One Man's Pork is Another's Man's Dinner

Of all the projects First District Congressman Jeb Bradley has voted on, he's most proud of one of the big ticket items.

The Portsmouth Shipyard will get 28.9 million dollars for a refueling overhaul of the nuclear submarine, the USS Jacksonville.

The Navy was considering retiring the ship instead.

But Bradley says this decision is better for the country and for New Hampshire.

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"I believe that we do need to have - keep our deterrent through the submarine force. We also need to dedicate work to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. There's a lot more work that comes with the refueling of a sub than its decomissioning. So that's why this is really good news for the men and women who work at Portsmouth at the shipyard."

The First District Congressman says he did his fair share of lobbying for the shipyard.

But Bradley gives most of the credit for sealing the deal to New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg

Gregg sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee.

And he received tribute from each of his New Hampshire collegues for his efforts to push their projects through the Committee.

The Senior Senator himself was not available for comment.

Another project Jeb Bradley is proud of is a one-million-dollar appropriation to conserve 42-hundred acres of land at Moose Mountain in Strafford County.

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"There is a mountain called Mt. Caverly at the eastern shores of Lake Winneapasauke that looks right up the main part of the lake toward Mt. Mousalaki, and the views are stupendous. They're as good as you can get anywhere in New Hampshire, and it is currently on the for sale block, and given the gorgeousness of the views, it's something that could easily be sold."

Senator John Sununu said the Moose Mountain conservation program was one of his top priorites too.

He worked on the project when he held Congressman Bradley's Congressional seat, before he was elected to the Senate last year.

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"I first met with the Moose Mtn Conservation Commission maybe 3 years ago up in Wakefield. We did a town hall meeting, and before the meeting I met for about an hour to see their presentation on their long-term conservation goals. We worked last year and again this year to complete work on a million dollars in funding that will be used to buy a conservation easement."

That means the land itself doesn't change hands but the owner gives up the right to develop it.

SUNUNU AND BRADLEY ALSO HIGHLIGHTED A REQUESTED APPROPRIATION TO HELP EXPAND THE NEO-NATAL CENTER AT ELLIOT HOSPITAL IN MANCHESTER.

THE BILL CONTAINING THAT FUNDING will likely be voted on next week.

Senator Sununu's third project of choice was a new fire, crash, and rescue station at Pease Air National Guard Base.

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"I think the old fire station is well over 25 years old. This will enable them to consolidate not just the firefighters at Pease but some of the support for the air wing that's stationed at Pease."

Congress has provided 6.1 million dollars for the new station.

As for Second District Congressman Charles Bass -- he also chose to highlight a conservation project as one of his highest priorities.

Congress has allocated $2.5 million dollars to help purchase a conservation easement for 7,000 acres next to Pillsbury and Sunapee State Parks.

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"It's the last four or five pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that really makes this corridor all hang together. It's been a very high priority of the Forest Society for a number of years now, and it's now been completed, and it's nice to see these projects come to a close."

Bass is also proud of a $790,000 dollar grant to help with the renovation and expansion of the Nashua Senior Center.

The Congressman says The center serves between 2,000 and 3,000 elderly Nashua residents.

It plans to add a library, a computer center, a fitness center, and a medical resource room.

The Second District Congressman also made it a point to mention a small grant he says will make a big difference.

Lancaster's Great North Woods Welcome Center project is getting an $80,000 dollar boost from the federal government.

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"They always have trouble funding projects like this because the benefits are not immediately apparent. Nobody's gonna make money off of a visitor's center. But what it does is it improves the look of the town, it draws people who happen to be heading into town, going somewhere else, to stop and notice that they're in Lancaster, and it's not a bad-looking town when you get right down to it."

The bills that fund the Welcome Center and the Nashua Senior Center are scheduled to come up for a vote next week.

As for the question of whether these local projects are nothing more than "pork" - Congressman Bass said it best.

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"As I've said many times, one individual's pork is another person's meat and potatoes."

For NHPR News, this is JS in Washington.