Category: Jill Weinberg
Connecticut Civil Liberties in Center of Debate
WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Committee reached an agreement Oct. 1 for an anti-terrorism package, dropping some of Attorney General John Ashcroft’s controversial provisions to increase law enforcement power, but the bill continues to stir up debate on civil liberties within the Connecticut Delegation as well as Congress.
Representative Nancy Johnson (R-6th) said that although she appreciates people’s concerns to protect civil liberties and having oversight on the bill, she felt Ashcroft’s proposal is more appropriate in the fight against terrorism.
“Ashcroft is right that we need unprecedented powers. I think he doesn’t provide enough detail as to standards and oversight,” Johnson said. “On the other hand, I think my colleagues are cutting back on his powers so much that he won’t to be able to prevent terrorist activities. áI’m worried about our unwillingness to recognize how pernicious these groups are, how hard they are to find, how hard they are to capture and stop.”
The new bill introduced by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrener (R-WI) and ranking Democrat John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) would permit law enforcement officials to conduct electronic surveillance on suspected terrorists, detain immigrants, and share intelligence information.
Representative James Maloney (D-5th) said he supported the Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill because it provides institutional protection for civil liberties. “I think that had the Congress adopted the Attorney General’s proposal, it would’ve been struck down by the Supreme Court anyway,” he said.
Civil liberties groups find the new measure an improvement and less severe than Ashcroft’s proposal but still believe it would infringe upon individual freedom. “It’s inadequate,” said Laura W. Murphy, director of the ACLU’s national office in Washington, DC. “The potential for abuse is still great here.”
Most of the criticism from civil liberties groups focused on Ashcroft’s proposal of detaining non-citizens suspected of terrorism indefinitely. The Sensensbrenner-Conyers bill allows immigrants suspected of terrorism to be detained for only seven days before they are charged or released.
Gregory T. Nojeim, Associated Director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington, D.C. disagreed with both proposals. “Even though it [Congress] says it has compromised on indefinite detention, under this legislation, the Administration still achieves the same result of being able to imprison someone indefinitely who has never been convicted of a crime.”
Maloney said he would not have objected to longer detention time for suspected terrorists, but not indefinitely. “Indefinite detention is just not a concept that is acceptable under the American approach of individual rights,” Maloney said. “That’s saying the State can make a decision about someone’s life without any recourse to due process.”
Although an indefinite detention is unsettling, Johnson said, seven-day detention would not be sufficient in identifying terrorists. “The proof of terrorist activity is harder to get, it’s longer to assemble. á There is a need for a longer detention period,” she said.
The new legislation also would permit law enforcement to track communications against multiple phone lines, cell phones and the Internet and no longer would be restricted to monitoring a specific telephone.
Johnson agreed that a “pen register,” the ability to tap-and trace all electronic devices for a particular person as opposed to a single communication device, is necessary to track down terrorists.
“In today’s world, a telephone is not how criminals work. They use all electronic media; they move from one to the other. áIf we’re going to root out terrorism, we have to follow terrorists,” Johnson said.
“And they move across the nation, and they communicate through a variety of mechanisms-all of them high tech and modern-and we have to be able to follow those communications, or we’ll never be able to identify terrorist patterns of action before they strike.”
According to Maloney, local and state governments can issue a court order to permit secret surveillance under “probable cause” that is a crime being committed or planned. With the new legislation, “instead of meeting that full standard for law enforcement purposes. áThe standard is reduced. They are able for that limited purpose to have broader wiretap authority,” he said.
“While we find wiretapping offensive, frankly, I don’t have a lot of sympathy with people who are using these freedoms to make a criminal attack on other people,” Johnson said.
The Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill did not include Ashcroft’s provision to allow “sneak-and-peak searches,” which could wiretap communication devices before notifying the suspects.
The ACLU opposes the legislation because it would give law enforcement too much power. Murphy said, “We are still deeply concerned that the compromise measure continues to weaken essential checks and balances on the authority of federal law enforcement in a manner that is unwarranted.”
Both Congressmen agree a “sunset date” in which Congress could review the provisions of the new surveillance is good. The bill would “set” or expire on Dec. 31, 2003, and would require the President to revise or expand any provisions by Aug. 31 of that year. Johnson said over the next couple of years the federal government will learn to handle terrorist situations. “Through oversight and experience, we’ll be able to tell what was too broad,” she said.
Maloney said the sunset review will protect the public. “It gives us an opportunity to evaluate whether we have drawn the line too far or too close.”
Connecticut Delegates Meet to Discuss Terrorism Insurance
WASHINGTON - Six members of the Connecticut delegation, including Governor John Rowland, met yesterday over breakfast hosted by Chris Dodd (D) in Washington to discuss terrorism insurance reform for the state after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.
Governor Rowland met with Senators Chris Dodd and Joseph Lieberman as well as Representatives, John Larson (D-1st), Robert Simmons (R-2nd) and Nancy Johnson (R-5th) came down to Washington in response to the terrorist attacks and how to prepare the state businesses economically with terrorism insurance. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd) and Jim Maloney (R-5th) were in New York City, surveying damages from the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. Rowland said that during this crisis, the federal government would be working closely with state governments to help with provide economic support.
"I would compare it to flood insurance. Flood insurance is provided by the federal government. It is literally underwritten by the federal government. The reserves are there, and I'm hopeful that before January 1st this Congress can respond with terrorism insurance coverage that will be a partnership with the insurance companies across this country, and that the federal government will be the backdrop, will be the reserve, will be the insurer against this peril," said Rowland.
Rowland said that January 1st is going to be a turning point because new insurance policies and insurance renewals are implemented for the new fiscal year. He said "it is going to have wide impact" because there many people and industries would be affected.
"My primary concern is the future·There is a way to do this, but I want a sense of urgency because January 1, a lot of things are going to happen, the airlines are going to fly, there are going to need appropriate coverage, it also affects worker's compensation, disability, life insurance. It's going to affect unions," he said.
Rowland said that Congress would not neglect industries that aren't affiliated with airlines. "Although we're focusing on the airlines right now keeping them healthy, I want to make sure mom-and-pop businesses can operate in New York City and Hartford Connecticut," he said.
Dodd said that the Connecticut delegation would be working together on the key issues that need to be addressed including insurance reforms, emergency services in order to "minimize the possibility of these events occurring in the future." He mentioned that spoke with Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX) and other members of Congress to develop a legislation package that would tackle insurance and compensation issues. Dodd anticipated proposing the package early next week.
"We're a small delegation, we cooperate with each other all the time. We're trying to sort out now what are the things that we can do be a help to our country to our state and also our country," Dodd said.
Lieberman said, that Congress as a whole would continue to move legislation quickly and efficiently. "When the Congress is divided, everything takes forever. When the Congress is united, we become a purpose. Even very difficult things get accomplished very quickly."
"We are doing exactly what the people of Connecticut would want a state government to do, which is to take steps to prevent the critical infrastructure of the state to be prepared for rapid response," Lieberman said.
"We are going to do all that we can to make sure the state of Connecticut is safe. But at the same time that a free civil society is going to allow people to move around and to get on with their lives," said Rowland. He intends on visiting various major industries and military operations in eastern Connecticut to make sure that the best security systems are in place.
Dodd agreed with Rowland that we are a free society, "and if we start identifying every potential danger, we can cause the terrorists to have a bigger victory than they have already had."
"The most important this is we got to get back as a people again. Vince Lombardi used to have a great line, he used to say 'the true side of courage is not whether you got knocked down but whether you got up.' And our country is getting up," Dodd said.
Connecticut Delegation’s Reflect on Ground Zero
WASHINGTON - Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd) and James H. Maloney (D-5th) were among a group of ten members of Congress who visited the remains of the World Trade Center on Wednesday to pay respects to the 100 Connecticut victims of the attack and thank workers for their rescue and recovery efforts.
"It's really staggering" DeLauro said after returning from what has become known as Ground Zero. She said members of the Army Corp of Engineers took her around the "steel skin" of the World Trade Center. "There were no chairs, no tables, no carpets, no computers, nothing. What was left was steel and pulverized concrete."
The image that DeLauro said stuck most in her mind was the memorial wall for the victims of the attacks on which families had put up pictures of their loved ones who are missing or dead. She said there were, "little notes on the sides that say, 'if you've seen my daughter, tell her to call home.'
"All the times you think about these tragedies, you look at a series of numbersáBut when you begin to see people in pictures and you see the handwritten notes, the thing becomes very real," she said.
Maloney said, "The image that comes to me is if you take a wad of paper--stack of paper--and put it through a paper shredder, it produces these long, thin strips of paper, and then you can mound it upáinstead of being little pieces of paper, the strips are steel girders three feet thick and 20 or 30 feet long, which are just bent and twisted in all kinds of directions."
Maloney said that there was a strange smell in the air at Ground Zero that he described as the mixture of smoke and concrete dust. "It is quite a horrific smell that goes with the horrific vision of this pile of metal girders that are collapsed."
DeLauro said that even though people are tired, they are determined to rebuild New York. "I think the best word is resolute because this is not going to keep New York down. New Yorkers are up," she said.
As Maloney walked through the area, he said he talked to federal officials who described the anger that followed the attacks. "That has cooled to a very hard and steady sense of determination to move on from that, rebuild the city, find and hold those responsible."
DeLauro and Maloney both had the opportunity to meet with and thank Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Governor George E. Pataki.
Maloney and DeLauro both said they have spoken with dozens of families in their district who lost family members in the attack.
An Ironic Birth During Terrorist Attacks in Washington
WASHINGTON - When baby Grace first opened her eyes last Thursday, the first people she saw were her father Senator Christopher Dodd, her mother Jackie Clegg and her Middle Eastern doctors who happen to be of the same ethnic origin as the prime suspects in the terrorist attacks that occurred in New York and Washington just two days before her birth.
Dodd's face was glowing as he described the birth of his baby Grace. The seven-pound, 20-inch girl will be "for the rest of her life defining the time of her birth" in relation to last Tuesday's attacks said her father. The 57-year-old, first time father waited to find out the sex of the baby, but his wife did not. Dodd, who was with his wife for the delivery, admired her strength. "Next time I have to get into a foxhole, I'd take a woman with me," he said with a laugh.
He and his 39-year-old wife both selected the baby's name. "We named her Grace, partly after our mothers, but also it seemed so fitting for last week when the world seemed so devoid of it," Dodd said. The couple has not yet chosen a middle name for Grace.
Dodd said that Grace's birth has definitely changed his life. "It's not something that I thought was going to be a part of my life." And he said he and his wife Jackie are learning what it means to be parents. "The baby's great, baby's terrific, the little creature doesn't sleep. Only sleeps during the day."
The doctor who delivered Grace was Iranian and the nurse Lebanese. Later that day, a pediatrician from Afghanistan cared for the baby and Dodd said he and his wife became friends with the Middle Eastern doctors.
"Here is this child being born in the midst of this and this little girl's in the middle of this being born, and the people who are caring for her come from Iran and Afghanistan and the Middle East. It was mind bending; they were wonderful people, it was fascinating to talk to them. it so struck me the coincidence and all," said Dodd.
For Dodd, everyday business including campaign fundraising has been put on hold because of the attacks and Grace's delivery. "I'm taking care of a six-day-old baby, I'm not thinking about fundraising," he laughed.
Despite last week's events and the new legislation to be examined, Grace will be on his mind. " I can't tell you the sense of joy in having a healthy child at this point. It's a wonderful gift, I mean the fact that she was born in the midst of all this is just something."
"It was a pretty cool event," he said warmly.
CT Congressmen Question Priorities of Budget After Terrorist Attacks
WASHINGTON - As recovery efforts continue at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and as Congress begins resuming normal congressional business, Connecticut members of Congress are examining priorities for the federal budget after the terrorist attacks.
Congressman James Maloney (D-5th) said that Congress should adopt a new budget resolution because the events of last Tuesday have such profound economic impact. It would certainly be very appropriate to adopt a revised budget resolution. I would support doing that." He added that it was time to resume normal congressional business. "People are still kind of in emergency overdrive," he said. "It is always hard where there are in effect breaking developments to not only try to deal with those but also to regain a longer-term perspective."
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-6th), who is the chairwoman of the of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, said that health care in general and medical care for the elderly should be a focus on federal spending. "Some of the big issues that have come up are big issues because they have been neglected and need to be addressed," she said. "There's some in Medicare that we really can't wait to address.
Johnson said that Congress needs to offer choice of services to Medicare recipients and must help the elderly meet the high cost of prescription drugs.. "We might not be able to add prescription drugs this year, but we have got to buck up this system because around Connecticut, we are going to see a real exodus of providers and a loss of access for seniors, if we don't do something."
Senator Christopher Dodd said at a breakfast press conference that he supports any of President's Bush's requests for additional federal relief for victims of the terrorist attacks. But he added that Congress should be careful about federal spending. "No matter what package we are considering-I'm not rejecting any of this-I want us to approach this with a certain degree of caution so we don't just react with passion in the heat of the moment," he said. He said that he would support any measure that he believes is necessary.
Johnson said that although fighting terrorism is a primary concern, Congress needs to begin moving ahead with legislation. "People's eyes and ears and emotions" are focused on the attacks," she said, "but there are a lot of things we have to do. We have to look at the airlines industry. We've got to do that promptly. We have to finish the budget, and underneath the budget there are lots of issues."
Johnson said that Congress should examine how to deal with less money for Social Security. "We have to look at our original [budget] resolution that does not dig into Social Security," Johnson said, referring to Congress's vow to safeguard the surpluses in the Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance trust funds.
Johnson also said that meeting the budget for this fiscal year would be very difficult after the $40 billion that has now been allocated for emergency relief. "We've already given the president more money for defense, and we'll certainly meet the needs, but I think we'll work through the budget process a little more deliberatively than some are predicting," Johnson said.
"We do also need to fund priorities like education because this experience is a clear indicator that the future has to demand people that are capable of very sophisticated, technical jobs," she said. "We need to keep our eye on the priorities that are most important. Education, quality healthcare for people, those are very, very important priorities."
Maloney agreed that education and healthcare should remain a priority. "I certainly don't think we should we back off on our commitment to make investments in education or do what we need to do for other needs like health care or protecting the financial or health security of the American people," he said.
Dodd said that Congress must be wary of financing every request and be sure that tax dollars are spent wisely. "Our job becomes collectively to see to it that we don't sit back a year or two or five from now and see the kinds of decisions that were made because people were afraid to stand up, fearful they were going to be attacked somehow for being un-American or lacking in patriotism because they suggested maybe a massive capital gains tax is not exactly what was needed," he said.
Dodd also said Congress can't neglect other important issues such as helping the airline, travel and leisure industries. It is "very important that we don't jump so precipitously that we are incapable of doing all of the things we have to do to one degree or another," he said.
Maloney said that Congress must now look at the longer-range implications and reexamine the budget and revenue sources. "A budget is a two-sided document. It's not just the expenses but also the income," he said. "That it our responsibility, to not only act for today but act in a way that makes sense or will make sense six months from now, a year from now, five years from now. That is what we are going to be dealing with for a long time to come here."
Johnson said that balancing the budget "is a discipline. As pressures arise, the discipline breaks some, then it comes back. But I think there is enough commitment to the overall discipline of having expenditures stay within revenues and using Social Security [surpluses] to reduce your debt. That discipline will overall prevail."
Congressman Jim Maloney Speaks Out About American Tragedy
WASHINGTON -- Representative Jim Maloney (D-5th District) said he was in a meeting with Connecticut energy corporations talking about energy issues at the Hall of States, an office building on Capitol Hill, when news of a plane's crashing into the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan reached him around 8:45 a.m.
Maloney finished the meeting and drove toward his office a few blocks away and saw smoke rising from the Pentagon across the Potomac River. When he called his office by cell phone to get an update on what was happening he was told that his staff had received orders to evacuate the Capitol and its office buildings.
Maloney headed for the Democratic campaign headquarters, three blocks from the Capitol, and spoke from there about the terrorist attacks here and in New York City earlier in the day.
Once he arrived at the democratic headquarters south of the Capitol, he met with his chief of staff and press secretary. Because of blocked roads and grid-locked traffic, Maloney decided not to return home to his apartment on Capitol Hill but to remain at the party headquarters for the rest of the day.
Maloney sent most of his Washington staff home, but called his Waterbury office and instructed it to remain open and provide constituents with updated information about the events in New York and Washington.
"The United States ultimately will very quickly recover from these attacks as a nation, but it's just a cowardly, murderous assault mostly on absolutely innocent people," said Maloney of the people behind the attacks.
At 4 p.m. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R- Ill.) and minority leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) made a joint conference call to members of Congress to announce that President Bush and leading Congressional leaders were safe and secure, Maloney said. The two leaders also said that Congress would reconvene today (Wednesday) at 10 a.m. and vote on a resolution condemning the terrorists and sending their condolences to families of the deceased.
Maloney said security measures were taken on Capitol Hill, including an intensive sweep of the complex Tuesday night by law enforcement officials. The facility was scheduled to reopen by 9 a.m. on Wednesday.
When Maloney was elected to Congress, he knew that a tragic, political event similar to the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy was always a possibility. However, he said, he "didn't think that anyone was prepared for a terrorist attack against a civilian facility where ordinary people going about their ordinary lives are suddenly subject to a mass murder."
Maloney said the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Anti-Terrorism, of which he is a member, would undoubtedly broaden its focus and look at issues of terrorism and public security. Maloney also expected that members of Congress would receive formal briefings from the FBI and other national security officials.
Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) released a statement on the terrorist attacks. "This is a tragedy of catastrophic and unimaginable proportions," he said. "These attacks are unparalleled, heinous and cowardly. My heart and prayers go out to the victims and their families at this most difficult and terrible time."
"No terrorist act will undermine our national resolve to stand up to those who would seek to intimidate the United States from acting as a moral voice advocating international justice and democracy. Nor should those who have perpetrated these despicable acts think that they will be safe anywhere around the globe from our determined efforts to apprehend and punish them to the maximum extent of the law," said Dodd's statement.
