Jeff Bingaman: “I want to address a growing disconnect that I detect between what I am hearing in my home State of New Mexico and much…”

“I want to address a growing disconnect that I detect between what I am hearing in my home State of New Mexico and much of what I am hearing and reading here in Washington, DC. Frankly, I begin to worry when we are talking about one thing in Washington while the people we represent at home are talking about other things, or talking about them in different ways--in coffee klatsches, in barber shops, in various settings. What do I mean by that? I mean in Washington in recent weeks the drumbeat has been about how we need to prepare for and pursue an attack on Iraq, and how the United Nations had better get its act together to pursue this effort in weeks rather than months or we would unilaterally act in its place. In my State, there is talk about Iraq. Frankly, there is a great deal of concern about what is being planned and what is being contemplated, on what timetable. But the main issue I hear from people in my State relates to the economy and what is happening in the economy. One reason is the article that appeared in the Albuquerque Journal yesterday with a headline that says, ``New Mexico Tops U.S. for Poverty in 2001.''”