New Hampshire Delegates React to State of the Union — Update
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 -New Hampshire’s Republican congressional delegation said they were impressed with President Bush’s State of the Union Speech last night and the initiatives he unveiled including funding for alternative energy development.
Rep. Charles Bass said he was excited to hear about the President’s plan for energy research and the proposed Advanced Energy Initiative. “What struck me the most was his initiative on alternative energy. certainly a bold change from his previous position on it,” said Bass in a phone interview following the speech last night.
“It really translates into legislation that makes a huge difference for a state like New Hampshire.” Bass said that he was surprised by the strength of his plan for research of alternative energy.
In his speech, Bush called for a 22-percent increase in federal funding for clean energy research, more investment in zero emission coal-fired plants and more funding for solar and wind technologies.
The President also called for legislation to ban human cloning which Bass applauded. “Nobody supports human cloning including me,” said Bass. “I noted that he mounted opposition to human cloning but not necessarily to a stem cell research bill that passed Congress last year which I was one of the prime sponsors of.”
President Bush also introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative which would focus on improving math and science education. Senator Gregg, who was a supporter of Bush’s No Child Left Behind education initiative, agreed with the president’s proposal. “I think this is something that we need to do, we’re clearly falling behind in math, science especially,” he said in a phone interview following the speech.
Gregg said that he thought the president did a superb job in the address. “I thought it was very visionary and very thematic and very upbeat and very positive and turned to some of his basic goals – for children to be educated and address the big issues such as the baby boom generation,” he said.
Senator Sununu said that he thought the president’s speech was better than in years past. “I thought there was much more focus than what I’ve heard from frankly President Clinton, or more recent speeches by President Bush,” he said.
Sununu said that he thought there were three issues that were emphasized that will make both a short and long term difference in the economy. The first was “getting a tax code that encourages investment and entrepreneurship and making those tax cuts permanent.”
The second was improving access to healthcare. “You have to be able to retain and attract good workers if you’re going to maintain productivity and competitiveness,” he said.
The third was investing in science and mathematics. “Those help drive innovation and development of new intellectual property across the entire spectrum of the economy,” he said.
Overall Sununu thought the message was strong. It “reminded us how much progress we’ve made around the world in the last 60 years, going from just two dozen democracies to over a 120 and that’s something America should be very proud of,” he said.
Rep. Bradley thought the President’s speech showed that he was an effective leader, especially in the war in Iraq. “I thought he did a really good job of talking about the importance of fighting the war on terror,” he said.
Overall Bradley said, “I thought the president did a good job of outlining the need for the Patriot Act and why it needs to be reauthorized, and I also thought that his tone, while it was strong and principled, it was also bipartisan.”
