NORWICH – Three months into the job as freshman Congressman representing New York in the nation’s capital, 24th District Representative Richard L. Hanna seems thus far unaffected.
In fact, he came alone and drove himself to meetings with business leaders in Chenango County yesterday.
“They have work to do,” he said, referring to his staff in Auburn near where he lives and at his Washington, DC office.
He said the work he’s doing at the federal level is all about creating an environment where businesses can grow and create jobs.
Hanna met with City of Norwich officials, industrial development representatives, nonprofit leaders and a number of local business executives at Commerce Chenango in the Eaton Center, and later toured the Northeast Classic Car Museum in Norwich.
He updated the group on local subjects, including:
Unison Industries – Hanna visited the plant earlier this year and voted to support on the House floor its manufacturing of parts for GE’s F-136 engine. His vote, however, was not enough to save the project, and funding now rests in the hands of the Senate. The Congressman said he was “surprised” that some of his New York colleagues “didn’t understand that competition between two companies’ engine projects made economic sense.” (Pratt and Whitney is also manufacturing a jet engine for Lockheed Martin’s F35 Joint Strike Fighter.)
Flood Insurance – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in the process of redrawing federal flood insurance maps across the country. Hanna co-sponsored H.R. 700, the Flood plain Maps Moratorium act to ensure there is a five-year delay in the mandatory purchase requirement of insurance for homes in the new maps.
Route 12 Corridor – Hanna discussed being a member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, which is drafting a new six-year surface transportation reauthorization. The bill will make certain that federal dollars are spent toward modernizing older road projects and improving access, such as the Route 12 corridor.
The Congressman spoke about steps he’s taken to since being sworn in to ease regulation on businesses, including the first bill he co-sponsored: Repealing the onerous 1099 provision in the health care law that forced small business to report to the IRS any purchases over $600.
“I joined the House Small Business Committee to focus on the backbone of America – our small businesses,” Hanna said. “We don’t do well as a nation unless businesses like those in Norwich and all over this nation excel.”
The Republican’s voting record reveals an independent stance. Of those measures before him thus far, he said he could not support defunding NPR, nor Planned Parenthood, and did not vote to support the Patriot Act.
On the subject of natural gas development in New York, he said he would not support the so-called FRAC Act that would give the federal Environmental Protection Agency oversight of drilling in New York and take away that authority from New York. He acknowledges the need for further scientific advancements in hydraulic fracturing technology, however.
“I find myself a little bit of a disappointment to people because I think natural gas drilling is an ongoing conversation. There have been problems, but it’s unrealistic to think we won’t use that asset (the Marcellus Shale). Who are we trying to kid?” he asked.
“So many people are angry they try to fit their positions on a bumper sticker, but most things are more complicated than that,” he said.