Earlier this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed what it called health care reform legislation.

This region’s own representative there, Republican Virginia Foxx, was absent when it came to constructive debate and work on the issue. Her only contribution to the discussion was to make the wild claim that health care legislation is a bigger threat to America than any terrorist, and her even more wildly inaccurate claim that every American has access to health care.

The first comment, of course, was inflammatory rhetoric. The second, we believe, shows just how out of touch she is with the typical American who either can’t get health care because he or she can’t pay the high cost of medical care, or they are paying out 15 to 20 percent of their annual income for health insurance.

Now the debate moves to the Senate, and we hope North Carolina’s two representatives there will give the concept more serious consideration. Sen. Kay Hagan, a Democrat, has been a bit coy on the subject, but we suspect ultimately she will support whatever Democratic proposal comes to the floor.

Just as we see fault with Foxx’s stand of flat-out opposition to anything pushed by the Democratic party, we find it equally irresponsible for a representative to jump on the bandwagon of legislation simply because her party originated the bill.

That leaves Sen. Richard Burr. His recent comments shed some insightful light on the debate, mostly devoid of rhetoric and blind opposition.

Burr said earlier this week the House version of health care reform is really an expansion of medical insurance coverage without true reform in the health care industry, and that the bill does little to rein in the rising cost of health care.

Unfortunately, Burr also said he believes the concept of a public option is dead, because it creates a government-run entity that will bring to an end the private insurance marketplace.

We beg to differ on that point, and we would hold up to the package and delivery industry as an example of how private industry finds a way to compete with governmental or quasi-government monopolies. Federal Express, UPS, and other similar businesses have done quite well in competing with the U.S. Postal system, despite a playing field badly tilted in favor of the postal system. We suspect the private insurance industry, which has been quite imaginative in finding ways to reap great profit from its customer base, will figure out a way to stay in business even if a public option is on the table.

Still, it is good to see Burr taking a big-picture look at the issue, peeling away the inaccuracies and partisan arguments and attempting to look at the core issues of making health care affordable and available to most Americans.

We wish Foxx had done the same, and we hope Hagan will take Burr’s approach to this landmark debate.