By BOB GIBBINS
Staff Writer
TAHLEQUAH —
The country is at a crossroads and needs to get back to its core values, U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn said Friday.
Coburn, R-Okla., spoke to a large crowd of Cherokee County residents at a Town Hall meeting at noon on the NSU campus between similar stops in Wagoner and Stilwell. The senator is on a trek across the state and has other meetings scheduled Monday.
“We’re [federal government] helping a lot of people who don’t need help,” Coburn said. “It reeks of the worst thing we can do.”
He said the country has a large federal deficit and other issues, but doesn’t have a problem the nation can’t solve. He said a key to the issue is being honest about what our problems are and fixing them.
Coburn also said President Barack Obama appointed him to a deficit reduction committee – a committee he believes isn’t necessary.
“We already have a deficit reduction committee,” he said. “It’s called the U.S. Congress.”
Coburn urged those in attendance to speak their minds and tell friends and relatives what they think because it can help change things.
“You have so much more influence than you think,” he said. “You have friends and family in this state and other states. Talk to them.”
The senator said despite the nation’s problems, it’s still a great country. He said Americans need to embrace what made the country great and return to core values.
Coburn was also asked about autism and said he believes it is a big problem, but it’s also “extremely overdiagnosed.”
He was asked about teachers who don’t know what to look for and think an autistic child just has behavior problems.
“Teachers are a state issue,” he said. “You need to work with your state representatives on providing training for teachers to be able to recognize autism.”
He also said he’s ready to go after those who commit disability fraud. Coburn said 600,000 commercial driver licenses were issued to people on disability.
“If they’re disabled they can’t pass the physical exam for a commercial license, and if they can pass the exam, they’re not disabled,” he told those in attendance.
He told the crowd about hiring a man to clear some trees on his property.
After the job was done and Coburn was preparing to pay the man for his work, the man asked that the check be written to a family member.
Coburn asked why and was told initially the man had no bank account. He admitted shortly thereafter he was on disability.
Coburn said Congress should use this principle when they’re in session.
“We need to think about the effect it’s going to have on the next generation, not the next election,” he said.
