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  • Tim Walz held one of his many public forums at Mankato’s Summit Center Thursday. The audience, mostly seniors, wanted answers on health care, veterans’ benefits and the Iraq war. John Cross

    Walz at Summit

July 6, 2007

Walz listens to seniors

Two-day public forum tour stops at Kato's Summit Center

Robb Murray

MANKATO — Fix the broken health care system, impeach George Bush and do whatever it takes to get a good farm bill and better care for veterans. That’s the earful Tim Walz got Thursday at a public forum, one of four scheduled for his district this week.

About 75 people showed up to the Summit Center Thursday afternoon. The crowd was mostly sympathetic to Walz political persuasion, and no one heckled the first-term Congressman.

“We do about one every nine days,” Walz said Thursday, moments after addressing the mostly senior Summit Center group. “I’m convinced this is the way the job is supposed to be done.”

On the health care issue, Walz fielded several questions ranging from prescription drug costs and Medicare to physician reimbursement.

“We spend twice as much as any other country on health care,” Walz said. “Let’s just fix this. This is not rocket science.”

Those questions segued into questions about health care for veterans, for both body and mind.

Walz said that for new veterans who want to get into the system, there is 177-day wait, and there are about 400,000 waiting to get in and have their case adjudicated.

“This vets issue is one that is near and dear to my heart,” Walz told the group. “And it’s getting an awful lot of attention in Washington.”

Mental health issues, as well, are getting more attention.

“The way I look at it is that this isn’t one of those issues we should spend a lot of time talking about,” Walz said. Instead, he said action should be taken immediately to help vets get the help they need for their mental health concerns.

The mood shifted slightly when Jack Ringgenberg of North Mankato spoke.

He told Walz he used to be a member the 82nd Airborne Division, and fought in WWII. He was captured by the enemy and spent 18 months in a German prison camp. Before they landed in northern Africa, he told Walz, he and the other soldiers were told they’d be charged “$5 for each Arab they killed.”

After Ringgenberg told his story, he told Walz he wanted Bush impeached and he wanted the U.S. to pull out of Iraq completely.

Walz said he wasn’t sure an immediate pull-out would be wise. But he did say he’s interested in a plan from the Brookings Institute that is getting a lot of attention lately. The plan involves partitioning Iraq into groups of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, with troop pull out beginning in a few months and ending within the year.

“The Iraq war is the pressing issue of our time,” he said. “It has driven a wedge through our country like we haven’t seen in a generation.”

Ringgenberg said he was pleased with Walz’ response.

“He’s going to take care of it,” Ringgenberg said. “He’s a vet. He’s going to get it done.”

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