From the Centennial Citizen - Rep. Spencer = Swalm

State Representative = Spencer Swalm=20

From this week's Centennial=20 Citizen:
15 = Minutes with=20 Spencer Swalm
By Peter=20 Jones

3D"Spencer

Being a state = legislator has its=20 advantages - but so does being a card-carrying = member of=20 the USS Nebraska's fan club.

Last month, = state=20 Rep. Spencer Swalm, R-Centennial, spent six = hours on the=20 nuclear submarine as it cruised the surface of = Puget=20 Sound near Seattle.

It was a particularly = special=20 way for Swalm to mark the end of his third = session as a=20 state lawmaker. Swalm's son Byron, 24, is a Navy = nuclear=20 technician serving on the = Nebraska.

Swalm, a=20 onetime fellow with the conservative = Independence=20 Institute, was first elected to the legislature = in 2006.=20 He was re-elected last year.

The = Centennial=20 Citizen recently asked Swalm to recount his time = on the=20 submarine and to reflect on his third session in = the=20 Colorado House of = Representatives.

Citizen: How=20 did your visit aboard the submarine come=20 about?

Swalm: The USS Nebraska actually = has a fan=20 club and it's called the Big Red Sub Club. The = State of=20 Nebraska has adopted its namesake submarine. I = don't=20 remember how I found out about it, but I ended = up=20 joining. They charge a membership to join at the = admiral=20 or captain level or something like = that.

About=20 once or twice a year, they have an opportunity = to do one=20 of these excursions. It's not just members of = the Sub=20 Club who get to go. The fact that I have a son = on the=20 sub certainly helped me. There were at least two = other=20 legislators who went on this trip. There was an=20 astronaut who's been up on the space shuttle and = is=20 going up again next spring.

Citizen: How = was your=20 time on the submarine?

Swalm: The = submarine was=20 finishing about a two-month patrol out in the = Pacific=20 somewhere in the waters off Hawaii. The morning = of the=20 ride-along, we got on a small Navy cruiser about = twice=20 the size of a speedboat. After about an hour, = the boat=20 that we were on pulled up next to the sub. We = were on=20 the sub for about six hours, but we never=20 submerged.

Citizen: Why = not?

Swalm: Since=20 9/11, they're very cautious about these things. = This=20 thing is armed with 24 missiles that have = multiple=20 nuclear warheads on them. They say when you set = foot on=20 that submarine, you're setting foot on a = submarine that=20 is alone the fourth powerful navy in the world - = after=20 the U.S., the Russians and the Chinese. That one = submarine is more powerful than all the rest of = the=20 navies.

The thing that was the most = exciting to=20 me was to see my son operating so competently in = an=20 environment that I was so completely clueless = about. He=20 works back in the engineering room. That was the = only=20 part of the submarine that was off limits to us. = He=20 acted as my own personal tour = guide.

Their bunk=20 room is a wedge between two of the nuclear = missiles.=20 There's nine guys bunking in there. There's 24 = of these=20 nuclear silos on the submarine. That area of the = submarine is called Sherwood Forest. You get to = one end=20 of it, and it's just this long row of=20 silos.

Citizen: Pretty cramped=20 quarters?

Swalm: You had to watch = yourself. Of=20 course, I'm not as nimble as I used to be so I = had to=20 crouch down and get through these things. I = never felt=20 claustrophobic, but you had to kind of watch = your head=20 and watch what you were doing. You were going up = and=20 down steep narrow stairways.

Citizen: = What's it=20 been like for you to have a son serving on a = nuclear=20 submarine in these times? The United States is = involved=20 in two wars and the military has been stretched=20 thin.

Swalm: The Navy takes pretty good = care of=20 its nuclear submarines. We've never worried too = much=20 about his personal safety, although last summer, = one of=20 the crew members was killed in an accident on = the=20 submarine.

We're very proud of Byron. I = think=20 it's been a good thing for him, but it's not an = easy=20 life. I asked him, "How did this patrol go?" He = said,=20 "At one point, we were working 30 hours = straight." I=20 said, "Why would you do that?" He said, "Well, = it's the=20 Navy" and kind of rolled his = eyes.

Sometimes the=20 military doesn't make perfect = sense.

Citizen:=20 Kind of like state government, eh?

Swalm: = Sort of=20 like that, exactly.

Citizen: How would = you=20 compare your third legislative session to your = first and=20 second?

Swalm: I would say this was my = most=20 successful because the bill that I got through=20 authorized HMO plans to market a limited-benefit = affordable health-insurance product to = low-income=20 working people who can't afford conventional = insurance.=20 Despite pretty intense opposition, the bill = actually got=20 through. It was signed by the governor and it's = going=20 into effect any day now.

These are plans = that=20 might have an annual cap of $50,000. If you have = a=20 serious problem, you can blow through $50,000 = pretty=20 quick. But my argument in favor of the bill is = that some=20 health insurance is better than none at=20 all.

Citizen: You are free-market = advocate and an=20 insurance broker. Has your perspective evolved = at all in=20 the last couple of years as the move toward = health care=20 reform has become seemingly = inevitable?

Swalm:=20 Basically, it really hasn't changed. I'm a=20 small-government Republican. I believe in = private-sector=20 leadership, if at all possible. It very much = concerns me=20 that the government is taking over the auto = industry and=20 the financial sector and so on and so forth. The = idea of=20 turning over another large sector of the economy = to=20 government, I don't support that.

On the = other=20 hand, I think the State of Colorado is in a = position=20 where it really needs to focus its resources on = helping=20 those people that really cannot help themselves, = at=20 least in the area of social-services type = things. The=20 people who come to my mind first in that arena = are=20 people with profound = disabilities.

Citizen: Are=20 you opposed to a more general government option = for=20 health insurance?

Swalm: I am. I think it = might=20 start off looking fairly benign, but it's going = to look=20 very much like Medicare or Medicaid. I think the = public=20 option is always going to be an inferior type of = health=20 insurance. That's because the government has a = long=20 history of offering hospitals and other = providers low=20 reimbursement rates.

Citizen: Do you = think the=20 government needs to find a way to insure=20 everyone?

Swalm: Maybe someday. But it = just seems=20 to me that as this discussion goes on and people = learn=20 more about this, I think they're very concerned = about=20 the level of deficit spending they're seeing = already. I=20 think everybody would like to see that, but the = question=20 is, are they willing to pay for = it?

Citizen: From=20 a philosophical standpoint, what is the = difference=20 between government-run health care and = government-run=20 law enforcement, highways and fire=20 protection?

Swalm: In the very = introductory=20 clause of the U.S. Constitution, it says two of = the=20 fundamental roles of government are to provide = for the=20 common defense and maintain domestic = tranquility. Those=20 things have to be paid for in taxes because = nobody's=20 willing to invest private money in an aircraft = carrier=20 or a submarine because you can't make money on = something=20 like that.

Citizen: There are, though, = government=20 contractors that have made a lot of money = working with=20 the military.

Swalm: You're not going to = have the=20 private sector building submarines and selling=20 subscriptions to it or something. It's a common = good=20 that is necessary.

If health care is a=20 fundamental right, for every right, there is a = corollary=20 duty. Somebody has to pay for it - either other=20 taxpayers or providers or a combination of the=20 two.

I don't believe there's a = fundamental right=20 to health care anymore than there's a = fundamental right=20 to having a house, clothes or food. I think = people need=20 to take care of themselves.

(The picture above = features=20 Centennial's state Rep. Spencer Swalm, left, = recently=20 visited his son Byron on board the USS Nebraska = on Puget=20 Sound in Washington state. Courtesy=20 = photo)

State Representative = Spencer=20 Swalm

Rep. Swalm represents Colorado State House = District=20 37 which encompasses the City of Centennial. He = serves=20 on the House Health and Human Services Committee = and the=20 House Finance Committee.

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