Rep. McCollum holding health care forum tonight

Rep. Betty McCollum is hosting a public forum on the health care debate Monday night in St. Paul.

McCollum, a Democrat from St. Paul, says most of the constituents who have contacted her office about health care reform believe the current system needs to be fixed. She says tonight's conversation will help her understand what a new plan should look like.

McCollum says a public option "can definitely" be part of the solution, but she's eager to hear what others think.

"I'm keeping an open mind, I'm listening to people, and I'm going to see where we can have common consensus to really make health care reform move forward in this country because we desperately need it," she said.

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McCollum said about 60 million people in this country are uninsured or under-insured, and said all Americans should have the right to health care.

"The overwhelming majority of people in the 4th Congressional District know our health care system is broken, and they see this as an issue of generational importance, and they expect Congress to fix their broken health-care system," she said.

Not everyone who attends tonight's forum at Macalester College is guaranteed to get in.

Residents of Minnesota's 4th District will get first dibs on the limited seating.

Protesters have lined up to confront lawmakers at similar town-hall meetings across the country, but McCollum says she expects the night to be respectful.