CROWN POINT | Members of the Crown Point Rotary peppered U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., with questions Wednesday afternoon ranging from how to protect nearby waters from Asian carp to taxes.

Visclosky told Rotary members that his first priority is the economy across the nation and in Northwest Indiana, mentioning local restaurants around his Merrillville office that he used to frequent that are now closed. He pointed out that a year ago this month, Congress passed a stimulus bill and about 40 projects in the region will be funded from that money.

He applauded former Mayor Dan Klein, a Republican, who was in the audience as a Rotary guest, as well as former Mayor Jim Metros and Mayor David Uran in working with him to get the 109th Avenue interchange built in Crown Point. The interchange is scheduled to open this year.

Responding to the Asian carp question, Visclosky said there will always be two barriers erected to protect the Great Lakes and he thinks closing the locks to keep out the carp is an "overreaction."

Going over his time limit to answer a last question about taxes, Visclosky said that he thought it was a problem to continue to spend with the size of the country's deficit and said "changes have to be made."