I am advised that I must get used to tooting my own horn if we are going to be successful in November, 2000. I am relatively unknown in the southern (most populous) part of the district so you need to know more about me before you can really give me your support.

Problem solving has always been interesting to me. I have to work hard at it, but because I enjoy it, problem solving comes easily for me. My time in college was centered around Math and the Physical and Biological Sciences. Since starting the practice of Medicine in 1980, I have been dealing with problem solving on a daily basis. Generally, I see twenty to thirty people per day and each one of them have more than one problem. Medical problems are complicated because the living system is integrated; each system affects the others and every change to one system has a rippling effect throughout the other systems.

Society is similar in its complexity. In Economics there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. If a change in the law is intended to have an effect in one area of the economy, then, over time that effect will have effects on other areas of the economy and there will be a rippling effect throughout the economy. So it is with laws and society in general.

In Medicine and Pharmacology, there is a principle that can be applied to society. If a patient is taking multiple medications and is having a problem, then it is important to look at the problem to be certain that it is not a side-effect of one of the medicines. If the problem is a side-effect of a medicine, then the physician must consider discontinuing the medicine. Of course, the original problem for which the medicine was prescribed must be considered: how serious was the original problem, how serious is the side-effect, how well is the medicine working to alleviate the original problem, what is the cost of the medicine, etc.

In the instance of our society in the United States, I believe that “the patient” is being over-medicated by its physician, The Congress. There are so many laws that most Congressmen do not know them all. In fact, each law is so voluminous that I do not believe that most Congressmen fully study them before they vote to approve them. How can we have a law-abiding society when even the lawmakers can’t keep track of all the laws?

The Congress, as the physician of society, is guilty of malpractice. When a problem is identified, Congress rushes in to pass a new law, without thinking of the possible side-effects of the existing laws. I would argue that Congress should consider the source of the problem and instead of passing a new law, should eliminate the old law that is causing the problem. As a Congressman, I would argue with my fellow Congressmen that their duty to society is the same as the duty a physician has to a patient.

Just as a physician must understand the prescribed medication, the Congressman must understand the law being considered. Side-effects must be considered; analysis of cost-benefit and risk-benefit ratios must be made. If the law is too complicated to understand or too long to read then it is possibly too dangerous to pass or perhaps not effective enough to bother with.

I believe that Congress, as Society’s Physician must be made to understand its duty and responsibility. It is our duty, as Citizens to select Congressmen to represent us in Congress. I ask you for your support and your vote in my quest for our Congressional Seat so that I may argue for rational and Constitutional lawmaking at the National level.