Peter Bannon

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, My family has been in this country for generations. We built our lives here. We inherited a culture of self government, local control, and accountability. HB 1706 is about sovereignty. Decisions about who is settled in our communities are made in Washington. The consequences land here. That is backward. New Hampshire is not obligated to fund policies it does not control. Our towns are not staging grounds for federal social planning. Culture is fragile. Social trust is earned over generations and can be strained quickly. Rapid change imposed from above is not compassion. It is arrogance. This state belongs to its citizens. Recommend HB 1706 as Ought to Pass. Thank you.