congress Ann M. Kuster Contact information

When Annie Kuster was first elected to Congress, she pledged to bring a new approach to Washington. Annie’s number one priority is to look out for the best interests of Granite Staters, and she believes Members of Congress must reach across party lines to end the gridlock and dysfunction in Washington.

Annie is a member of the prestigious House Energy and Commerce Committee, which puts her at the forefront of efforts to improve access to quality affordable healthcare, reduce the costs of prescription drugs and combat climate change.

During her time in Congress, Annie has established a record of putting aside party politics to focus on the issues that matter most to Granite Staters. She’s worked with members of both parties to prioritize job creation and economic opportunity, and support New Hampshire veterans, women, students, and seniors.

Annie is committed to strengthening the New Hampshire economy, so that regardless of national trends, the economic security of our Granite State families would always be protected. She is working every day to bring new economic opportunities to New Hampshire families.

In office, Annie has fought to cut taxes for Granite State small businesses, to help them expand and create more jobs. She has hosted a series of job fairs throughout the state, where she connected scores of job seekers with employers looking to hire. And the first bill Annie introduced in Congress would cut taxes for New Hampshire employers who partner with schools to provide job training for Granite State students so they are prepared to join the 21st century workforce.

As the daughter of a WWII veteran and POW, Annie is strongly committed to ensuring our veterans have access to the resources and support they need. She successfully fought for improved access to health services for New Hampshire veterans, including the expansion of a VA clinic in Littleton. She is working to expand access to care so veterans can more easily receive the services they need and deserve. Annie helped pass a package of legislation, including her own bill, to help eliminate the claims backlog for VA benefits. And she worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass into law comprehensive VA reforms to ensure New Hampshire veterans can receive medical care sooner and closer to home.

Annie is a proud New Hampshire native, born and raised in Concord. Her parents were community leaders who taught her the importance of public service through example. Annie’s mother, Susan McLane, served in the New Hampshire State Senate and was a fierce advocate for equal rights and a true pioneer for women. Her father, Malcolm McLane, served as Mayor of Concord, was on the Executive Council, and ran for Governor as an Independent in 1972. Annie received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1978, and was a member of the third class of women to graduate from the college. She received a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984, and then went on to work as an adoption attorney for 25 years. A strong advocate for her community, Annie has served on the boards of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, New Hampshire Public Radio, the Capitol Center for the Arts, and Child and Family Services of New Hampshire.

Annie lives in Hopkinton with her husband Brad, an environmental attorney, where they raised their two sons Zach and Travis.

WHAT SHE’S ACHIEVED

• Annie has helped to deliver millions in funding to support the expansion of broadband internet.

• Annie has worked with Republicans and Democrats to improve access to care and services for veterans. She was one of just two Democrats in the House to cosponsor the VA MISSION Act, which expanded access to community care for NH veterans.

• Annie has helped deliver millions in funding to support the repaving of roads and repair of bridges in NH, including a $200 million low-interest loan for the expansion of I93.

• Annie knows how to bring people together. She is the founder of the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force and the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence.

• Annie has advocated for building a clean energy economy to protect our environment, reduce energy costs, and create jobs.

• Annie has helped to deliver more than $4 billion in funding to New Hampshire to address both the economic and health consequences of COVID19.

PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT

Annie Kuster believes that the old way of thinking about the environment is not good enough. Annie has consistently stood up for our planet and our economy by supporting legislation to combat climate change and reduce carbon pollution. In January 2020, Annie introduced her “Clean Energy Agenda” which includes bipartisan legislation to create a clean energy future of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and clean transportation in the Granite State.

With a 94% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, Annie Kuster is a champion for protecting our natural resources and conserved lands. She is a leading voice in the push to secure permanent and full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which has funded over $165 million worth of conservation and recreation projects in New Hampshire communities since its inception.

Annie has advocated for building a clean energy economy to protect our environment, reduce energy costs, and create jobs. She knows that the only way to ensure a sustainable future is to build an economy around clean energy. Annie has cosponsored legislation to keep the United States in the Paris Climate Agreement and to establish a plan for how the country will reduce carbon pollution. Annie Kuster is committed to enacting policies to reduce carbon emissions, promote clean energy, and protect the environment.

WORKING ACROSS THE AISLE

Too many in Congress are busy fighting with each other and unable to get anything done. That’s why as the Representative for New Hampshire’s 2nd District, Annie strongly believes she needs to work with the Republican Congress to get things done for the Granite State.

Annie co-founded the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force, which has been a driver of Congressional action to tackle the opioid epidemic. This devastating epidemic requires leaders like Annie who will rise above partisan bickering to find real solutions.

She was proud to join with Republicans to pass the VA Mission Act, which shows what can be done when both parties put aside partisan differences to help our veterans and their families. The legislation helps veterans in states like New Hampshire that lack a full-service VA medical facility, expanding access to the popular Choice Program for all veterans in the Granite State.

SUPPORTING OUR MILITARY AND VETERANS

Annie knows firsthand the sacrifices made by our service members and their families. Annie’s father and father-in-law both served in the Invasion of Normandy 70 years ago. Annie consistently works to ensure our government serves veterans as well as they served us. That’s why she pushed for legislation to eliminate the disgraceful VA claims backlog, so veterans get the care they deserve. She reached across party lines to write and pass a bill that makes commonsense improvements at the VA to help prevent substance abuse among veterans and their families. And she passed a bill that would provide educational assistance to veterans with military medical training so they may work as physician assistants at VA health facilities. She has fought to ease the transition for veterans back to civilian life, and worked to support veteran-owned small businesses.

Annie successfully fought to improve access to health care services for veterans in New Hampshire, and was proud to join Republicans to support the VA Mission Act. This important legislation helps veterans in states like New Hampshire that lack a full-service VA medical facility, expanding access to the popular Choice Program for all veterans in the Granite State. She is working to expand access to care throughout the Second District so veterans can get the services they need and deserve. She is also leading efforts to secure affordable housing units for homeless veterans in Plymouth.

JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

Since taking office, Annie has made creating jobs and opportunity for Granite State families her number one priority, and she’s fighting hard in Congress to ensure that all Granite Staters have the opportunity to work hard and pursue the American Dream. Her Jobs and Opportunity Agenda outlines common sense steps Congress should take to help grow New Hampshire’s economy and create good, middle class jobs for our workers. Annie also regularly hosts jobs fairs that have helped connect scores of job seekers with New Hampshire employers looking to hire.

Annie knows the best way to grow our economy and support job creation is to invest in education, job training programs, infrastructure, and scientific research. She will expand apprenticeships and vocational educational programs at high schools and community colleges so New Hampshire residents who don’t go to college can learn the skills needed to get a good job. She routinely visits Granite State small businesses to hear from their owners and employees about how Congress can best help them succeed, and on their behalf she’s sponsored legislation to boost American exports and support construction jobs by reinvesting in our roads and highways. Because of Annie’s work, New Hampshire received $200 million to restore dozens of roads and bridges, bringing new jobs to our state and allowing our economy to flourish.

REDUCING HEROIN AND OPIOID ABUSE

New Hampshire has been hit especially hard by the heroin and opioid epidemic, and Annie is uniting Members of Congress from both parties to find solutions to a problem that affects every community in our state. She’s helped secure billions of dollars in new resources for prevention, treatment, recovery, and law enforcement. But she knows Congress still needs to do more.

Sadly, the Granite State has one of the highest rates of addiction but some of the fewest treatment options. Annie co-founded the Bipartisan Opioid Task Force in 2015. Through her leadership on the Task Force, she helped secure $6 billion in new funding to combat the opioid crisis over two years, including a $2.7 million grant to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center to treat neonatal abstinence syndrome in conjunction with their Moms in Recovery program. Her bipartisan STOP Fentanyl Deaths Act would provide grant funding to help states and municipalities identify fentanyl in overdose cases, so communities can better understand the role of dangerous and deadly synthetic opioids in the epidemic. She supported the INTERDICT Act, signed into law by the President, which offers greater tools for law enforcement to stop the flow of synthetic opioids from coming into our country from overseas and across the border.

HEALTH CARE

As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, Annie is focused on reforming our healthcare system to improve access to affordable, quality health care. She is fighting to stabilize the health insurance marketplace and bring down the cost of health insurance for all Americans. Kuster was one of the first Members of Congress to propose a comprehensive plan to fix and improve the Affordable Care Act. She knows the ACA is not perfect, which is why she is working to improve the law. And she’s willing to work with members of both parties to propose common sense solutions to bring down healthcare costs. She sponsored the bill to fix the “family glitch” and make family health coverage more affordable, and cosponsored legislation to expand tax credits so small businesses can more easily afford to provide health care for their employees. She also successfully pushed to ensure that drugs that help combat breast cancer will be covered by health insurance providers.

Recently, the House passed Annie’s legislation to ensure protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions and push back against the Trump Administration’s efforts to promote junk health plans.

Annie opposes efforts to completely throw out the health care reform law, which would increase pharmaceutical costs for seniors and reinstate discrimination against women and patients with preexisting conditions, and she is committed to fixing remaining problems with the law and increasing competition.

She also believes we need to lower prescription drug prices by changing the law to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices.

LGBT EQUALITY

In Congress, Annie is a member of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus where she works to end discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation. Annie is an original cosponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and signed the amicus brief to the Supreme Court successfully challenging the constitutionality of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act. In addition, Annie has championed legislation to ensure same-sex couples receive the same veterans benefits, Social Security benefits, and immigration rights as all other Americans.

ADVOCATING FOR WOMEN

As part of the third class of women to ever graduate from Dartmouth, Annie has been breaking ground for women her entire career. As an adoption attorney for 25 years, Annie worked with women of every age and background facing unplanned pregnancies, and is a staunch defender of a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.

Annie believes in less government interference in people’s private lives — including in their decision of when and how to start a family. She has been an unwavering leader in New Hampshire and Washington to protect abortion access and keep the government out of personal reproductive decisions. In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling ending the near-50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, she helped introduce and pass legislation to enshrine the right to an abortion — as defined in Roe — as well as protect access to contraception and prohibit states from limiting a woman’s right to travel to receive abortion care. She also wrote an op-ed in the Union Leader highlighting the consequences of state-controlled abortion access. Annie is a steadfast advocate for women’s rights and autonomy, and she is running for reelection to keep politicians out of doctors’ offices and ensure every Granite Stater can access the reproductive care they need.

Annie supports the MeToo movement and formed the Bipartisan Task Force to End Sexual Violence after coming out with her own story of sexual assault. Annie is working to pass the MeToo law which will require politicians to use their own money, not taxpayer funds, to settle abuse cases, increase transparency, and make it illegal to impose non-disclosure agreements on survivors who step forward. Annie continues working to address sexual assault in the military and helped lead the successful effort to increase whistleblower protections for those who report these crimes. She also helped introduce the Campus Accountability and Safety Act to combat sexual assaults on college campuses.

Annie is working to pass critical reforms to help level the playing field for Granite State women and their families, including the Paycheck Fairness Act which would ensure women can access equal pay, affordable childcare, and expanded sick and family leave.

STANDING UP FOR SENIORS

Annie believes we must keep our obligation to older generations of Granite Staters who cared for us and built the world we have today. That is why she will stand against those in both parties who would cut the Medicare and Social Security benefits our seniors earned. Annie fought proposals to use “chained-CPI” to reduce benefits for retirees and veterans, and is working to strengthen penalties against criminals who defraud seniors.

Annie believes we need to lower prescription drug prices by changing the law to let Medicare negotiate for lower drug prices. She reached across the aisle and passed a bill to improve Medicare’s financial stability and prevent New Hampshire seniors from losing access to their doctors. Annie cared for her mother, the late Susan McLane, during her battle with Alzheimer’s, and today, Annie is working to expand investments in Alzheimer’s research and improve support for the families and caregivers of patients with this devastating disease.

EDUCATION

Annie knows there is no greater investment than in our children’s education, and that we cannot compete in the global economy without investing in a highly skilled workforce. That is why the very first bill Annie introduced would facilitate public-private partnerships between businesses and educators to help prepare students for the 21st century workforce. In addition, she has cosponsored legislation to expand the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs our students need to secure good, 21st century jobs.

As a parent, Annie knows the impact that the cost of higher education has on Granite State families. That is why Annie fought to keep interest rates for student loans affordable, and why she supports a proposal to allow graduates to refinance their student loans at lower rates.Annie has also led the push to improve and expand apprenticeships and vocational programs at New Hampshire’s high schools and community colleges, so more students have the opportunity to receive a great education. She secured a federal grant for Nashua Community College to open a new advanced manufacturing program, so they may partner students with local employers to can obtain good-paying jobs upon graduation. Annie also spearheaded a program that allowed River Valley Community College to open a new campus, giving 500 more students access to higher education.