N.H. Representatives Disagree with “Do-Nothing” Criticism
Accomplishments
New Hampshire Union Leader
Kendra Gilbert
Boston University Washington News Service
10-5-06
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 – Despite being a part of what critics have called a do-nothing Congress, New Hampshire Reps. Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley said Thursday they’ve done plenty and disagree with the criticism.
“We have extended the tax cuts that are keeping our economy strong,” Bradley said in an interview, “the unemployment rate has gone from 6.3 to 4.7 percent, 5.7 million new jobs have been created as a result of those tax cuts and we’re setting record revenue increases which have substantially reduced our nation’s budget deficit.
“So that’s, I think, an accomplishment of this Congress.”
Bass and Bradley also cited specific legislative steps each has taken.
As a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Bradley was involved in several issues concerning veterans this year.
He succeeded in getting an amendment attached to a fiscal 2007 federal appropriations bill that added $795 million to the health care budget for veterans. Over this and the next four fiscal years, veterans will receive $3.975 billion as a result.
“He has proven to be a friend to both veterans and service members,” Joe Davis, a spokesman in the Washington office of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said.
Bradley became involved in maintaining the 24-hour policy in emergency rooms of veterans hospitals after the Department of Veterans Affairs proposed closing them between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. In September, Bradley announced that the emergency rooms, including one at the Manchester VA Medical Center, would continue to operate 24 hours a day.
Subsequently, he introduced legislation in the House that would give Congress greater oversight on any proposal intending to cut back emergency room hours in the hospitals. The legislation has not cleared the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“Veterans’ issues have been a priority for me and they will certainly continue to be a priority for me,” Bradley said.
Bass said in a statement that he also had “helped increase funding for our veterans.”
Obtaining money this year for New Hampshire residents from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program was another accomplishment Bass and Bradley pointed to. Both Bass and Bradley urged the President to release funds for low-income New Hampshire residents from the program’s surplus. In September, $3 million was released. “These surplus funds will give the state the ability to spread the benefits of [the program] to a greater number of residents and bring relief to those who need it most,” Bradley said in a September statement.
The program is intended to help low-income people cover some of the costs of home heating and cooling.
Most recently, Bass and Bradley each pushed separate bills in the House that would designate two tracts of land totaling 34,500 acres in the White Mountain National Forest as wilderness, thus protecting the land from development.
The bills introduced by Bass and Bradley were blocked from passage by opposition rallied by Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., just before the House adjourned, but both said they hope that Congress will pass the bills when it reconvenes in a post-election lame-duck session.
“I’m very optimistic that as soon as we get back after the election, the Wilderness Bill is going to pass,” Bradley said, saying that he and Bass have come to an agreement with Sanders on a “recalibrated” version of the legislation.
On the national scale, both N.H. lawmakers were active in protecting the Arctic refuge in Alaska and voted against legislation that would have opened the refuge to oil drilling.
“We applaud both of them,” Tiernan Sittenfeld, legislative director of the League of Conservation Voters, said of Bass and Bradley. “They’ve both been real leaders in protecting the Arctic refuge.”
Lydia Weiss, a lobbyist for Defenders of Wildlife, said Bass played a critical role in saving the Arctic wildlife.
Overall, Defenders of Wildlife gave Bass a score of 55 percent and Bradley 60 percent for their efforts to protect the environment.
The League of Conservation Voters scored the two even lower, rating Bradley at 44 percent and Bass at 33 percent.
National security and taxes were also key issues for both Bass and Bradley.
“I have said that my priorities are keeping America safe and winning the war on terror and supporting our troops and supporting our veterans,” Bradley said. “I’ve done all that and I will continue to do that.”
Bass said in his statement that he “worked hard to keep taxes low for New Hampshire families and small businesses.”
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