[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5485-S5486]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             NASHUA, NH, THE BEST PLACE IN AMERICA TO LIVE

  Mr. GREGG. Madam President, today the State of New Hampshire and a 
number of communities in the State of New Hampshire were afforded a 
singular and appropriate honor. The city of Nashua, my hometown, where 
I was born, raised, and went to school, was rated the best place in 
America in which to live. The city of Manchester and the city of 
Portsmouth were rated the sixth and fifth best places in the country in 
which to live. That means the State of New Hampshire, which is a small 
State--and to paraphrase Daniel Webster, a small State but there are 
those of us who love it--received the designation of having three of 
its major communities within the State identified as the best places to 
live of the top 10 in the country. In fact, only one other State, 
Florida, was able to put three communities in the top 10. And, of 
course, Florida is about 6 or 7 times the size of New Hampshire in 
population.
  In addition, no other State was able to put two of its communities in 
the top five, and New Hampshire has the first community and the fifth 
community in Nashua and Portsmouth. Those of us who live in New 
Hampshire and have enjoyed the fruits of being part of that wonderful 
community, understand that this is not an award which is received as a 
result of luck, but it is an award which is received as a result of a 
lot of hard work and, more important, a lot of community spirit. We are 
a State where people still care about their neighbors. We are a State 
where we care about how we deal with each other. And, as a result, we 
have built

[[Page S5486]]

communities where crime is low, where education is extremely strong, 
where our health care is rated the best in the country, where our 
mental health care is rated the best in the country, where we are rated 
best in the country for caring for troubled children, and where we 
still maintain a State which has no sales or income tax and delivers 
effective and efficient and first-class community services to our 
citizens.
  And our citizens get involved. It is a State of voluntarism, a State 
where people understand if they are going to make their community work 
well they have to take the time to be involved in the local community 
activities whether it is the local Babe Ruth League or baseball team, 
or whether it happens to be the arts community or whether it is just 
the process of cleaning up the main street on cleanup day.
  So I rise to congratulate my fellow citizens of New Hampshire, to 
especially congratulate the cities of Manchester, Portsmouth, and 
Nashua, and with a unique emphasis on Nashua in that it was rated No. 1 
and that it is my hometown, where I was born and raised and went to 
school, and I am very proud that they have done so well. I congratulate 
all of those who make New Hampshire such a fine place to live.

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