Globe — Rep. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ, Dist. 1) of the U.S. House of Representatives held a town hall at Globe City Hall on Sunday evening. During his opening remarks, O’Halleran identified his core issues as the budget, health care, national defense and American’s “continuing struggle with the debt ceiling.”

He expressed his frustration with Congress funding the government through continuing resolutions instead of by passing an actual budget.

“That’s really been hurting our military and it costs the taxpayers billions of dollars,” O’Halleran said. “And it’s because we can’t come to an agreement and just pass it along. That has to stop.”

Former Gila County Supervisor Mike Pastor asked O’Halleran if there was a chance of the draft being reinstated, in light of the recent missile strike against Syria.

“I don’t think a conflict limited to Syria or the Middle East would facilitate the need for a draft,” O’Halleran said. “But you look at Korea, that’s a whole other issue.”

The Congressman also mentioned Russia and China as possible threats to the U.S., and stressed that our country needs to treat cyber warfare just like any other attack.

O’Halleran was asked his thoughts on the status of the Affordable Care Act.

“Whatever we do needs to recognize health care needs in America, and not just political thought processes that people want to promote because they made a promise during an election cycle,” O’Halleran said. “First of all, don’t make promises during an election cycle when you don’t know what you’re talking about. There are people who have found out that health care is complex. It’s highly complex.”

Later in the town hall, after a question about the expansion of school vouchers, O’Halleran voiced his opinion.

“I’ve always been against vouchers,” O’Halleran said. “Private schools are not under any testing requirements, and they seem to be able to go around the requirements to take care of special needs children ... They don’t want those requirements put on them for that money. I don’t even want to have the discussion until each and every one of those institutions is treated the same.”

O’Halleran later seemed to possibly reference Secretary of Education Nancy DeVos when he said, “Hiring people based on their perceived concept of education versus bringing our country together, is to me a real struggle moving forward for America.”