ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — The Robertsdale City Council chambers were filled to overflowing Friday morning. Two Robertsdale city councilors were seen standing in the back as people, many senior citizens, pushed into the room.

The reason for the crowd was a chance to hear U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, a Republican representing Alabama’s First District, speak.

The hot topic was health care, specifically the health care bill in Congress right now, and the crowd asked as many questions as possible about it.

Bonner opened by saying that he had had thousands of people at his town hall meetings held throughout the district in the past two weeks.

That’s a lot more than the usual crowd. Bonner quipped that he “had about eight” people at his last meeting. He also said that his office has received “about 5,600” calls, cards and fax messages on the health care bill.

“This is truly an issue everyone is concerned about,” said Bonner.

“The first question I get asked is, ‘Have you read the bill?,’” said Bonner, noting that the bill has more than 1,100 pages. “I have read it, and here it is.” Bonner then asked two students seated on the council dais to lift two stuffed red three-ring binders.

Bonner received what seemed to be the biggest applause of the meeting when he said he was “opposed adamantly” to the bill.

Bonner did allow that he felt health care did need “fixing,” but said a bill that would establish “51 new Federal agencies and departments” in Washington was not the answer.

One of the things that may change if the bill passes, says Bonner is a person’s relationship with their doctor. Currently Bonner said, Medicare reimburses hospitals “71 cents on the dollar,” and physicians, “81 cents on the dollar.” While he did not have an amount patients on the so-called “public option” would net caregivers, he inferred that the amount would be lower, and physicians would stop taking Medicare patients.

“The analogy is a hamburger stand and then the government puts up a stand that’s going to charge less,” said Bonner.

As for the so-called “death panels,” or “end of life counseling” which some say will be a part of the plan, Bonner said there was nothing about that or abortion in the bill under consideration.

“But there is nothing that says there won’t be,” he warned.

He did say that a recent rule change allowed Medicare to reimburse a physician who have an “end of life” conversation.

“I hope you all have a living will,’ said Bonner, noting that his own father passed way when he was young. “I have no problem with you making decisions.”

If the bill passes, Bonner says that, “Someone you never had a chance to meet or never had a chance to vote for” will make those decisions.

Bonner added that he and his family have Blue Cross/Blue Shield and that his family pays about $400 a month for coverage.

One lady, Jane Knight of Robertsdale asked if she and her husband, a civil service retiree would be “grandfathered” into their existing coverage.

“We really don’t know,” respond Bonner.

Bonner also took a question charging that the ThyssenKrupp plant in Calvert was being built with illegal labor.

Bonner replied that he has met with TK officials and the company is using the “E-Verify” system to make sure that workers are indeed authorized to work in this country.

Hilmar VonCampe of Silverhill also asked about health care, saying “what I have seen here, I have seen there,” referring to the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

A member of the audience was concerned that electric bills would rise if “Cap and Trade” went into effect. “Cap and Trade” would limit the amount of pollutants a company could release and if the company need more, they could buy permits from less-polluting firms.

“We have to stop that too,” said Bonner. Calling the measure, “Cap and Tax,” Bonner said that the “California Code” would be applied to buildings sold in Alabama. Bonner added that windows designed to withstand hurricanes would not meet the standards.

“It will cost us millions if not billions more,” he said.

When a question about term limits came up, Bonner replied that he had had a “change of heart” on the topic and would favor them if “they applied to everyone.”