Torrington Telegram - Lummis Campaigns in Goshen County

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Torrington Telegram - Lummis Campaigns in Goshen County

Last Friday, Cynthia Lummis spoke to the Goshen County Republican Women in Lingle and to the Telegram to answer questions about her candidacy for Wyoming's sole U.S. House seat.

Lummis, along with Casper doctor John Barrasso and Cheyenne attorney Tom Sansonetti, was a finalist for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant after the death of Sen. Craig Thomas last June. Gov. Dave Freudenthal selected Barrasso to fill the seat until voters select Thomas' successor in the November election.

Before deciding to run for the House, Lummis had considered challenging Barrasso for the Senate seat.

"I am very impressed with Sen. Barrasso," Lummis said. "He developed a quick grasp of the issues and established himself in the U.S. Senate. I am pleased with the way he has conducted himself. In November I met with my husband and daughter and decided to run for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Congresswoman Barbara Cubin."

Other Republicans competing for the Wyoming U.S. House seat are Buffalo-area rancher Mark Gordon and retired Navy officer Bill Winney. Gary Trauner, a Teton County businessman, is the sole Democrat running for Cubin's seat. In the 2006 election, Trauner lost to Cubin by just over 1,000 votes.

According to Lummis, she has two primary focus areas in her campaign: fiscal and economic responsibility and energy independence.

"I am a big proponent of states and their ability to innovate and lead," Lummis said. "I served in the Wyoming Legislature, governor's office and as state treasurer. I saw what states are capable of. I am writing for the World Bank to help sovereign wealth funds invest their money - like investment from the Wyoming permanent mineral trust fund."

According to Lummis, there are three sovereign wealth funds in North America: Alaska, Wyoming and Alberta, Canada. Last month, she attended a meeting in London to discuss ways in which excess wealth from the funds could be invested that would most benefit the people involved.

"This is one example of how Wyoming is in the position to lead and innovate," Lummis said.

Former Wyoming Gov. Stan Hathaway was the "father" of the Wyoming mineral trust fund, according to Lummis. The mineral trust fund changes oil, gas and coal resources into interest income from state investments. Interest from the fund is the largest source of income for the Wyoming general fund, which pays for health programs, education, corrections facilities and many others. Lummis said Wyoming's use of the mineral trust fund could serve as a model for what Congress needs to do to decrease the country's budget deficit.

"The U.S. is the largest debtor nation in the world," Lummis said. "This is entirely unacceptable. We need to decrease spending, take a hard line on entitlement programs and save and invest. The U.S. collects $12 billion per year in federal mineral royalties that goes to the treasury and is spent. We are spending a depletable resource. Using the Wyoming model, we need to take a portion of this depletable reserve and turn it into a renewable resource through income from interest and investment.

"I have confidence in the states' abilities to be great problem solvers," Lummis said.

The other major concern of the Lummis campaign is energy.

"It will take every source of energy to move away from foreign oil," Lummis said. "This includes domestic oil, coal, gas, wind, solar, bio-mass, uranium and conservation innovations from the minds of enlightened individuals. Wyoming is the source of some of the great innovators in this nation."

Lummis said energy independence is the solution to the country's economic, environmental and national security problems. She said Americans are "ready for an alternative to the same old system," and that coal is a good source of domestic energy available in substantial quantities. However, she noted that the "most important thing we can do" is reduce coal's carbon footprint.

Lummis said she is running for the U.S. House seat for several reasons.

"I have spent my entire adult life around Wyoming leaders, in Wyoming businesses and involved in state government," Lummis said. "I know how to legislate and build legislative coalitions around ideas. These important skills served Sen. Enzi well, Sen. Thomas well and they will serve me well. I am a Wyoming rancher, a UW grad and my husband and I practice law in Wyoming. I have ‘boots on the ground' experience with Wyoming's three main industries: energy, tourism and agriculture. My legislative experience gives me a ‘leg up.' I have lived here all of my life. To the extent that anyone can know what makes Wyoming tick, I do. A lot of things make it tick. For 53 years, I have been a very good listener."

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