Oklahoma senator Tom Coburn began his series of town hall meetings across Oklahoma on Thursday.
The meetings started in Muskogee and his second stop of the afternoon was in Sallisaw.
Hundreds gathered at the Carl Albert State College to hear Coburn address hot button issues such as abortion, the 2010 census, and illegal aliens. "Both sides gain. They get to tell me. You don't get to meet one on one with your senator very often. It's hard to do with almost 4 million people and so they get to communicate and let off steam and I get to hear the intensity, as well as the issue. Of course, I knew it was coming," said Senator Coburn.
And things did get heated at the town hall meeting, as the citizens of Oklahoma demanded accountability from their government. "I feel that all the American people are coming together and we want answers. We want Washington to listen to us and we want the government to do the right thing by the American people," said Shirlene Denny of Jay, Oklahoma. "People are really concerned that our government is not for us, it's for them and we want to change it. Cause we've sat back and as long as we sit back, there's nothing that's gonna be done," said Jude Champagne, who attended the meeting.
Senator Coburn says he considered the meeting in Sallisaw to be a success.
He's hoping the town hall meetings spread across the nation. "What I want them to be is successful outside Sequoyah County. What I want them to be is have them infect and run across the country," he said.
The meetings started in Muskogee and his second stop of the afternoon was in Sallisaw.
Hundreds gathered at the Carl Albert State College to hear Coburn address hot button issues such as abortion, the 2010 census, and illegal aliens. "Both sides gain. They get to tell me. You don't get to meet one on one with your senator very often. It's hard to do with almost 4 million people and so they get to communicate and let off steam and I get to hear the intensity, as well as the issue. Of course, I knew it was coming," said Senator Coburn.
And things did get heated at the town hall meeting, as the citizens of Oklahoma demanded accountability from their government. "I feel that all the American people are coming together and we want answers. We want Washington to listen to us and we want the government to do the right thing by the American people," said Shirlene Denny of Jay, Oklahoma. "People are really concerned that our government is not for us, it's for them and we want to change it. Cause we've sat back and as long as we sit back, there's nothing that's gonna be done," said Jude Champagne, who attended the meeting.
Senator Coburn says he considered the meeting in Sallisaw to be a success.
He's hoping the town hall meetings spread across the nation. "What I want them to be is successful outside Sequoyah County. What I want them to be is have them infect and run across the country," he said.
