Interview with New Hampshire Senator John Sununu

- September 2008

Interview with New Hampshire Senator John Sununu

New Hampshire’s John E. Sununu is running for a second term in the United States Senate. Sununu’s path to the Senate was a difficult one: running for the first time in 2002, the then-First District Congressman successfully challenged a 12-year veteran GOP Senator for his party’s nomination, and defeated a three-term Democratic governor in the November general election by fewer than 20,000 votes having been outspent by over $2 million.

A mechanical engineer by profession, Senator Sununu is the youngest member of the Senate. Serving on the Finance, Commerce, Homeland Security, and Joint Economic Committees, Senator Sununu was rated by Time magazine as one of the “Top Five Rising Stars in the Senate”.

WDPAC recently sat down with Senator Sununu to discuss the issues of the 2006 campaign of particular importance to wholesaler-distributors in New Hampshire and across the country.

Q: Sen. Sununu, you’ve served in the United States Senate for nearly six years. What stands out as your proudest achievement during that time?

In my first term in the Senate, I have written and passed legislation that protects Americans from taxes on Internet access and services, preserves the White Mountain National Forest, and safeguards civil liberties under the PATRIOT Act. These bills are of real importance to New Hampshire’s priorities: small business growth, environmental protection and personal freedom. I am equally proud to provide everyone in New Hampshire with the best constituent service possible.

Q: Many of the tax policies enacted in 2001 and 2003 are temporary. Among those set to expire at the end of this decade include repeal of the death tax, marginal income tax rate reductions, and the reduced tax rates on capital gains and dividends. Should these policies be allowed to expire or should they be made permanent?

These tax cuts should be made permanent, to ensure that they continue to encourage investment, productivity, and long-term economic growth. Raising taxes on small businesses and the American people would slow the economy, discourage investment, and hurt the very firms that are the major source of new job creation in America.

Q: One tax issue of particular importance to many wholesaler-distributors revolves around the last-in-first-out (LIFO) method of accounting. It appears that LIFO repeal now ranks high on a list of potential revenue raisers. Will you now commit to vote to preserve LIFO?

Congress should not pass legislation banning a legitimate accounting method simply to raise revenues.

Q: Where do you stand on proposals to increase of eliminate the earnings tax cap as an approach to shoring-up the solvency of Social Security?

I have been a leader in pushing for Social Security reform that will ensure its long-term solvency. I have opposed proposals to increase Social Security taxes, and supported the creation of voluntary private investment accounts, which would generate greater income growth than currently provided. Repealing the earnings cap and raising taxes will undermine support for the entire program and cause harm to our economy.

Q: There is no more important issue to wholesaler-distributors than “card check.” In this Congress you voted against the so-called “Employee Free Choice Act” which proposes to eliminate the secret ballot in union organizing elections. If you are re-elected will you continue to oppose this issue and vote against the card check bill if it comes before the Senate?

The concept of a secret ballot is central to America’s democracy as a basic sense of privacy and fair play. The “Employee Free Choice Act” would force workers to stand up and declare their vote in front of both union officers and employers – subjecting them to potential intimidation and coercion by both. I will adamantly oppose such legislation and continue to insist on a worker’s right to a secret ballot.

Q: Health insurance costs are a leading concern of large and small employers and health care reform seems likely to be a leading issue for the coming 111th Congress and the new administration. Reformers appear to fall into three broad “camps:” those who favor incremental changes; those who want to reduce the influence of government policy on private health insure programs; and those who favor a greater federal role. What are you thoughts?

Congress should allow small businesses to band together to purchase health insurance at more competitive rates, provide full tax deductibility for health insurance premiums paid by individuals, and expand access to Health Savings Accounts. These reforms will help small businesses provide coverage to more employees, reduce costs for individuals, and reduce the number of Americans without health care coverage.

Q: What if anything can and should the federal government do to provide immediate relief from skyrocketing gasoline prices? And with a longer view in mind, what is your prescription for enhancing the nation’s energy security and ensuring a sustainable, stable, and affordable energy supply?

America needs a balanced approach to comprehensive energy reform that focuses on conservation, invests in renewable, alternative energy sources, and increases domestic production of oil and gas by lifting the ban on offshore drilling. Reducing our dependence on foreign oil imports by tapping new energy sources – in combination with conservation, will help balance supply and demand, lowering energy prices today, and keeping them lower in the future.

Q: Are there any closing thoughts you’d like to offer as to why the voters of New Hampshire should give you a new six year term in the U.S. Senate?

Over the past six years, I have provided New Hampshire residents with independent leadership on issues that matter most to them – pushing for a balanced, long-term energy policy, fighting to keep taxes low for families and small businesses, protecting our environment and working to make health care more accessible and affordable. I listen to good ideas wherever they come from, and have successfully reached across the aisle on major legislation including the Internet Tax Freedom Acts, the New England Wilderness Acts, and the PATRIOT Act Amendments. I will continue to give New Hampshire a strong, clear voice in the United States Senate.

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