WACO (August 18, 2009)—Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, meets with local health care providers Wednesday and prepares for a telephone town hall meeting Thursday on health care reform while Rob Curnock, the Waco businessman who hopes again to challenge him said Tuesday he plans to add a fourth meeting to the list of town halls he’ll hold this month.

Edwards said Monday he will also hold face-to-face town hall meetings in Brazos, McLennan and Johnson Counties, but exactly when and where has not been announced.

Curnock, meanwhile, said Tuesday that in addition to meetings in Waco, Burleson and Bryan, he will hold a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31 at the Cooler Center at 903 South Ave. G in Clifton.

“I am encouraged that Rep. Edwards has decided to follow our lead and is tentatively scheduling public town hall meetings in the district on health care,” Curnock said
Tuesday.

“We are committed to holding the meetings we scheduled earlier this month.”

“If Rep. Edwards is sincere in his desire to listen to voters in Central Texas, we again invite him to join us at any or all of our town hall meetings, which are already firmly scheduled.”

Edwards’ meeting Wednesday with Waco health care professionals is one of 19 he will hold with medical professionals, business people, residents and journalists throughout the congressional district.

“I intend to spend the next three weeks carefully listening to health care providers and everyday citizens in our district about what the proposed health care reforms would mean for them and their families,” Edwards said.

“I will not vote for a single-payer, Canadian-style nationalized health care plan, and before I make any commitment on any health care legislation in Congress, I want to hear the views and concerns of as many constituents as possible,” he said.

“The issue of health care is vitally important to our families, businesses and nation’s future. By having open, honest and respectful discussions, I hope we can further the cause of protecting the strengths of our present health care system while addressing the concerns of rising health care costs,” Edwards said.

Although he ran a close race against Edwards in 2008, Curnock is not the only Republican in the hunt.

Timothy DeLasandro, Charles Wilson and Darren Yancy, Sr. have also launched campaigns.