Kuster: Divided Government Brings 'Bipartisan Solutions'

U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-NH, met with business leaders on April 30, discussing her first four months in office representing New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District.

Kuster opened her talk discussion the Boston Marathon bombing incident and how Granite Staters feel connected to the city and to the race. She spoke about Jeff Bauman’s timely assistance in helping break the case, by writing down information about the bombers after he awoke from his injuries. Kuster said she knew the story to be true since she was briefed by the FBI and they said Bauman's information helped them to positively ID the bombing suspects.

Kuster said, as a representative, she was taking a cue from the first responders who heroically rushed toward the bomb blasts to help others.

“That’s my model right now for what to do in a crisis,” she said. “Pull together … work together.”

Congress, she said, is at its most dysfunctional moment, with the polarizing political parties pulling the nation apart and not doing its job.

Kuster said people out in the real world, including small businesses and working families, were doing the same thing as the first responders. She said most people “weren’t asking for too much” and wanted the government to be part of the solution, not a part of the problem, not be a drag on the economy.

“People out there, doing the job, every day, getting the job done,” she said.

Kuster said the sequestration was a good example of government being a part of the problem, just cutting “willy-nilly,” without actually analyzing the situation. She said no one in business would randomly cut things like that; there would be an overview of how the business was running, what the healthcare costs were, and other issues, before making any business decisions.

She also praised the new freshman class, 85 representatives, elected in 2012, both Democrats and Republicans, as “extraordinary” and were trying to improve the Congress.

“It’s the most diverse group of people to ever come to Washington,” Kuster said.

Kuster said while there are divergence and divisive groups, she was working to put the volatile issues away from representatives and find common ground around specific issues, like the No Budget, No Pay Act, and other bills. She added that she was part of the “United Solutions Caucus,” both Democrats and Republicans, who were trying to tackle the budget in a way that they could agree together.

The leaders, who have been talking together, went through a list of proposals, like cutting spending and balancing the budget “in a responsible, reasonable way,” as well as ending waste and duplication, in order to make government more efficient. Other programs include tax subsidies that the country “can no longer afford” as well as deregulation of small business and the need to educate a skill, 21st century workforce, she said.

“There’s actually more common ground than you would think,” Kuster said. “I didn’t know it would be such a radical approach, to actually have people talking together.”