Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Teague says health care, help for veterans and jobs top his priority list in campaign

Julia M. Dendinger News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jdendinger@news-bulletin.com

Belen Harry Teague's life is not his own. Ever since winning the Democratic primary race for the Second Congressional District in June, he has been criss-crossing the state talking to the people he is hoping to make his constituents in November.

With Valencia County being the first place Teague visited after declaring his candidacy, he was back last month to watch the Democratic National Convention and Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance of the presidential nomination at the new party headquarters in Los Lunas.

"This is such a diverse and beautiful place," he said. "What people want here is the same as everyone wants everywhere — they want a better economy so there are jobs for their children; they want a good education system and healthcare."

While Teague feels that the state has a "wonderful school system" he says the No Child Left Behind program is "hamstringing" that system. "The program needs to be revamped so as not to be just punitive," he said. "Our school systems are competing with foreign countries, so there's not just one answer."

In order to stimulate the flagging economy, Teague said he would like to see more incentives in place to help people start new companies and expand existing firms, especially in rural New Mexico towns.

"People are tired of the same old stuff — the middle class paying higher taxes while the rich get richer," he said. "We need to provide jobs so our children can raise our grandchildren nearby."

And companies that provide renewable energy could be part of that. Not only would wind and solar farms provide job opportunities, but would help make the country as a whole less dependent on foreign oil, Teague said.

Keeping money in the country instead of supporting foreign infrastructure is also a goal of Teague's. "We need to stop spending $3 billion a week in Iraq," he said. "We need to spend that in the U.S. building schools, hospitals, roads."

Another need in the state is the wastewater treatment facilities. "There are so many needs. We would need to spend $500 million to bring all of our wastewater treatment facilities up to par," Teague said. "The new federal arsenic levels are something we need to go back and revisit. We need to get local input; it is such a big financial burden."

To provide infrastructure improvements to a community requires more money, and more money usually means growth. Teague said he favors controlled growth of New Mexico's small towns.

"Communities need to look at infill instead of sprawl," he said. "And everyone needs to be included at the table — the people who live in the community need to be making the decisions, not out-of-state interest groups.

"Everyone needs to have a seat at the table and let them temper each other. I have a lot of experience working with diverse groups and getting them to work together for a common goal."

Teague said during his travels of the Second Congressional District, the top concerns have been jobs, health care for everyone, improving the education system and bringing troops home safely and responsibly.

"One thing that is very important to me that we need to do better is show our veterans of Iraq and from wars before the respect and honor they deserve," he said. "I think that's something we don't do as well as we used to."

While Teague is sure a freshman Congressman the likes of him won't be writing the health care bill, he is sure he can do something for veterans. "I will have input about veterans. I will scream loud enough to do that," he said. "Education, health care and jobs - those are the important things in this election cycle. Those are all things I have done before."

During his tenure as chairman of the Lea County Commission, Teague said, he worked to bring a casino and racetrack to the county that employees 500 to 600 people during peak operation and a uranium enrichment facility that employees nearly 1,400 people.

Teague was born in Oklahoma but moved to Hobbs 49 years ago, joking that he became a New Mexican "as soon as I could." He and his wife, Nancy, have been married for 38 years and have two adult children and five grandchildren, all of whom live in Lea County.

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