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ON MOTION by Vice Chairman Ginn, SECONDED BY <br />Commissioner Neuberger, the Board unanimously made the <br />above changes to the agenda. <br />5. PROCLAMATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS <br />5.A. Congressman .Dave Weldon - Legislative Update <br />Congressman Lave Weldon expressed pleasure to be before the Commissioners <br />particularly because when he left Washington, D.C., Sunday around noon he had to shovel <br />8-10 inches of snow from his driveway; the closest operational airport was Newport News, <br />Virginia. He spoke of some of the priorities facing the 108`' Congress. The dominating <br />issues are the war on terrorism, the situation with Iraq, the economy, and a host of medical <br />issues that seem to be at the forefront of debate in our nation. His committee assignment this <br />year is a seat on the House Appropriations Committee which is dominated by 13 <br />subcommittees. He sits on the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development <br />and Independent Agencies, which includes the NASA (National Air and Space <br />Administration) budget. He stressed it is difficult to do things quickly, but a budget must <br />be done every year. He also sits on Labor, Health & Human Services, which includes Social <br />Security Administration, CMS which operates the funding of Medicare; National Institute <br />of Health; and CDC, where he can draw on his experience as a physician. These are <br />obviously big issues to this community. The high cost of health insurance is having a <br />significant impact on our whole nation and our community. Small business entrepreneurs <br />are having difficulty in affording health insurance coverage for their employees and thus <br />their ability to hire new people in order to expand. To get the economy going, he believes <br />February 18, 2003 <br />2 <br />