Woodstock Reservist Attends State of the Union
GUEST
The New London Day
Renée Dudley
Boston University Washington News Service
24 January 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 – Woodstock resident and Navy Reserve Cmdr. Kenneth Goldsmith had the opportunity to see politics and policymakers up close Tuesday night as the guest of Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) at the State of the Union Address.
Each member of Congress gets to invite one person to sit in the visitors gallery of the House of Representatives for the president’s State of the Union address. The 43-year-old reservist said that the congressman’s invitation came as a surprise. “I saw ‘U.S. Capitol’ on my phone, and I couldn’t imagine what it could be,” he said.
Goldsmith, a member of the Woodstock Democratic Town Committee, said he met Courtney about two years ago during the early days of Courtney’s campaign. “We talked about health care issues for military reservists and hit it off,” he said. “We’ve been friends since.”
Courtney agreed, saying that he has gotten to know Goldsmith well over the past two years. “He has served in both active duty and the reserves at great cost and hardship to his family,” Courtney said. “This is a small thank you for his service.”
The congressman, who is on the Readiness Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, said that Goldsmith, as a member of the military, will be an important contact for him as he begins his term.
Goldsmith, a pilot in the Navy Reserves, said he would like to get involved in advancing issues specific to eastern Connecticut. “I would love to be involved with efforts that help advance economic development and the military and to continue to work on topics concerning military reservists and national guardsmen,” he said.
Although he has been an advocate for health insurance reform for military reservists, Goldsmith said he was not in Washington to lobby. “I am just an honored guest here to represent my district at the State of the Union,” he said.
Until last year, military reservists and national guardsmen could not get health insurance from the government unless they were called to active duty, posing a problem for reservists like Goldsmith who do primarily military work and therefore did not have coverage from another employer.
“At the time, a quarter of reservists and their families did not have access to health insurance,” Goldsmith said. “Even I went through a time that I didn’t have health insurance.”
Since then, access to the military health insurance program has been drastically improved, Goldsmith said. Coverage is now extended to reservists and guardsmen who do not receive insurance from an employer or spouse.
Commenting as a private citizen, Goldsmith said he thought Bush’s address left important healthcare issues unaccounted for. “We have a long way to go on healthcare,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing this Congress tackle the challenge.”
But both Courtney and Goldsmith said during an interview after the address that they were happy to hear the President’s proposal for an increase in the size of the active Army and Marine Corps.
“The frozen level of troops on active duty has shifted the burden to reservists like [Goldsmith],” Courtney said. “Now we have the opportunity to take some of that burden off.”
Again speaking as a civilian, Goldsmith said that an increase in troop strength will increase the military’s effectiveness. “And it will allow us to have a presence in places where American interests are at stake,” he said.
Goldsmith, a Harvard graduate, has been in the military since finishing college. He pursued Officer Candidate School and entered into active duty in the Navy. “I finished my final exams and two weeks later I was having my head shaved and doing pushups,” he said.
During his eight years of active duty, which included two six-month tours of the Persian Gulf, Goldsmith completed missions ranging from enforcing no-fly zones in Iraq and peace-keeping efforts in Somalia, to helping evacuate American citizens from the Philippines after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.
After the military drawdown in 1994, Goldsmith left active duty, and has been in the Navy Reserves ever since. In March, he will be deployed to Bahrain for a three-week tour.
Goldsmith, who was born in Windham and grew up in North Branford, is a third-year law student at the University of Connecticut. He serves on the board of directors of Northeast Economic Alliance, a non-profit organization that helps new and expanding small businesses, and is an elected member of the Woodstock Planning and Zoning Commission.
Goldsmith said that he and his wife Traci, an interior designer, will open a new furniture and design store in Tolland next week. The Goldsmiths have three daughters, aged 14, 13, and 11.
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