Fosters.com - Shaheen Stumps at Pike Promotes Protecting Jobs

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By: Charled McMahon

With one push of a button, U.S. Senate candidate Jeanne Shaheen filled a dump truck full of 22 tons of hot mix asphalt to be used on roadwork for Route 1A and reaffirmed her position on protecting jobs and Granite State roadways during a tour of Pike Industries on Monday.

The former governor, along with her daughter Molly, took some time to not only tour the Peverly Hill Road facility and meet with several employees, but also got a chance to speak about the differences between her and opponent Sen. John Sununu.

"We can create jobs here in New Hampshire by investing in our infrastructure and ensuring that New Hampshire gets its share of federal highway funding," Shaheen said. "But we need a senator who will fight for the resources we need instead of standing with George Bush to allow New Hampshire families to pay more into the fund than they are getting back. As governor, I invested in the development of our infrastructure to create jobs in New Hampshire and I will take that same fight to the US Senate because we need a new direction."

Shaheen focused on the need to create more funding for the national Highway Trust Fund, which she said is dangerously close to going broke and jeopardizing millions of dollars in state projects as well as thousands of state jobs.

Under Bush and Sununu, state residents have been paying more into the Federal Highway Trust Fund than they have been getting back, said Shaheen, and Sununu has repeatedly stood with the Bush Administration against funding the national Highway Trust Fund, jeopardizing $52 million in New Hampshire projects and nearly 2,000 New Hampshire jobs.

Some of those projects include construction on the aging Memorial Bridge and work on I-93 and the Manchester airport access road.
After meeting with a handful of employees and asking them their concerns, Shaheen also addressed the issue of health care and its effect on the working class, as well as business owners.

Derrick Hill, New Hampshire Regional Manager for Pike, said that every year the burden of providing affordable and good health care takes its toll on the company as well as its employees.

Hill said that every year Pike sees a 15 to 20 percent cost increase for health care and it's beginning to create difficult situations for workers statewide.

Shaheen said action will need to be taken at the national level to ensure that the cost goes down and access becomes more widespread. She also said she would work to reinstitute the sale of prescription drugs from Canada as well.

"The biggest driver is the cost of prescription drugs," she said.

Following her meeting with Pike employees, Shaheen said she's looking forward to the November election and believes that working toward promoting a healthy economy will be her number one goal if elected.

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