Hours before U.S. Congressman Patrick McHenry was scheduled to host a town hall-style meeting, his staff switched the location to the P.E. Monroe Auditorium at Lenoir-Rhyne University — and it's a good thing they did.
The venue was changed to provide more seating for the anticipated record crowd.
The university auditorium is designed to hold 1,468 people. On Tuesday, the majority of the seats were occupied with people who had come to engage the congressman about the state of America's health-care system and other emotionally-charged issues.
Many spoke out against President Obama's proposed health-care plan; some supported it.
McHenry was greeted with a standing ovation as he approached the podium for one of the annual town hall meetings he holds in each of the 10 counties in his district.
He said only 34 people attended last year's meeting in Hickory, so he was pleased with the big turnout that surpassed the 1,000 people at Mooresville's meeting Monday night.
"We have big issues facing this country," he said, summarizing the crowd's motivation for attending.
He spoke briefly against the federal stimulus package and the Cap and Trade method of controlling carbon emissions.
Then he grabbed a copy of the health-care bill working its way through Congress and showed it to the crowd.
Its 1,600 pages were held together with rubber bands. He said he and his staff were still working their way through the document. Then he dropped it onto the stage with a thunderous boom.
"How many believe health care does not need any reform?" McHenry asked. Two audience members raised their hands.
"There are some straightforward things we have to do as a society to curb the cost of health care, but the choice should be in our hands — not the government's," he said.
After his brief address, audience members clamored to voice their questions, concerns and complaints.
Due to the size of the crowd, not all of the names of the questioners were obtainable.
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