CONCORD — A newly formed bipartisan group is urging New Hampshire residents to tell federal policymakers that the nation’s $16 trillion debt and the “fiscal cliff” on Jan. 1 need to be addressed.

The Campaign to Fix the Debt’s New Hampshire effort includes lawmakers, mayors and business leaders, and Tuesday they all said eliminating the national debt and stopping the automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled to take place Jan. 1 are too important to be a partisan issue.

“What we are used to here in New Hampshire is reaching across the aisle and finding solutions to big problems,” said co-chairman Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, a Republican and former House deputy speaker. “We believe that is what has to happen to fix the debt.”

She and fellow co-chairman Sen. Lou D’Allesandro, D-Manchester, stressed that to solve the problem, everything has to be on the table, and to do that all sides need to be involved.

“We expect this is going to hurt on the local level, this is going to hurt on the state level, and this is going to hurt on the federal level,” Lozeau said.

They said the group’s job is to make their voices heard so the congressional delegation knows all possible means are needed to solve the problem.

“None of us will tell you what the solution is; what we have in common is everything has to be on the table,” Lozeau said. “With the magnitude of the problem, we do not have the luxury of cherry-picking what to cut.”

The group’s concerns are two-fold: the long-term effects of the mounting federal debt, which currently stands at about $16 trillion, and the upcoming sequestration of budget cuts and tax increases.

“We all know if sequestration takes place the world falls apart,” said D’Allesandro at a news conference Tuesday announcing the state effort. “Simply put, Washington must find workable solutions or we’re sure to see interest rates rise, purchasing power decrease, unemployment go up and our economy sputter.”

He predicted another great depression will occur if sequestration happens.

Along with the co-chairmen, the New Hampshire group has a 23-member steering committee including former Republican Gov. Steve Merrill and Joe Keefe, a former congressional candidate and state Democratic Party chairman who is now a business executive.

Another member, former ambassador and U.S. Rep. Dick Swett, said when he first ran for Congress 22 years ago, he emphasized the need for greater control of the federal budget and the debt, and the problem has grown far worse since then.

“It is a matter of national security,” Swett said. “It’s not only an attack from outside but the degradation from within.”

He and others noted the plan to reduce the deficit has to be long-term and credible, and have widespread support.

The group will hold events around the state asking people to sign a petition and build support for a solution.

The national Campaign to Fix the Debt was founded by Erskine Bowles, a business executive and former President Clinton’s chief of staff, and former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, who chaired a presidentially appointed commission that recommended solutions to reduce the federal debt including both spending reductions and tax increases.

The national organization is chaired by former New Hampshire U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.

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Garry Rayno may be reached at grayno@unionleader.com.