Sen. Richard Shelby addressed Cullman residents in a public forum Saturday at Cullman City Hall about topics ranging from the war in Iraq to local economic development.

“There are great folks here,” he said. “You have great work ethic, a growing economy and are having some growing pains. … But I keep telling people all over the state, your economy is good.”

Shelby praised Cullman’s high standard of life and said while citizens may perceive the nation is entering into an economic recession, investors continue to seek out Alabama, citing a multi-million dollar aerospace contract announced last week to locate a construction facility in Mobile.

He also discussed what he said is an alarming rate of foreclosures and crises in the national finance market.

“We’re just going to ride that out,” Shelby said, telling those present while he personally would love to solve every family’s financial problems in the nation, he does not feel the national government can or should take responsibility for citizens’ mistakes.

Similarly, Shelby voiced his stance on the president’s stimulus package, which will give anywhere from $300 to $600 back to taxpayers. When the proposal was in Congress, Shelby voted against it.

“I voted against it because what they were going to do is borrow nearly $170 million,” he said. “And that $170 million will be added to our national deficit come October.”

Instead, Shelby said he favors a market with minimal government interference.

“People create wealth,” he said. “The government can’t do everything.”

He said what he believes the government can — and should — do is implement a fair tax policy, develop infrastructure, and invest in schools and national security to “let the market work” for citizens’ benefits.

Policies Shelby said he will not oppose are any which support American troops.

“Iraq is more stable than it was a year ago,” he said. “We’ve still got big challenges there and in Afghanistan. … I’m never going to vote against our soldiers.”

The senator went on to say he understands the desire to bring troops home from overseas but said it is unreasonable to expect the government to remove military presence from the Middle East within the next few years.

“The reason we’re still there is we made terrible mistakes,” he said. “Even if we started bringing troops home today it would be more than a year before we could get them all back.”

Shelby said while Iraq remains a concern in legislature, the No. 1 problem facing the nation is energy.

“We have no real plan of how we’ll manage it,” he said, stating how America used to export oil and now imports more than 65 percent of its fuel.

“We’re sending our wealth to these countries in the world,” he said. “We’re exporting your wealth and mine.”

He said the nation needs to pursue domestic oil sources in Alaska and promote alternative fuel sources.

Another controversy Shelby said is facing the country is immigration, where he favors strict policy reform.

“I want us to bring in the best and the brightest in the world,” he said, adding he would like to see English named the official language of the United States in the constitution.

Regardless, Shelby said he has been disappointed with Republican leadership towards immigration reform and does not forsee U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) making significant strides to change illegal immigration. However, he said he will stand behind his party in the upcoming election and vote a straight Republican ticket this fall.

As for his political aspirations, Shelby said he would like to be chairman of the banking committee and be in charge of appropriations. If named so, he said he would continue to support responsible earmarking, which he said made possible projects such as Red Stone Arsenal.