By Keene Sentinel Editorial Board | October 27, 2022
It’s been a decade since Ann McLane Kuster defeated Charlie Bass for the House seat in New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. Though Bass had served the district well, we pictured Kuster as a congresswoman who would be open to compromise but be willing to fight for those who most lack a voice in Washington — something much-needed at the time.
Five terms later, that picture is more dire than ever, and the need for a representative like Kuster all the more evident.
Kuster’s effectiveness became evident early on when it became apparent the Affordable Care Act, while a boon to many lacking health-care access, needed fixing. She worked to get that done while others shouted for its repeal and replacement. She also founded the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic and has battled to see that New Hampshire gets its share of aid in the opioid crisis.
A member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, she worked for the Veterans Choice Program, which allows vets to access care outside the VA system. She’s also pushed to improve broadband access in rural areas, including working to get the FCC to more accurately assess what constitutes “adequate” service.
Kuster has been a mainstay in fighting for women’s reproductive rights and a backer of Roe v. Wade. She’s fought for the elderly, including sponsoring a bill calling for all necessary vaccinations to be free for seniors, and pushed for Medicare to be able to negotiate drug prices, a move that will drive down costs for all.
She supports measures to keep guns out of the hands of domestic abusers, and would back efforts to ban or limit sales of military-style weapons.
And she’s been active in securing federal funding for projects across the region, from Peterborough’s water main replacement to expanding access to digital technology in the classroom to a $12 million federal grant for the long-awaited project to build a new bridge over the Connecticut River between Hinsdale and Brattleboro.
To oppose her in this election, Republican voters chose Bob Burns, a Bedford businessman and Free State enthusiast who once served as Hillsborough County treasurer.
Part of the Trump team in 2016, Burns remains devoted to the former president and the grand conspiracy Trump and his fans have constructed regarding that vote and the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Asked about the insurrection, Burns quickly shifted into a diatribe about the Justice Department confiscating cellphones and looking into bank records. That such measures are reasonably part of an investigation into how organized the attack on the Capitol was and by whom seems irrelevant to those seeking to distract from one of the nation’s ugliest incidents.
In an interview with The Sentinel’s editorial board, Burns proved thoughtful and informed in some interesting areas, including citing China as the biggest threat to the United States — both for its ability to poach American manufacturing jobs and its stranglehold on key industries’ supply chains. He also noted that nation’s detrimental effects on the environment — though as a precursor to making an argument against U.S. measures to curb greenhouse gases.
He would, if elected, work to dismantle the Department of Education and the IRS, is among those who claim public health mandates are a constitutional affront, and he adheres to the cynically hyped narrative of Critical Race Theory being taught to students. His stance on women’s reproductive rights is extreme, offering no exceptions to abortion bans for the health of the woman or child, or in cases of rape or incest.
In short, he would be a big step backward from the representation Granite Staters have been receiving and deserve.
Ann Kuster is the clear choice Nov. 8.
— The Sentinel editorial board