the St. James Hotel on Friday as part of his tour of the 67 counties of Alabama, a series of trips he has completed each of his 24 years as an Alabama senator.

Shelby said he feels it is important to travel to the counties to keep in touch with the people to see the ways in which the issues of the government are affecting the community.

“Every county, every year,” said Alan Hanson, Shelby’s chief of staff. Shelby has visited 49 counties thus far, stopping in Marion and Greensboro on Friday as well.

The exact cities in each county vary from year to year, and Shelby sometimes revisits certain cities again after completing visits to all counties.

After sharing his thoughts about the state of the country, Shelby answered questions from attendants about the Tea Party Movement, illegal immigration and about how nice he believes it is to see a place like the St. James help to restore the history in Selma.

As for the issues of the nation, Shelby is against raising the national deficit from $12 trillion to $14 trillion.

“Unemployment is too high to do that,” Shelby said.

He also opposes the Obama administration’s health care bill and the second stimulus bill.

“He doesn’t think the first bill proposed jobs and that the second won’t either,” Hanson said.

Two issues Shelby supports are the medical malpractice reform, allowing patients to seek justice in cases of harm, and the initiative to allow the purchase of healthcare insurance across state lines.