FOR THE SECOND CONGRESSIONAL
DISTRICT.
GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE.
WELCOME TO OUR LIVE WMUR GRANITE
STATE DEBATE SERIES FROM THE NEW
HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS.
I'M PICE KATRINACAL DIRECTOR
JOSH MCELVEEN.
TONIGHT WE'LL BE DISCUSSING THE
TOP ISSUES FACING THE GRANITE
STATE AND THE NATIN.
JIM LAWRENCE AND CONGRESSWOMAN
ANNIE KUSTER.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE FORMAT
TONIGHT.
THE RULES OF THE ROAD COME FROM
THE MODERATOR AND OUR PANELISTS.
EACH CANDIDATE WILL HAVE ONE
MINUTE TO RESPOND.
REBUTTALS WILL BE AT THE
MODERATOR'S DISCRETION AND EACH
CANDIDATE HAVE WILL -- WILL HAVE
TIME.
LET'S GET TO KNOW OUR PANELISTS
FOR TONIGHT.
DAN, ADAM AND KASEY.
WITH ALL THAT OUT OF THE WAY,
LET'S GET TO THE FIRST QUESTION.
IT'S DIRECTED TO YOU,
CONGRESSWOMAN KUSTER.
YOU'VE BEEN IN CONGRESS NOW FOR
TWO TERMS AND I'M SURE YOU'RE
AWARE THAT CONGRESS' POPULARITY
IS PRETTY LOW WHEN IT COMES TO
AMERICAN VOTERS.
THEY FEEL THE BEEN INEFFECTIVE
SO FAR.
PERHAPS OVER THE LAST TWO TERMS,
MOST INEFFECTIVE CONGRESS THIS
COUNTRY HAS SEEN.
HOW DO YOU MAKE THE CASE TO
GRANITE STATERS THAT YOU ARE AN
EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATIVE?
CUFT WE'VE HAD, BY THE WAY --
MS. KUSTER: WE'VE HAD, BY THE
WAY, THANK YOU, THE GREAT TO BE
WITH YOU.
THANKS FOR HOSTING US.
WE HAVE HAD GRIDLOCK THE LAST
SEVERAL YEARS.
SPEAKER BOEHNER AND THEN SPEAKER
RYAN HAS HAD A LOT OF TROUBLE
WITH THEIR CAUCUS.
THE FAR RIGHT WING, THE TEA
PARTY PART OF THAT CAUCUS WON'T
LET BILLS COME TO THE FLOOR,
INCLUDING THE IMMIGRATION BILL
THAT'S BIPARTISAN, SUPPORTED BY
BOTH SENATOR AYOTTE AND SENATOR
SHAHEEN.
BUT WHAT I'VE TRIED TO DO IS
BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER ACROSS THE
AISLE.
THE BIGGEST SHOWCASE PIECE OF
THAT HAS BEEN THE WORK THAT I
DID, FOUNDING THE BIPARTISAN
TASK FORCE ON THE HEROIN
EPIDEMIC.
AND I'M SURE WE'LL GET INTO THE
DETAILS.
BUT I'VE WORKED WELL ACROSS THE
AISLE ON VETERANS, ON THE
AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE, AND FOR
NEW HAMPSHIRE, BRINGING FEDERAL
FUNDING FOR A NUMBER OF
IMPORTANT PROJECTS.
JOSH: THANK YOU, MA'AM.
MR. LAWRENCE, ON THE CAMPAIGN
TRAIL YOU'VE TALKED ABOUT YOUR
EXPERIENCE ON BUSINESS.
ON PUBLIC RECORD THERE'S NOT A
WHOLE LOT OF EVIDENCE FOR WHAT
YOU HAVE DONE.
IF YOU COULD, PLEASE, DESCRIBE A
PROJECT OR A CONTRACT THAT
YOU'VE WORKED ON IN THE LAST
YEAR THAT MIGHT BETTER QUALIFY
YOU WITH THAT BUSINESS BROUNLED
AS MEMBER OF CONGRESS --
BACKGROUND AS A MEMBER OF
CONGRESS.
MR. LAWRENCE: THANKS FOR HAVING
ME TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY
TO EXPRESS MY POSITIONS TO THE
VOTERS.
IT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
RECENTLY I PUT A TESTIMONIAL
VIDEO UP ON MY WEBSITE.
IT'S OF A FORMER CUSTOMER THAT I
HAD, THAT I ACTUALLY WORKED ON A
CLASSIFIED SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
THAT WAS DEDICATED TO GETTING
WAR FIGHTERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
THE TOOLS THAT THEY NEEDED TO
FIGHT AND WIN.
HE HAPPENS TO BE A NEW HAMPSHIRE
VOTER.
AND ONE OF THE THING I'M MOST
PROUD OF IS NOT ONLY DOES HE
TALK ABOUT THE GOOD JOB THAT I
DID FOR HIM AND THE ORGANIZATION
AND THE UNITED STATES MILITARY
TO GET OUR WAR FIGHTERS THE
EQUIPMENT THAT THEY NEED, HE
TALKS ABOUT THAT HE'S USING THAT
AS THE BASIS TO SUPPORT ME FOR
MY CANDIDACY FOR CONGRESS.
AND I'M VERY PROUD OF THAT
RECORD.
I MIGHT ADD THAT MY BUSINESS DID
SAVE THE TAXPAYERS MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS, GENERATED MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS OF REVENUE AND CREATED
GOOD PAYING JOBS IN NEW
HAMPSHIRE.
WITH FULL BENEFITS.
JOSH: YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A OB
IN WHICH YOU'LL HAVE
CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE OVER
TAXPAYER DOLLARS.
ACCORDING TO RECORDS, PUBLIC
RECORDS, YOU ARE BEHIND ON
PROPERTY TAX.
WHAT SHOULD VOTERS TAKE FROM
THAT, GIVEN THAT SO MUCH OF YOUR
MESSAGE IS ABOUT FISCAL
RESPONSIBILITY?
MR. LAWRENCE: I THINK THE
VOTERS SHOULD TAKE FROM THAT A
VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE, JUST
LIKE THEY DID TWO YEARS AGO
WHEN REPRESENTIVE KUSTER WAS
FOUND TO BE FIVE YEARS IN
AREARS OF HER PROPERTY TAXES
AND OVER 5DS,000.
THESE PERSONAL DISCUSSIONS
ABOUT CANDIDATES' BACKGROUNDS
ARE A MERE DISTRACTION FROM THE
REAL ISSUES THAT THE VOTERS
SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT.
YES, SOMETIMES WE FALL BEHIND
IN OUR BILLS.
BUT I DO ALWAYS PAY MY TAXES
AND I WILL CONTINUE TO PAY MY
TAXES IN THE FUTURE.
JOSH: CONGRESSWOMAN KUSTER?
MS. KUSTER: I JUST WANT TO SAY,
IT WAS FOUR YEARS AGO AND A
MUCH SMALLER AMOUNT OF MONEY.
I WILL SAY OUR TAXES ARE PAID
IN FULL AND I THINK WHAT THE
VOTERS WANT TO TALK ABOUT ARE
THE ISSUES, BUT THESE ARE
ISSUES OF CHARACTER AND AS TO
THE BUSINESS, I THINK IF YOU
HAVE THAT GREAT BUSINESS
EXPERIENCE, WE OUGHT TO SEE THE
RECORDS AND BE ABLE TO TAKE
THAT INTO CONSIDERATION.
CERTAINLY THE WORK THAT I DID
FOR 25 YEARS AS A WORKING WITH
NEW HAMPSHIRE LEGISLATORS AND
AS AN ADOPTION ATTORNEY WAS
PART OF MY INTERVIEW WITH THE
VOTERS, TO BECOME A MEMBER OF
CONGRESS.
I'M PROUD OF MY RECORD AND
PROUD TO BE HERE TONIGHT TO