Local organizers of the two TEA parties in Bee County want people to gather Friday and show U.S. Rep. Rubén Hinojosa that they do not want socialized medicine in this country.

Members of an organization called “TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party Patriots” are asking people who oppose a government-run, single-payer health insurance system to gather at the offices of their congressmen simultaneously on July 17 to show that they are opposed to legislation that the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up that day.

Supporters of the protest do not want any attempt to nationalize the health care system in this country.

Virginia Pendley, one of the organizers of the TEA parties here, said she is looking for people interested in helping to organize the event.

“If people cannot show up for the protest, they should at least call or write their congressman to say they are opposed to the legislation,” Pendley said

According to a national Web site, organizers across the country are planning to hold demonstrations simultaneously with groups gathering on the East Coast between noon and 1 p.m. and groups on the West Coast gathering between 9 and 10 a.m.

That would mean protesters would meet at Hinojosa’s office between 11 a.m. until noon.

“They wouldn’t have to stay long,” Pendley said.

“We plan to present Hinojosa’s staff with a list of questions,” Pendley said. “And we’d like to have an immediate answer. I don’t know if that would be possible.”

More information concerning the protest is expected to be available later. Anyone with questions should contact Mrs. Pendley at 542-1020.