Ben Lujan

Ben R. Lujan has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 3rd district of the State of New Mexico, since 2009.

Taxes
Lujan supports revoking the Bush tax cuts and shifting these tax breaks to the middle class.

Education
Lujan will work to increase Pell grants and make federal loan easier to repay. He supports programs that reimburse students for college expenses based on community service projects and a commitment to public service to encourage students to pursue careers that help their communities. He is against the No Child Left Behind Act. He would support local control of schools with adequate funding.

Environment and Energy
Lujan believes an investment in renewable energy development will create new jobs and lead the way to reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. Lujan believes the U.S. must become energy independent and produce clean, renewable energy in the United States. Lujan supports 'Use it or Lose it' legislation that requires oil companies to use the 68 million available leased but untapped acres they have available to them to increase domestic production, increasing our investment in renewable energy, increasing fuel efficiency in our automobiles. He also supports increasing fuel efficiency as well as research and development to improve fuel efficiency standards. He will also work to extend the Production Tax Credit to encourage economic growth and job creation in the renewable energy industry by promoting stability.

Lujan believes in implementing a cap and trade program, reducing emissions by raising CAFE standards, and funding national laboratories to do more renewable energy research.

Iraq War
Lujan believes the U.S. must end the Iraq War and supports developing an immediate timetable for withdrawal. The U.S. must take immediate steps to create an international diplomatic council, which includes Iraq’s neighbors, key allies and the United Nations, to stabilize the current civil unrest and bring the conflicting factions into peace talks.

Government Reform
Lujan seeks to increase transparency and track where every dollar goes to make sure no one is abusing their federal contract.

Health
Lujan supports universal health care that is built on principles of affordability, accessibility and quality.


 * No one should be denied care for a pre-existing condition
 * Health care should be portable and not tied to your job
 * Redundancy and waste should be eliminated to reduce costs
 * You should be able to choose your own doctor

While overhauling healthcare, Lujan supports the expansion of SCHIP and improve Medicare. He also seeks to expand children's healthcare.

Bio
Lujan was born June 7, 1972, in Santa Fe, N.M., and holds a bachelor's dergee from New Mexico Highlands University. Before running for the U.S. House, he served as the Chairman of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission.

2008 elections
Lujan won the Democratic nomination for the seat vacated by Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). Udall vacated the post to run for the senate seat of retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). He defeated Dan East in the November 4, 2008 general election.

Money in politics
cid=N00029562&cycle=2008

Twitter
 Ben Lujan posts on Twitter at http://twitter.com/repbenraylujan/

Latest posts: http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/19318314.rss|title=none| max=3| short See all the members of Congress who Twitter

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District
 * Official Ben Lujan for Congress Website

External articles
Marie Horrigan, "Three's a crowd in New Mexico House races," CQPolitics, April 4, 2008.