The nation's health care debate continued in North Dakota on Wednesday as Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan traveled to public events to address questions and concerns from North Dakotans while groups supporting and denouncing reform bills in Congress came to Bismarck.

In light of large groups of protesters attending and disrupting congressional events around the nation this month, the hosts of a Mott roundtable with Conrad, D-N.D., decided to request extra law enforcement to attend the event as a precaution.

Hettinger County sheriffs reported no disruptions at Wednesday's event.

Kathy Greff, the director of nurses at the Good Samaritan Center in Mott who invited the sheriffs, said the event attracted about 75 people.

"There was good dialogue, everybody behaved themselves," Greff said. "We had no problems. Couple of people that stood up and wanted to make (Conrad) accountable for things. We got them back on track."

Meanwhile, an emotional crowd packed the fire hall in Casselton, west of Fargo, to talk to Dorgan, D-N.D., about health care, with few signs of support for Democrats' reform plans.

Some of the speakers in the crowd held copies of a proposal being considered in the U.S. House. The comments drew yells, applause and cheers. One woman was booed when she said an overhaul is necessary.

Dorgan asked the crowd not to boo anyone. He said people in North Dakota don't have a reputation for rudeness and said, "That's a difference I'm enormously proud of."

Cass County sheriff's deputies also were on hand at Wednesday's gathering in Casselton, but they reported no major problems.

Vern Keppler of Fargo said the current health care system has problems, but he told Dorgan: "Let's fix the problems. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Supporters and opponents to health care proposals in Congress also came to Bismarck on Wednesday.

The "Hands Off My Health Care" campaign, affiliated with the conservative interest group Americans for Prosperity, parked its bus in front of the North Dakota Capitol on Wednesday evening to oppose any government-run health care options.

A few dozen people attended the rally at the Capitol, signing pledges against the current health care reform bills in Congress.

Bob Murray, the tour director, said the group wants to see measures taken such as tort reform, but opposes proposals for an expansion of government-run health care.

He added, for those who oppose the bills,"The more they learn about them, the more upset they get."

Kimm Schmitt, 60, a Bismarck retiree, said she wants health care reform that would give her the ability to "shop for insurance across the nation to get better coverage and better prices."

But the prospect of a public health care option is a deal-breaker, she said.

"I'm not Astroturf, I'm not a Nazi, I didn't carry a swastika to this event," Schmitt said. "I'm grass-roots and I'm mad as hell."

On Wednesday morning, the "Highway to Healthcare" campaign bus made a stop by the Federal Building in downtown Bismarck, garnering support for a government-run health care option that supporters say will lower health care costs in the United States.

The event was sponsored by the AFL-CIO affiliated American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Blaine Rummel, a spokesman with the AFSCME, said he thinks opposition protests have been marked by anger.

"Sometimes change can be a scary thing," Rummel said, adding, "We don't let people die in America."

(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@;bismarcktribune.com.)