One day before Americans stopped to celebrate the sacrifices of those 56 original patriots who risked their lives and livelihoods to declare their independence from the global power that ensnared the people of this new land, Milledgeville’s Congressman reached out to those modern day patriots whose sacrifices have ensured that this nation will never be ensnared again.

Congressman John Barrow, D-12th District, made a stop in Milledgeville Friday to meet with constituents and area veterans on his annual Veterans Town Hall Tour. About 65 people filled American Legion Post 523 on Martin Luther King Drive to hear Barrow talk about veterans’ issues unfolding in the nation’s capital and to ask him about his stances on national issues that affect constituents on the local level.

Barrow told those in attendance about his efforts to raise the mileage reimbursement for veterans who have to travel to receive medical care from the federal government, about increases in federal spending on veterans’ healthcare and a revamping of the GI Bill that promises to cover all the costs of a college education for service men and women returning from active duty.

Barrow said that following World War II, the GI Bill was one of the biggest factors in growing the middle class. But in recent years, the benefits paid by the GI Bill have remained stagnant as secondary education costs continue to rise.

“The most remarkable thing this country has done in fighting and winning a war was investing in the men and women who came out of this country’s service,” Barrow said. “But over the years the GI Bill has petered out and as recently as two years ago, its full benefits were worth about 40 percent of the cost of a college education.”

Barrow said the GI Bill for the 21st century will pay the full cost of tuition, provide a book and housing allowance as well as money for tutorial assistance, ensuring service members that they will receive the training and education they need to be competitive in the job market of tomorrow after completing their service to country today.

Following his brief update on those veterans’ issues, Barrow opened the floor for comments and questions.

Several veterans asked the Congressman what he and his office can do to help expedite medical claims with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Georgia Department of Veterans Services.

Barrow told audience members that his office will do anything it can to work with veterans to cut through the bureaucracy and help them receive the care they earned.

“I cannot give the VA orders or directions, but I can help guide you through this process,” he said.

Attendees also peppered Barrow with questions about his stance on Pres. Barack Obama’s health care reform proposal and the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009.

Barrow told the audience that he supports reforming health care, but it must be done in a way that does not sacrifice coverage and care for any Americans who already have the insurance they want.

“I think that everyone in the country should have access to hamburger, but steak should cost extra,” he analogized about the health care proposals floating around Washington. “But when you’re buying that hamburger, you should be assured that it is hamburger and not sawdust.”

Barrow said that part of the struggle will be convincing the republic that uninsured persons are a burden to themselves as well as to those persons who are insured.

“Health care reform should be about lifting all people up, because there should be enough health care available for everyone,” he said.

One way he recommended moving forward would be to group insurance policy holders by state instead of the small groups covered by individual policies.

“We need to stop discriminating against folks because of the size of the group receiving coverage,” he said. “The whole point of insurance is to take all the little groups and make them part of bigger groups [to reduce the amount of risk]. Larger groups lower the cost per capita.”

Barrow defended his vote against the American Clean Energy and Security Act saying that it will increase the cost of Georgian’s energy bills.

“[The energy bill] is unfair to Georgians because we will have to pay more to a cap and trade,” he said.

He emphasized the need to put American ingenuity to work finding solutions to the country’s sustainable energy needs in a way similar to how Pres. John Kennedy challenged America to land men on the moon by the end of the 1960s.

“The vision I have is to do with energy what we did with going to the moon,” he said. “We need to foment a sustained public interest in sustainable, renewable energy. We did not get to the moon by increasing the tax someone pays to fly to Paris.”

During his town hall meeting, Barrow also announced that his office is working to locate a space to open a Milledgeville office. At this time, Barrow has hired a staff member for the Milledgeville office, but until a proper location is found, that staff member will split time between Milledgeville and the Congressman’s Sandersville office.

Barrow will continue to hold office hours every first Friday of the month between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Mary Vinson Memorial Library in downtown Milledgeville.