Category: Kate Davidson
Greenspan Warns Congress to Control Deficit
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu and Rep. Jeb Bradley said Tuesday they agreed with Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan that Congress must, in the face of current “geopolitical risks,” regain discipline in the budget process to eliminate deficit spending and foster long-term economic growth.
Sununu and Bradley both said there is “no question” that the country’s economic situation is being affected by current foreign policy, including mounting international tensions over a possible war with Iraq. While consumer spending has increased, Sununu said, risk and uncertainty make businesses wary of investing.
Greenspan, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, said the intensifying situation “makes discerning the economic path ahead especially difficult.
“If these uncertainties diminish considerably in the near term, we should be able to tell far better whether we are dealing with a business sector and an economy poised to grow more rapidly—our more probable expectation—or one that is still laboring under persisting strains and imbalances that have been misidentified as transitory.”
Greenspan said, however, that economic growth alone “cannot safely be counted upon to eliminate deficits and the difficult choices that will be required to restore fiscal discipline.”
Sununu—a junior member of the Banking Committee—said he supports extending spending restraints on the budget, a measure Greenspan also discussed, to help control government spending and deficit growth.
“We have to recognize that strong growth is important to closing the deficit in the long run,” Sununu said in an interview. “Encouraging economic growth and controlling the growth in government spending—those should be in the forefront of the budget debate.”
Policy changes that encourage long-term economic growth, such as President Bush’s proposal for a dividend tax cut, are more sensible than short-term stimulus proposals, Sununu said.
“We should be looking to create a tax cut that’s fair and encourages long-term economic growth,” Sununu said. “There’s very little that the federal government can do that would affect economic growth three or four months from today.”
Bradley, in a separate interview, argued that temporary deficit spending may be necessary to maintain the resources necessary to protect Americans.
“I’m not . . . as troubled about expansion of the deficit in the short term in order to provide safety and protection for Americans and to get the economy back on track,” Bradley said. “I think Mr. Greenspan does make the point that we’ve got to keep a very watchful eye on spending, and that’s really the flip side to this.”
Bradley also said he supported the president’s proposed tax cuts, which drew fire yesterday from hundreds of economists—including University of New Hampshire professor Richard England—who said in a statement that the dividend cut “is not credible as a short-term stimulus” and “will worsen the long-term budget outlook, adding to the nation’s projected chronic deficits.” England could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Still, Bradley said the president’s budget does provide short-term stimulus in that it would accelerate tax rates, reduce the so-called marriage penalty and increase the child-care credit. Bradley added that the dividend tax cut, as well as an emphasis on savings, are intended to encourage long-term growth.
“The dividend tax cut is good policy,” Bradley said. “It’s fair, millions of Americans of all economic classes are going to benefit from it and also it’s going to really help long- term growth in this country.”
In a statement released Tuesday, Rep. Charlie Bass said he also agreed with Greenspan, and added that Congress should limit spending on “other government programs” to control the deficit.
“Tax cuts should . . . be considered to help provide solid economic growth,” Bass said. “While a slow economy and war are certainly reasons to expect short-term deficits, they definitely should not be used as excuses to throw all fiscal restraint out the window.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Egyptian Economic Growth Essential to U.S.-Middle East Relations, Sununu says
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu said Thursday that the United States must strengthen its trade and investment policies with Egypt so the country can reinforce its position as an economic leader in the Middle East and help confront current crises in the region.
Sununu—who spoke at a conference on Egyptian-American relations sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine—said Egypt has vast economic potential that can be exploited in the near future if the country works to maintain its leadership position in the region and move beyond the status quo.
Stabilizing the Middle East by removing the threat Iraq poses to neighboring countries is also essential to Egypt’s economic growth, Sununu—the Senate’s only Arab-American member—said. The stabilization of the region’s political and economic environment would instill confidence and certainty in potential foreign investors, including those from the United States, he added.
“I think the long-term goal of the [Bush] administration is to create greater stability by eliminating the political and military pressures that are created by a country that—at least in the past decade—has been willing to invade neighbors and develop weapons of mass destruction,” Sununu said.
Certain other fundamentals need to be in place, however, before foreign investment can increase in Egypt, Sununu said.
“I believe very strongly that the fundamental drivers of a long-term pattern of economic growth begin with a respect for private property rights and a clear system for titling those property rights,” Sununu said, citing systems that are currently weak in Egypt. It is imperative that these systems aren’t tainted by institutional corruption, he added.
Calling Sununu’s statements “right on target,” James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute in Washington, said Egypt is the United States’s most strategic asset in the Middle East. Egypt is the largest Arab nation, sits at the pivot of three continents—Africa, Europe and Asia—and controls access to the Suez Canal, Zogby said, making its political and economic stability essential to the stability of the region.
“You simply could not imagine the Middle East without a stable Egypt sitting at the pivot working as an American ally,” Zogby said. “If Egypt were to suffer instability, not only would the Arab world but Northern Africa as well would become destabilized, the Eastern Mediterranean . . . would be destabilized and Southern Europe would also pay the consequences.”
Zogby said, however, that launching a war with Iraq is not the right way to rid the region of political turmoil and would only augment existing hostility toward Western investors.
“I think a containment policy is far more in the interest of that region than a destabilizing war which would not only dramatically affect . . . the price of oil but would make the region much less hospitable to American businesses than it currently is,” Zogby said
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Bass Opposes Oil Drilling in Alaskan Refuge
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Rep. Charles Bass and 10 other House Republicans have expressed opposition to oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in a letter sent to House Budget Committee chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa).
Nussle will review President Bush’s proposed fiscal year 2004 budget, submitted to Congress Monday, which assumes revenue from oil drilling leases in part of the refuge, an area Congress has protected from oil and natural gas exploration or production since 1980.
The letter, sent Friday stated that the inclusion of language related to ANWR would “create unnecessary controversy when the budget is considered by the full House” and that the “best vehicle for such debate is as part of a larger energy bill, or stand-alone legislation, but not the budget resolution.”
“Repealing these protections is opposed by millions of Americans, Republicans and Democrats alike,” the letter stated.
“The Congress made a decision legislatively some 30 years ago that . . . determined that one part of [northern Alaska’s] North Slope would be used for oil and gas exploration and development and the other part would be preserved,” Bass—who has a history of supporting pro-environment legislation--said in an interview Wednesday. “Now that the resources are running out in the area that was delayed 25 or 30 years ago, they want to change the game, so to speak, and I just don’t think that that’s legitimate or supportable.”
The letter was sent, Bass said, because I don’t think the Budget Committee should create revenues from a source that is this controversial and has had as difficult a time passing in Congress as this particular issue has.”
Bass said he signed a similar letter to the Budget Committee chairman last year, when he was a senior member of the committee, opposing language related to ANWR in the fiscal year 2003 budget. He no longer serves on the committee.
“It was not included in the budget last year, so I hope the same thing will occur this year,” Bass said.
Catherine Corkery, a spokesperson for the Sierra Club’s New Hampshire Chapter, praised Bass Tuesday for his stand to protect wilderness areas around the country and called the signing of the letter “very exciting.”
“We have always supported Charlie Bass on his stand to protect the wild places, the special places in America, and the Arctic Refuge is one of those that we have supported him on on a number of occasions,” Corkery said. “It is one of the biggest issues for us in New Hampshire . . . and it’s really exciting to hear that he signed this letter.”
Because of the vast wilderness areas in the state, including the White Mountain National Forest, the people of New Hampshire understand the importance of protecting wilderness, including ANWR, even though many have never been there, Corkery said.
New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu said Tuesday that the majority of members in the House and Senate support oil production in some limited portion of northern Alaska “in order to help reduce our dependence on oil importation from the Middle East.” If drilling is allowed, Sununu said, it would affect the revenue the federal government collects and should therefore be accounted for in the budget.
“We’ll just wait and see what the Budget Committee wants to do, how they want to approach it, but if it’s not included in the budget I imagine we’ll take it up in legislation that’s brought out by the Energy Committee later this year,” Sununu said.
New Hampshire Rep. Jeb Bradley said Tuesday that he hopes Congress is able to preserve ANWR, but added that considering the country’s uncertain future and the possibility of war with Iraq, it is necessary to increase domestic production of oil.
“I’ve not supported drilling in ANWR at this point in time, although I also am not willing to say that we should never drill in ANWR at some point in time in the future given the uncertainty of the [current] international situation,” Bradley said.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
NH Delegation Calls Powell’s UN Presentation “Extraordinary, Powerful”
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire’s Republican congressional delegation said Wednesday that Secretary of State Colin Powell made a powerful and convincing presentation to the United Nations Security Council regarding Iraq’s unwillingness to disarm.
Powell presented U.S. and foreign intelligence gathered over the past several months, including satellite photographs, intercepted telephone conversations and first hand accounts that he said proves Iraq has not been destroying but concealing weapons of mass destruction.
“Everything we have seen and heard indicates that, instead of cooperating actively with inspectors to ensure their mission, [Iraqi leader] Saddam Hussein and his regime are busy doing all they possibly can to ensure that inspectors succeed in finding absolutely nothing,” Powell said in his presentation Wednesday.
New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu called Powell’s address a “very powerful one” and said the most startling aspect of the information released during the presentation was its “sheer volume,” which he said demonstrated not an “oversight but a deliberate pattern of obstruction to prevent the world from finding out about” Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.
Sununu—who said he and several other senators joined President Bush for lunch at the White House following Powell’s presentation—said “the administration would like to see the Security Council act effectively [and] an additional Security Council resolution would be welcome, but it is not a prerequisite to disarming Saddam Hussein with our coalition partners.”
The United States will work with its allies, Sununu said, to determine whether or not a second Security Council resolution will be issued or whether the council will endorse action to enforce Resolution 1441, which it approved last fall. The resolution gave Iraq a last chance to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors and disarm its weapons of mass destruction or face serious consequences.
“If the Security Council is not willing to enforce their own resolutions then they’re nothing but a debate society,” Sununu said. “[The Security Council] will be given time to take up this question but I believe the president’s exact words this afternoon at our lunch were that this is a matter of weeks not a matter of months that they have to take action and to make clear that they’re willing to enforce their own resolutions.”
New Hampshire Rep. Charlie Bass, who previously served on the House Intelligence Committee, said the committee was briefed regularly on Iraq’s “stockpiles” of weapons and said he has never doubted the country’s violations of many U. N. sanctions.
“I think Secretary Powell produced a broad and convincing justification for alleging that Iraq has not complied with the U.N. resolution that was passed last year,” Bass said. He added that Powell’s presentation “absolutely” bolstered the president’s case for forcefully disarming Iraq.
Sen. Judd Gregg in a statement said Powell “made the case clearly, decisively and incontrovertibly that Saddam Hussein is not only a threat to us, but a threat to the world, and something has to be done about it.”
“I hope the U.N. will step up [to] the plate now, but if they don’t, we have to defend the security of our nation. There is a significant coalition that agrees with us and we need to move forward,” said Gregg
New Hampshire Rep. Jeb Bradley said in a statement that he “supports allowing weapons inspectors to continue their efforts.” He continued, “However, my concerns about the massive amounts of chemical and biological weapons that remain unaccounted for as well as the lack of cooperation and outright deception by the Iraqi regime have been greatly amplified” by Powell’s presentation.
Bradley said the presentation bolstered the president’s case against Iraq and showed the world how the “cat and mouse game Hussein has been playing with weapons inspectors for years” works.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Proposed Budget is “Responsible, Appropriate,” Gregg says
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu called President Bush’s proposed 2004 budget responsible and appropriate considering the economic downturn and possibility of war, but Gregg said he wanted to see the country return to budget surpluses.
Gregg, who made the statement Monday at a Senate Budget Committee meeting, said the budget illustrated the president’s “strong commitment” to national defense, education, health care and fighting terrorism.
"During a time of war and extreme economic slowdown, this is an extremely responsible budget,” Gregg said. “I think it is a good budget; it's a difficult budget because it is in deficit, and I want to see us move back to a budget with a surplus.”
Gregg also said proposed tax cuts are necessary to generate productivity that will stimulate the economy.
“[The president] has recognized the fact that, to get the economy going, we are going to have to do something on the economic side, including cutting taxes so that we can create more of an incentive to create an atmosphere of productivity,” Gregg said.
The president’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2004, submitted to Congress Monday, totaled $2.2 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2003. The budget also predicts that the deficit would represent 2.7 percent of the gross domestic product. The proposed budget would allocate $380 billion for the nation’s military, $41 billion for homeland security, $53.1 billion for education and $89 billion for health care.
Sununu echoed Gregg’s approval of the budget and said that while it will increase the deficit, the president’s proposal still attempts to manage deficit growth and revitalize the economy.
“As the president said [in his State of the Union address], the federal budget shouldn’t increase any faster than the average paycheck,” Sununu said Tuesday. “So I think he’s on the right track in controlling the growth of spending.”
Sununu praised aspects of Bush’s plan, such as his program to provide incentives to small businesses, which Sununu said would specifically affect New Hampshire residents.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
New House, Senate Offices Bring New Hampshire Faces to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A new session of Congress is in full swing and that means New Hampshire freshman Rep. Jeb Bradley and John Sununu, who has moved from the House to the Senate, are putting together new staffs including a number of Granite State natives.
Sununu served as a U.S. representative for six years and Bradley is a former state legislator so both men have some experience in putting together a political office. Both congressmen said one of the most important qualities they wanted staffers to possess is adequate knowledge of New Hampshire and an understanding of the issues facing the state.
Sununu, who brought many aides with him from his office on the House side, said he wanted his staff members to have the strengths he looked for in employees when he was in the private sector working in New Hampshire hi-tech and manufacturing companies.
“You look for the best people with the broadest range of skills, people with an ability to learn on the job and to learn quickly,” Sununu said. “You have to deal with a very wide variety of issues, so there has to be some real flexibility on the part of the legislative staff to be dealing with a business or commerce issue in the morning and then be working on a judicial issue or a tax issue in the afternoon, so there’s a real flexibility and dexterity required as well.”
A number of Sununu’s legislative staff members should make a seamless transition from the House to the Senate, Sununu said, as many of them have developed expertise in the areas of legislation most important to the senator.
Some of Sununu’s top aides include New Hampshire natives Paul Collins, his chief of staff who will earn an annual salary of $135,000 per year; and Communications Director Barbara Riley, earning $56,000 per year. Unlike Riley and Collins, Legislative Director Gregg Willhauck, who will earn $90,000 per year, was not on Sununu’s House staff and is not from New Hampshire.
While a House member’s staff is considerably smaller than a senator’s, Bradley’s said his criteria and expectations for selecting his staff have helped him to put together a talented group of individuals dedicated to working for his constituents.
“Even though I’m now a congressman in Washington, I wanted a vast majority of the staff to have firsthand working knowledge of New Hampshire, of the congressional district, of some of the unique issues that people in New Hampshire face,” Bradley said. “So, with the exception of just one person, all of the staff has a lot of New Hampshire experience.”
Key players for Bradley are Chief of Staff Debra Vanderbeek, who will earn $120,000 this year, and Press Secretary T.J. Crawford, who will earn $38,500. Both are from New Hampshire. Michael Liles, a Massachusetts native, holds one of the top positions in the office as Bradley’s Legislative Director, earning $60,000 per year.
Bradley insists, however, that no one person in his office—including himself—is more important than another. “I think we all work together as a team. I’m consulted every once in a while to make sure I’m in the loop,” Bradley joked.
Like Sununu, Bradley said he selected team players who are willing to put in long hours.
“Every one of the fourteen people we’ve hired is a tremendously hard worker,” Bradley said. “A lot of them proved it during the campaign and they’ve all come with a willingness to put in the hours that are necessary for all of us together collectively to serve New Hampshire and serve the people in New Hampshire.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Iraq Failed to Comply With Resolution, State Dept. says
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg joined other members of Congress at a press conference Wednesday to rally support for a bicameral, bipartisan effort to reform Social Security, and Gregg announced plans to introduce such a bill.
Born in 1947, Gregg said he and other “baby boomers”—who will begin retiring as early as 2008—will force Social Security to run a cash flow deficit by the year 2017 because of the generation’s size.
“The practical effect of this is that my children are going to have to use up their disposable income in order to support my generation, and that’s wrong,” Gregg said. “Both in the health care area and in the Social Security area our generation is going to take such a large chunk of money out of our children’s pockets that they’re going to have trouble living a decent lifestyle . . . , and that’s unfair to that generation.”
Instead of raising taxes or cutting benefits, Gregg said House and Senate leaders must start now “to give young people the opportunity to save and own the assets which they save” – a provision that does not exist under the current Social Security system.
While Gregg did not disclose specific provisions of the bill, he said he was looking for Senate Democrats to join him in introducing it. Gregg also said the bill “will play off” the work he has done with Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas). The four were co-chairmen of the National Commission on Retirement Policy.
“We need responsible voices on both sides now on this issue if we’re going to move forward, because we can only move forward in a bipartisan way,” Gregg said. “I think it’s one of the great success stories of our society that we have a way for people to retire with dignity and respect.”
Sununu said congressional supporters of the reform effort recognize the difficulty of the issue, but added, “We cannot take that approach.”
“As the president said last night, we can’t leave this challenge or any other challenge that’s so important to a future generation or a future Congress, or future presidents,” Sununu said. “We have to throw ourselves into it and do our best to begin the debate, to begin working on legislation to make a difference to future generations and strengthen and modernize social security.”
Along with Kolbe and Stenholm, the New Hampshire senators also were joined by Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Allan Boyd (D-Fla.) and Sam Johnson (R-Texas).
“It’s exciting to be able to stand up here with a pretty goodsized group,” Sununu said. “We’re gathering and we’re gaining momentum, and it’s great to see that this is still a priority for the president of the United States,” he said, referring to Bush’s comments on Social Security in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The president devoted two sentences of his 5,413-word speech to the issue of Social Security—a 100 percent increase from last year’s address, Stenholm joked—saying the government must keep Social Security “sound and reliable,” as well as “offer younger workers the chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.”
Sununu and Gregg agreed that Social Security reform would have a positive effect on all Americans, including New Hampshire citizens, and added that any new legislation would not adversely affect current retirees.
“I think the people in New Hampshire understand the importance of Social Security modernization and health care modernization,” Sununu said. “I also think most voters understand we’re not talking about changing the program for retirees.”
Evelyn Morton, a senior legislative representative for AARP, said she agreed with the congressmen’s goal of achieving Social Security reform through bipartisan leadership.
“The American people recognize that it’s so important, it’s the only lifetime, annually-adjusted-for-inflation program that they have,” Morton said in a telephone interview.
“AARP believes that we’ve got to have investment as an important component in retirement security, but we’ve got to have a package that also has the approval of the American people.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Sununu, Gregg Rally Support for Social Security Reform
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sens. John Sununu and Judd Gregg joined other members of Congress at a press conference Wednesday to rally support for a bicameral, bipartisan effort to reform Social Security, and Gregg announced plans to introduce such a bill.
Born in 1947, Gregg said he and other “baby boomers”—who will begin retiring as early as 2008—will force Social Security to run a cash flow deficit by the year 2017 because of the generation’s size.
“The practical effect of this is that my children are going to have to use up their disposable income in order to support my generation, and that’s wrong,” Gregg said. “Both in the health care area and in the Social Security area our generation is going to take such a large chunk of money out of our children’s pockets that they’re going to have trouble living a decent lifestyle . . . , and that’s unfair to that generation.”
Instead of raising taxes or cutting benefits, Gregg said House and Senate leaders must start now “to give young people the opportunity to save and own the assets which they save” – a provision that does not exist under the current Social Security system.
While Gregg did not disclose specific provisions of the bill, he said he was looking for Senate Democrats to join him in introducing it. Gregg also said the bill “will play off” the work he has done with Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Charles Stenholm (D-Texas). The four were co-chairmen of the National Commission on Retirement Policy.
“We need responsible voices on both sides now on this issue if we’re going to move forward, because we can only move forward in a bipartisan way,” Gregg said. “I think it’s one of the great success stories of our society that we have a way for people to retire with dignity and respect.”
Sununu said congressional supporters of the reform effort recognize the difficulty of the issue, but added, “We cannot take that approach.”
“As the president said last night, we can’t leave this challenge or any other challenge that’s so important to a future generation or a future Congress, or future presidents,” Sununu said. “We have to throw ourselves into it and do our best to begin the debate, to begin working on legislation to make a difference to future generations and strengthen and modernize social security.”
Along with Kolbe and Stenholm, the New Hampshire senators also were joined by Sens. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Reps. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Allan Boyd (D-Fla.) and Sam Johnson (R-Texas).
“It’s exciting to be able to stand up here with a pretty goodsized group,” Sununu said. “We’re gathering and we’re gaining momentum, and it’s great to see that this is still a priority for the president of the United States,” he said, referring to Bush’s comments on Social Security in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.
The president devoted two sentences of his 5,413-word speech to the issue of Social Security—a 100 percent increase from last year’s address, Stenholm joked—saying the government must keep Social Security “sound and reliable,” as well as “offer younger workers the chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.”
Sununu and Gregg agreed that Social Security reform would have a positive effect on all Americans, including New Hampshire citizens, and added that any new legislation would not adversely affect current retirees.
“I think the people in New Hampshire understand the importance of Social Security modernization and health care modernization,” Sununu said. “I also think most voters understand we’re not talking about changing the program for retirees.”
Evelyn Morton, a senior legislative representative for AARP, said she agreed with the congressmen’s goal of achieving Social Security reform through bipartisan leadership.
“The American people recognize that it’s so important, it’s the only lifetime, annually-adjusted-for-inflation program that they have,” Morton said in a telephone interview.
“AARP believes that we’ve got to have investment as an important component in retirement security, but we’ve got to have a package that also has the approval of the American people.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
N.H. Delegation Praises Bush’s State of the Union Address
WASHINGTON, DC—The New Hampshire congressional delegation praised the “clear and decisive leadership” and “bold” policy initiatives outlined by President Bush in his State of the Union address last night, in which he suggested the United States might be willing to act unilaterally to disarm Iraq.
“The course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others,” Bush said. “Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.”
Calling the president’s address “strong,” “definitive and direct,” Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) echoed the president’s sentiment that the country cannot “turn over our own national security and our need to protect ourselves to somebody else.
“The bottom line is that we’re the ones that are at risk, we’re the ones that have been attacked,” Gregg said. “France wasn’t attacked, Germany wasn’t attacked, New York City was attacked.”
Senator John Sununu (R-N.H.) agreed with the President that there is a “need for a determined effort to confront the threat posed by Iraq, North Korea and other rogue nations.”
“For 12 years, Saddam Hussein has violated (the) commitment made at the close (of) the Gulf War,” Sununu said in a statement on the president’s speech. “Now he has failed to cooperate with the United Nations inspections, failed to disclose chemical weapon munitions and restricted access to Iraqi weapons scientists.”
Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) said he is confident the United States will receive international backing if the president decides to invade Iraq.
“We won’t end up going in unilaterally,” Bass said. “We can’t wait for other nations. We have to lead. That’s our role now. When [other nations] understand what we are going to do, it will be a coalition.”
Accusing Hussein of playing “cat and mouse” with inspectors since the end of the Gulf War, Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.) said the report issued by United Nations weapons inspectors yesterday “bolstered the President’s case against Saddam Hussein.”
“It has been proven in the past few days that very real threats to our safety still exist,” Bradley said in a statement last night. “President Bush showed tonight he is resolute in protecting the safety of all Americans and will not accept a serious and continuing threat to our country.”
The president also received praise from the members of the New Hampshire delegation for several domestic policy goals outlined in the speech, including tax cuts, affordable health care and energy independence. Bush also announced an initiative to send billions of dollars to Africa to deal with the continent’s ever-increasing AIDS epidemic.
“The initiative to deal with the global AIDS crisis came as a surprise to a lot of lawmakers,” Sununu said. “I think the president was quite a bit bolder than Democrats or Republicans might have been expecting.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
