美国国家公共电台 NPR Hostile Town Hall For Congressman Who Helped Save GOP Health Care Bill

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Voters and activists 1 have been lashing 2 out at members of Congress over health care for months now. Add the anger, particularly on the left, over the president's firing of FBI Director James Comey, and you get this scene that unfolded last night in the town of Willingboro, N.J.

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RUTH GAGE 3: I must say, I have a great deal of admiration 4 for your tolerance 5 for masochism.

MARTIN: That was Democrat 6 Ruth Gage, who was at the town hall last night. For more than four hours, Republican Congressman 7 Tom MacArthur was the one standing 8 in the middle of that hostile town hall. The crowd went back and forth 9 asking questions about Comey and health care, then Comey, then health care because MacArthur authored the key amendment 10 that led to a House vote last week repealing 12 parts of the Affordable 13 Care Act. Derek Reichenbecher said he's worried he'll lose his insurance.

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DEREK REICHENBECHER: This is your health care bill. It was dead in the water. It could have stayed dead in the water, and now, it's the MacArthur amendment that brought this thing forward.

MARTIN: NPR's Scott Detrow was in the back of the room for the town hall. He's on the line now. Good morning, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE 14: Hey, Rachel.

MARTIN: What happened? What did you note last night during that scene?

DETROW: You know, there were about 300 people in the room, and the vast majority were angry about the health care repeal 11, angry about this Comey situation and the Russia investigation 15. And you got a sense that things were going to be really contentious 16 early on in the night. And I want to walk you through that for a few minutes.

MARTIN: Yeah.

DETROW: Let's start when MacArthur talked about his daughter, Grace, who died at age 11. And the crowd responded by jeering 17 and heckling him.

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TOM MACARTHUR: I will say shame on you right now, actually.

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UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Let him speak.

MACARTHUR: Don't - don't tell me what I'm using.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Shame on you.

MACARTHUR: I'm going to tell you...

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #3: Shame on you.

MACARTHUR: ...Because this affects my perspective.

DETROW: Many in the crowd had their own perspectives, too.

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JOANNA ROBINSON: Without this Medicaid, I wouldn't be where I'm at today. I came back from the depths of hell.

DETROW: Joanna Robinson was one of many people who shared personal stories about how she depends on treatment protected by the Affordable Care Act. In her case, it's dealing 18 with drug addiction 19 that requires medicine, treatment and constant vigilance.

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ROBINSON: It's not easy to stay clean, and with the help that I received and Medicaid, it kept me clean for this long. What's going to happen to us if you cut this bill? What's going to happen with our recovery without it? It's jail, institution or death.

MACARTHUR: Look, I hear the fear. I know it's real. And as I said, I think it's tremendous courage for you to come out and share that. I am trying to save a system so it continues to help you. That's all I can tell you. I'm trying - I'm trying to make sure that Medicaid is strong enough to continue to help you.

DETROW: The night was dominated by two topics - health care and Russia. In fact, no one asked about anything else for more than two hours.

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KIMBERLY STEWART: We seem to have a pattern that most people who are investigating it seem to be getting fired.

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STEWART: Do you support an independent group investigating Russia's ties into the 2016 election?

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DETROW: Kimberly Stewart was referencing the firing of James Comey.

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MACARTHUR: No, not yet, not yet.

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DETROW: MacArthur said he wants the House, Senate and FBI investigations 20 to keep going, one of many answers over the course of the long night that didn't satisfy constituents 21.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Shouting) You, Mitch McConnell, how long? Open your eyes.

DETROW: At times, MacArthur ignored the heckles. Other times, he responded directly.

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MACARTHUR: You don't - you don't like what somebody says. Is this what you want in your country? You don't like what somebody says, and they're an idiot, and they're dishonest, and they're a fraud. I hear you, and I'm giving you my honest opinion, my honest opinion.

MARTIN: Oh, Scott, that is intense. And...

DETROW: Think about that for five hours.

MARTIN: Yeah. So was MacArthur just kind of standing there on his own? Was anyone in the room defending him?

DETROW: You know, not too many people. This is one of the more Democratic parts of his district, and that's something he pointed 22 out. He pointed out he only got 12 percent of the vote in Willingboro. But he did have some backers in the room, including Loretta Hentz, who - she was pretty frustrated 23 about the whole scene.

LORETTA HENTZ: We're constituents of, you know, Mr. MacArthur, and we've supported him in the past. And I wanted to come out and see him in a town hall meeting. I have to say that I've been a little bit taken back. It's such a hostile crowd. And I get irritated with some of the people because they wouldn't give him a chance to talk.

DETROW: You know, she wanted to hear what Congressman MacArthur had to say. She came to the meeting, and she felt like the people in the room didn't want to hear what he had to say. They just wanted to yell at him, and I can tell you that that did seem to be the case from a lot of people in the room. It was more about getting in his face and pushing back than having a conversation. And that's why MacArthur, I think, got frustrated at points.

MARTIN: So, as you mentioned, it was this pingponging between health care and the Russian investigation because that was top of mind for so many people. This had happened - the town hall happened right after James Comey was fired. Besides just venting 24, were they asking MacArthur to do anything specific on the Russian investigation?

DETROW: Yeah, they were. They wanted - many people there wanted what Democrats 25 in Congress want - a special prosecutor 26 to take over the FBI investigation and a special commission to take over these congressional investigations. MacArthur said he's skeptical 27 of a special prosecutor. He said it's just not a silver bullet. He pointed out this is someone who would still need to be picked by the Justice Department, which, of course, Trump 28 is in charge of. Macarthur said he wants to keep the House and Senate intelligence committee investigations going, see what they find. But, you know, that did not cut it with the crowd. Many people kept coming back to this. They said if James Comey being fired, if Michael Flynn being fired, if every other twist and turn hasn't convinced you that this needs to be taken more seriously, then what will?

MARTIN: NPR congressional correspondent Scott Detrow. Hey, Scott, thanks so much.

DETROW: Thanks, Rachel.