Category: Mindy Finn
Mail Scrutiny on Capitol Hill
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON – For the time being, Connecticut’s members of Congress must tell constituents who plan to visit Washington D.C., they can no longer tour any portion of the U.S. Capitol building. Capitol police suspended tours indefinitely Monday, after the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, received a letter containing anthrax.
Lt. Dan Nichols, spokesman for Capitol police, said police suspended tours in light of what is going on in the nation and to ensure quick and safe evacuation of the U.S. Capitol and also sent a letter spelling out the now even more rigid procedures for handling mail coming in to the building. The Senate and House galleries also were closed as of yesterday.
Connecticut members of Congress had mixed reactions to the new mail security measures. Rep. James Maloney, D-5th District, said he doesn’t anticipate much of an interruption in mail flow even with the mail being screened off-site and X-rayed before entering the Capitol.
“We are confident that on a routine basis, it will take two days or less” extra to receive mail Maloney said. “Our goal is actually to get it down to less than a day. It may take a little longer at first, but we believe that a system can be put in place that would not cause delay of more than a day.”
“It may cause as much as a week [of delay],” said Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-6th District, “I’m very concerned about the flow of business under this new system.” The off-site screening site has a considerable job handling the volume of mail that is sent to the Capitol, Maloney said. His office alone receives hundreds, sometimes thousands, of pieces of mail each week.
Nancy Johnson said she worries the Capitol police are taking things too far. “I’m not convinced that the centralized review of the mail is necessary in Washington, but my main concern is that it be fast,” Johnson said.
“If they had given our Washington staff the same training they gave the district staff, that would be adequate. The observations that they are going to make are observations that we could have made,” she said.
Once a constituent’s letter gets through to his member’s office, however, there should be no delay in a response letter going out from the Capitol, Maloney said.
Sacrifices must be made to adjust to the heightened security on Capitol Hill, he said. “Clearly these anthrax attacks are deliberate and well-planned, and necessarily have to be fairly well financed because anthrax is not something you can go down to the Home Depot and buy,” Maloney said.
However, Maloney said those working on Capitol Hill are angry that the increased security is going to take additional personnel and money and also cause additional inconveniences.
“All of those resources would be better spent on education or health care or tax relief, but given the international situation in which we find ourselves are going to have to be devoted to security. That of course is a use of resources that all of us would like not to have happened,” Maloney said.
Johnson has received letters from students whose field trips to the Capitol have been cancelled. “I think it’s a shame they can’t take a tour of the Capitol. We vote in the Capitol every single day; if I thought it was dangerous I wouldn’t do that,” Johnson said. “If people want to go in the Capitol, I think they should have a right to go in the Capitol.”
Maloney still encourages constituents to come to the district, though he reminds them that they will not be able to see the Capitol. “Flying into Washington is probably the safest place to fly to in the nation, maybe the world today. Flying into National Airport is the safest airport in the country from a security point of view.”
Members of Congress want their constituents to take the threat of anthrax seriously. Johnson has told her staff to be observant and cautious with all mail they handle. Maloney said he hopes his constituents realize, “There have been a number of anthrax hoaxes and the hoaxes are almost as dangerous as the real thing.”
Declaring the threat of bioterrorism no joking matter, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday those who fake anthrax or other terrorist scares will face federal prosecution. He announced the indictment of one such man in Connecticut. False threats of anthrax attacks are “grotesque transgressions of the public trust,” Ashcroft said at a news conference.
Maloney said, “When there is a hoax the public safety authorities have to respond with all the force and attention and time and money and effort as if it were the real thing.”
Calls have been raised by some members of Congress that members should attempt to finish their work quickly and leave the Capitol to reduce their potential as a target for terrorism but Johnson said Congress has a job to do.
“It’s better if we go about our work and just do it well,” Johnson said. “That’s what everyone else in our society has to do. They have a responsibility to continue to do their job and to do it well and so do we. I don’t think rushing our job is a reasonable response.”
Lieberman Announces Plan for Homeland Security
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee is moving rapidly on legislation to establish a cabinet-level Department of National Homeland Security, which would bring the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Customs Service, the Border Patrol, the Coast Guard and other offices responsible for critical infrastructure protection under what the sponsor, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Ct.), called a "single administrative umbrella."
Lieberman, the committee's chairman, said that he feared that Tom Ridge, President Bush's new director of homeland security, will lack the authority he needs to do his job unless he is armed with statutory authority and the spending authority that goes with it.
The committee will meet this morning (Friday) to consider Lieberman's bill, which he unveiled at a news conference yesterday, the one-month anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and against the backdrop of an FBI warning that it has received information that there may be additional terrorist attacks on U.S. territory or abroad in the next few days.
At a news conference yesterday Lieberman appeared with Senate co-sponsor Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), and Reps. William "Mac" Thornberry (R-Texas) and Ellen Tauscher (D- Calif.) who co-sponsored similar legislation in the House last March.
While Lieberman and his congressional colleagues discussed their legislation, President Bush and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld were speaking at a Pentagon memorial service held in honor of those who died at the site exactly one-month ago. On the national Mall, American flags planted ankle-high, some with dedications to victims and others with condolences from elementary school classes, reflected the bright mid-morning sun after being placed there earlier that day.
In a statement later in the day, Lieberman said he plans to approach the Bush Administration about appointing an independent commission to fully investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and help answer Americans' questions about how the country could have been so vulnerable to the threat of terrorism. He said he is prepared to write legislation to do so if necessary. Independent boards of inquiry were formed after national tragedies in the past such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963.
Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor, took his new post under an executive order. But Lieberman said that Ridge would be more effective as the head of the "robust" executive agency that his bill would create.
Creating the office by statute, Lieberman added, would also ensure that future Presidents appoint someone to coordinate homeland defense. "The next one might not have a personal relationship with the President," he said. If the bill become law, he said, President Bush could appoint Ridge to the post, subject to Senate confirmation. In a statement issued for the news conference, however, Rep. Thornberry suggested that a Secretary of Homeland Security would oversee Ridge or any other White House chief of homeland security. "Just as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice looks to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in carrying out U.S. policy abroad, so too would Gov. Ridge look to the Secretary of Homeland Security in carrying out U.S. policy at home," Thornberry said.
The new department laid out in Lieberman's bill would have three functional directorates-what he called the "3 Ps": prevention, including securing the border; protection, including securing critical infrastructure, including computer systems; and preparation, including emergency preparedness and response.
Lieberman and Specter said at the news conference that they based their legislation on testimony before the Governmental Affairs Committee by former Sens. Gary Hart (D-Colo.) and Warren G. Rudman (R-N.H.), co-chairmen of the U.S. Commission on National Security for the 21st Century, shortly after the attacks.
Specter said he hoped for continued urgency in moving the legislation forward. Ridge can handle the job if he has sufficient authority, Specter said. He cited the threat of bio-terrorism that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson addressed at a Governmental Affairs sub-committee hearing last week. "That's a chilling problem, and it was a chilling hearing," Specter said. "There is a need for overall direction and overall supervision on this important subject."
Thornberry agreed that putting all the agencies responsible for homeland defense into one agency is key. "We don't need Gov.Ridge or the President managing dysfunction, trying to figure out how you are going to get the Border Patrol radios to talk to the Customs Service radios," he said. "We need to bring together all of the response entities around the government where seconds or minutes can mean countless lives." He added that Lieberman's bill is not inconsistent with what President Bush has already done. It is just another step in the right direction, he said
Rep. Tauscher expressed her hope that House and Senate leaders will bring the legislation to the floor this year. "It will send a very strong signal to the American people that we are very serious about putting the management of these groups together to work behind the President in protecting our homeland," she said.
Specter said the President had to act quickly in appointing a director of homeland security on his own authority, and added, "My sense is that when we craft a very good bill and send it to the President, he will sign it."
Thornberry said that he has been in contact with some people who work for the agencies that would be consolidated under Lieberman's legislation and that they think a statutory Department of Homeland Security is a great idea. "We will have colleagues that will be reluctant to lose their oversight authority in Congress," he said. "I'm not saying it is going to be easy" to move the bill through to enactment, but "lots of people on the ground think it's a good idea."
Connecticut Constituents, “Come on Down”
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - For those planning a trip to the nation's capital in the near future, Connecticut's members of Congress and their staffs are telling constituents that the possibility of future terrorism has limited some access and dramatically increased security restrictions at federal buildings here.
While they are still encouraging Connecticut residents to visit Washington and the Capitol, they are also advising visitors to call ahead of time for the latest on tour schedules and new security rules. "We have to live our life," said Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-6th). "Come on down, bring your families," she said.
Jim Forbes, a spokesman for House Administration Committee chairman Bob Ney (R-OH), said, "This is the people's House, they shouldn't be afraid to come, they should just know they are secure." He added, "And they were secure before, but now they're really, really secure."
Betsy Arnold, press secretary to Rep. James Maloney (D-5th), said that the general public may be even more limited than in the past to rooms they may visit in the Capitol, but she encouraged constituents to resume visiting the Capitol. The White House and the FBI Building have been temporarily closed to visitors, but all museums and monuments are open.
Within hours after the U.S. military strikes began on Oct. 7, increased Capitol security went into place. "One of the main things we have done since then is deploy additional officers into the field," Capitol Police spokesman Dan Nichols said. "We have a much higher uniformed police presence currently than we had even after Sept. 11, and that will remain in effect indefinitely."
Security measures added since Sept. 11-including cement barricades blocking three streets on the House side of the Capitol and the new restrictions on tourists-will remain in place for the foreseeable future, Nichols said. Forbes of the House Administration Committee noted that all the windows of the Capitol have been reinforced with a polyester laminate that is intended to make the windows shatterproof.
Capitol tours are now restricted to no more than 25 people per group, and only about a dozen tours are given each day, a significant reduction in the number of visitors permitted before Sept. 11. The tours are conducted from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and until 2 p.m. on Saturday, an hour less than the old weekday schedule and three hours less than the former Saturday schedule. On Sunday, the Capitol, which used to be open for non-guided tours, is now closed to the public.
Visitors can still receive passes to enter the House and Senate galleries said a spokesperson from Rep. Johnson's office.
Capitol Police spokesman Nichols said visitors should know that the congressional office buildings are still open. "The citizens can go in and visit their member's offices, they can interact with the members of Congress, they can go and watch the House and Senate while they're in session, so there's been very little visible restrictions on the general public," he insisted.
Senate aides have not been greatly affected by the increased security, said Kelly Moore, press secretary to Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Ct). But Moore said staff and all visitors to the Capitol can expect "slightly increased" security. There has definitely been increased security in the parking lots under the Senate office buildings, she said.
Nichols said that the Capitol Police try to identify members of Congress visually. "If we don't recognize the member, we ask for identification," he said.
It takes longer for the staff to get through security lines because all automobiles, including those of members, are checked. In addition to the standard trunk search, security workers circle the car with large mirrors that reflect the bottoms of the vehicles.
Side streets have been barricaded and blocked off to everyone except members and their staffs. Taxicabs still have access to Constitution and Independence Avenues, but officials are discussing the idea of cordoning off those streets near the Capitol, Nichols said.
Both Jennifer Schaming, press secretary to Johnson, and Arnold of Maloney's staff advised Connecticut visitors who drive to the city not to look for parking near the Capitol but instead to park somewhere else and take the Metro to Capitol Hill. "The traffic restrictions we put into place, especially on the House side, will remain in place indefinitely," Nichols said.
House members are being advised to take extra security precautions, and each office was encouraged to come up with their own evacuation plan; Forbes said he was confident that they have all done this.
Capitol Police have asked House members to remove their identifying lapel pins and change their license plates, which also identify them as members of Congress.
But Maloney said he never wore his lapel pin in the past except for events such as presidential inaugurations, where Secret Service security was in effect. The increased security has not affected him, he said. He hasn't taken any added security precautions since the U.S. attacks began.
Forbes said that the House Administration Committee started passing out BlackBerry two-way pagers about two weeks ago and has held two sessions to teach members how to use them not only for emergencies but also for day-to-day use. With these devices, emergency personnel or the Speaker can communicate with all 435 members quickly. The committee is not relying solely on the pagers should something happen again. It is considering several methods by which members of the House can communicate with each other.
Schaming, Johnson's press secretary, noted that the new security measures are being applied consistently. "Even if it's the same guard every day, they check my car every day," she said.
Maloney, Johnson Go Head-to-Head
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - Two members of the Connecticut delegation have divided sharply over legislation to give law enforcement agencies new powers to deal with the threat of terrorism.
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-6th) strongly criticized a draft bill that leaders of the House Judiciary Committee are offering as an alternative to the proposals that Attorney General John Ashcroft presented to Congress after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
"Ashcroft is right that we need unprecedented powers," Johnson said. "My colleagues are cutting back on his powers so much that he won't be able to prevent terrorist activities."
Rep. James Maloney (D-5th), however, said that Ashcroft's proposals "in important respects went too far." He supports the alternative legislation that Judiciary Committee chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), and the panel's ranking Democrat, John Conyers Jr. of Michigan agreed on at the beginning of the week and have circulated among other committee members.
Ashcroft, for example, is seeking the right to detain legal immigrants considered a threat to national security for an indefinite period. The Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill would set a seven-day limit on detention, after which detainees would have to be charged or released.
Johnson took strong issue with the proposed change. "I mean, seven days is nothing" to [terrorists], she said. "They'll just wait it out and then go right back. I'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."
She added, "It takes a longer time [than seven days] to assemble the evidence that you need to prove that someone is part of a terrorist operation, so unfortunately there is a need for a longer detention period. áWe are kidding ourselves if we think we can deal with terrorism that way."
Maloney, by contrast, said, "Indefinite detention is just not a concept that's acceptable under the American approach of individual rights. That's saying the state can make a decision about someone's life without any recourse to due process. That's fundamentally inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States. I think had Congress adopted the Attorney General's proposal it would have been struck down by the Supreme Court anyway."
He said he wouldn't have opposed a longer detention period- "14 days or even 30 days"-but he added that he applauds the job that Sensenbrenner and Conyers did.
"What's extraordinary about [the committee draft] is it gives police seven days to charge someone with a crime," Maloney said. "Under current American law, basically there's 24 hours. So, it's quite a departure from existing American law."
The Sensenbrenner-Conyers draft also omits the Attorney General's request for the right to use evidence obtained in foreign courts that would not be legally usable in American courts.
"What if you had coerced confessions?" Maloney asked, "You can't coerce a confession in the United States. The reason you can't is twofold: one, it's a violation of the individual's freedoms, but more importantly [coerced confessions] are not reliable. Under the threat or exercise of torture you can make someone admit anything."
Johnson, though she did not comment specifically on that provision, said America must "look to other nations, learn what has worked for them. áIf you look at the countries, including Britain, that have had to deal with this, you will see that in all of those societies they had to strengthen their police powers to investigate and to detain in order to protect the public, and I think that is what we have to do."
Maloney disagreed. "The British model goes way too far and has been challenged as a real violation of the freedom of British citizens," he said. "The legislation that looks like it is coming forward here in Congress is a much better balance that I tend to support."
The draft bill also would include a "sunset" provision that would repeal the newly granted powers on Dec. 31, 2003. Johnson agrees with that provision though she still favors Ashcroft's proposals. "I would rather he get the broader grant and sunset the bill in three years or five years, sunset it fairly early, but give him the broader grant so we see what the use of it is," Johnson said, "and then through oversight and experience we'll be able to tell was that too broad."
Maloney also supports the sunset provision. "It gives us an opportunity to evaluate whether we have drawn the line too far or too close. Otherwise, it's very difficult to change it."
Johnson said the nation needs a new balance between freedom and security. "This is a new world for us; we have to take it seriously," she said. "I think we have to recognize that not all the old rules will work in this area of crime. On the other hand, I certainly have deep and profound respect for the principles on which our Constitution is based and which have made our nation strong."
Maloney said he believes the House draft bill would preserve about 90 percent of Ashcroft's proposals. The difference between the two, he said, is that the House bill "strikes some different balances on some of the issues and provides institutional protection for civil liberties."
Governor Backs Away From Jarjura
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - When he was in Washington this week Governor John Rowland did not formally announce his endorsement of Republican Dennis Odle for Waterbury mayor, but he did say he will meet with the businessman some time next week to discuss his campaign strategy and platform.
Republican Rowland, a Waterbury native, gave an unexpected endorsment to state Rep. Michael Jarjura before the three-way Democratic primary held on Sept. 11. Now in the general election, his plans to meet with Odle may suggest that he is dropping Jarjura to rally behind his party with support of the Republican candidate.
When Rowland gave his primary endorsement to Jarjura, he stopped short of endorsing him in the general election, citing the fact that they had not yet met with Jarjura.
Jarjura won a tight three-way race against political consultant, Larry Depillo, who has announced he is now running as an independent, and Ron Napoli, minority leader of the city's board of aldermen.
The race required an automatic recount after Jarjura received only 16 more votes than Depillo.
The race to succeed jailed Mayor Philip Giordano will likely depend on who can best restore integrity to Waterbury. Rowland praised Jarjura when he endorsed him in the primary.
Rowland called Jarjura a "provenáeffective legislator with the ability to work with Republicans and Democrats.
Governor Discusses Insurance With Delegation in Washington
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - Governor John Rowland came to Washington yesterday to make a pitch for federal underwriting of "terrorism" insurance. Without a federal role similar to the one that Washington plays in underwriting flood insurance, he warned, companies won't be able to buy insurance to compensate for losses they suffer because of acts of terrorism.
The Connecticut governor met with six members of the state congressional delegation at a breakfast hosted by Democratic Sen. Christopher J. Dodd. Joseph I. Lieberman, the state's other Democratic Senator, and four of the six members of the House delegation heard Rowland argue, as he said at a subsequent news conference, for "the importance of terrorism insurance as a way to ensure that businesses large and small will be able to continue to take care of their employees."
Rowland said that terrorism insurance has "got to be uniformly affordable. It's got to be underwritten by the federal government. It's got to have a reserve."
If insurance companies are uncertain about the cost of such insurance, he said, "they either price it so you can't afford it or they don't provide it--and forget the insurance companies providing it, they can't, it's almost impossible to gauge and to price. So the flood insurance model should be the right model for us to follow."
Dodd expressed concern about the cost-efficiency of such a proposal. "There is more than one option," he said. The Governor has mentioned one model, but it could be a very expensive model." He said it was important that Congress take into account the condition of the federal budget when it considers any legislative package.
Lieberman said that he agrees that addressing the terrorism insurance issue is an immediate priority, but he added that he wants to respond realistically.
Rowland, a former insurance agent, told the delegation, "You are going to see airlines looking for terrorism insurance, you are going to see businesses in the city looking for insurance. 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 Jan. 1, 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, and it's imperative to be building New York City."
Rowland said that Jan.1 is a real deadline because casualty insurance for buildings are up for renewal on that date. He wondered who would insure buildings like the Empire State Building after their coverage terminates at the end of the year. "Insurance companies do not want bail-outs, they don't want tax breaks; they want certainty. They can underwrite certainty and they can survive," he said.
Connecticut is home to some of America's largest insurance companies, but Rowland said the issue is "not about the insurance companies. This is about Main Street USA being able to operate." Terrorism, he added, is a threat to businesses of every size.
"My primary concern is the future," Rowland said, "and I know this Congress can respond.á There is a way to do this, but I want a sense of urgency 'cause Jan. 1 a lot of things are going to happen, the airlines are going to fly, there are going to need appropriate coverage, it also effects workers' compensation, disability, life insurance, it's going to effect unions. So it is going to have wide impact.
"So, while we are focused on airlines right now and keeping them healthy, I want to make sure that mom-and-pop businesses can operate in New York City and Hartford, Conn." Because of what happened on Sept. 11, the governor said, he expects many changes that could inconvenience residents of the state. But, he added, "we do live in a free, civil society, and we are going to do all we can to make sure the state of Connecticut is safe, but at the same time that free, civil society is going to allow people to move around and get on with their live."
"We are a free society," said Dodd, but warned "if we start identifying every potential danger, we can cause the terrorists to have a bigger victory than they have already had."
Lieberman added, 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 [from being left unprotected], to be prepared for rapid response if, god forbid, anything does happen. You have an obligation and a responsibility to go on. That's what we are doing."
“Atrocious Site,” says Maloney; WTC Shredded Like Paper
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - Rep. James Maloney (D-5th) traveled by train Wednesday morning from Washington to "the atrocity in New York City" to pay his respects to the 20 to 30 victims of the attack and their families from his district.
"There is a pile of debris about eight stories high covering better than a full city block, just a huge area under a pile of debris," Maloney said in a telephone interview less than two hours after his first visit to the city since the events of Sept. 11.
"The image that comes to me is when you take a stack of paper and put it through a paper shredder; it produces these long, thin strips of paper, and then you can mound it up," he said. "That's what this looks like, except it is a huge mound and, instead 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 the buildings are still burning. "The worst of the fires are out, but they are still smoldering underground," he said. The smoke is still rising and mixing with concrete dust. "It is quite a horrific smell that goes with the horrific vision of this pile of metal girders that are collapsed," Maloney said.
Maloney walked through the debris and the workers at Ground Zero. "I ran into some people from Connecticut and thanked them in particular, most noticeably a state police officer," he said. Connecticut has sent many public relief workers to the site.
Maloney described the overall mood of the people at the site as one of determination. The clean-up effort is extensive, he said. "They are cleaning the streets. They are cleaning the flowerbeds. They are removing the debris and the steel girders." It's all "part of a determination, a commitment, to put it right as much and as quickly as possible, he said."
Maloney described his initial reaction to the scene during a call from his cell phone on the way back from New York. "One reaction I have is one of inspiration and gratitude," he said; adding that he was pleased that he had the opportunity to thank both Mayor Rudolph W.Giuliani and Governor George E. Pataki for the part that New York City and state played in the rescue and recovery effort. Both officials returned the thanks to Maloney for the Connecticut's help.
While in New York, Maloney spoke to federal officials, who described the initial mood after the attack as extreme anger, unlike the frightened and depressed mood they have witnessed after natural disasters. "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," Maloney said.
Maloney had spoken earlier with several of the 20 to 30 families who lost relatives in the tragedy, but the visit to New York, he said, gave him an opportunity to greet them firsthand. While every story is horrible and poignant, Maloney said the one story "burned" into his mind is from a family in the 5th District whose son was one of the first to respond to the emergency. He was apparently killed in the collapse of the building after running in to help people who hadn't gotten out.
"I have talked to his wife, I've talked to his father, Maloney said. "Mixed with the pain that any family would have, there is also a tremendous pride in this man who literally sacrificed his own life apparently in attempting to save the lives of others."
After surveying the site, Maloney predicted, "It's going to take six months or so just to get the site cleaned up, get all of the debris moved out and do all of the onsite forensic investigations and everything."
As for what the city will build at the site in the future, he said no decision has been made, but New York City is clearly committed to rebuilding that site. Maloney also said he is sure there will be a memorial for the people who lost their lives on Sept. 11.
His visit, he said, "puts a huge exclamation point emotionally and mentally for me behind the efforts that we are making."
Dodd Delivery in the Midst of Terror
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - When Sen. Christopher Dodd's baby girl came into this world last Thursday, just two days after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, the first faces she saw were those of her parents, Dodd and his wife, Jackie Clegg. The others who were present for her first moments of life were the doctors and nurses who happened to be of Middle Eastern ethnicity, the same as the prime suspects in the terrorist attacks.
Grace Dodd, a healthy seven lbs. and 20 in., will be "for the rest of her life defining the time of her birth" in relation to last Tuesday's attacks said her father. Dodd, a first-time father at the age of 57, said he waited to find out the sex of the baby until its birth. He and his 39-year-old wife Jackie jointly 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 selected a middle name for the child.
Dodd said he and his wife became friends with the Middle Eastern doctors who cared for their daughter in her first 24 hours. The doctor who delivered Grace was Iranian and the nurse Lebanese. After a shift change, he said Grace was cared for by a pediatrician from Afghanistan.
"Here is this child being born in the midst of thisáthis 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 EastáIt was mind bendingáthey were wonderful people, it was fascinating to talk to themáit so struck me the coincidence and all," said Dodd.
Much congressional business, including campaign fundraising, has been put on the back burner because of both the terrorist attacks and Grace's arrival said Dodd. "I'm taking care of a six-day-old baby, I'm not thinking about fundraising," he said chuckling.
But Dodd, speaking in a committee room of the Capitol, was positively beaming as he described the latest addition to his family and said he and Jackie are learning daily what it means to be parents. "The baby's great, baby's terrific, the little creature doesn't sleep. Only sleeps during the day."
Dodd said the blessed event has definitely changed his life. "It's not something that I thought was going to be a part of my life."
Switching gears to the far less happy subject of last week's attacks on the U.S., Dodd said Congress will "do everything we can to help" President Bush deal with this crisis.
"I equated the attack last Tuesday in New York and Washington with what happened December 7, 1941. This was an act of war, a sneak attack on American soil. That is where the comparison ends, however," said Dodd. Dodd recalled his parents talking about the attack on Pearl Harbor. "We knew the sovereign state responsible. We knew exactly where we had to go. Here we don't, we have a pretty good idea apparently, we are getting closer to where we think we need to go, but even when we try to get there we are dealing with a very, very difficult, difficult situation," said Dodd.
Dodd said there are many issues the U.S. has to address including the damage to the airline, travel and entertainment industries, international aid, intelligence methods and funding defense. "I want to approach this with a certain degree of caution so we don't just react with passion in the heat of the moment," Dodd said.
Dodd said he feels confident that the majority of legislators have a common desire to protect the basic rights of all Americans. "We need to look at ways in which our law enforcement agencies can conduct the kind of surveillance and observation in a way that does not bother people's basic rights," said Dodd.
In Congress' frenzy to provide as much funding as the president wants for aid to victims, military and anti-terrorist operations, he said we must not neglect other important issues. 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."
Dodd said Congress must be careful in its funding of each and every request to be sure that American tax dollars are spent wisely, no matter what the purpose. "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 gonna 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."
Dodd also expressed his concern that the U.S. continues to provide aid to the international population. "I hope we can find a way to address the drastic numbers in the Afghan population who are truly needy."
Dodd said "one of the great ironies of history" is that the United States trained many of those who are now suspected of terrorism against us.
But for this week, and probably for the next few, what was foremost on the senator's mind was the birth of his new daughter.
"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.
And Dodd, who was present throughout the birth, had praise for his wife's fortitude. "Next time I have to get into a foxhole, I'd take a woman with me," he said with a laugh.
Maloney Supports Constituents
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON - Rep. Maloney (D-5th) spent his time in between briefings on the House floor this week to respond to phone calls from his constituents, who sought help in locating their missing loved ones.
Throughout the day following Tuesday's terrorist attacks Maloney received an outpouring of calls from his constituents desperate for answers about their missing loved ones, many of who commute to work at the World Trade Center or were doing business there on Tuesday. At the least, Maloney could get the name of the person missing on a list. He prioritized working with the New York delegation to get a telephone line established specifically to provide information about persons unaccounted for.
Grief-stricken Connecticut residents were also seeking information about social services. Maloney gave them direction for their personal needs which included advice on how to speak with children about the fatal event, handle insurance claims, and find sufficient grief counseling. Maloney also contacted Governor Rowland's office to ensure that Connecticut would send fire and rescue personnel to the relief efforts in New York City.
The overall message Maloney wanted to send to constituents was twofold. First and most importantly, he wanted citizens to keep all of the victims of this attack in their thoughts and prayers and only after making that, "our first priority," did he advise to all that, "We do everything we possibly can to be sure that this never happens again." Maloney said, "We in this country have been very accustomed to a very free way of traveling about the country." This attack will limit that freedom since he predicts, "there will be a substantial increase in security which will lead to an increase in inconvenience" but, "that is a price that unfortunately we will have to pay," said Maloney.
Rep. Maloney will hold a public Community Meeting on the terrorist attack this Saturday at 3 p.m. at 198 Main Street in his congressional office in Danbury. He chose to hold the meeting there since so many residents of Fairfield County work in the financial district and were directly affected by the attacks.
Maloney will give a congressional briefing on the happenings up to that point. He has invited the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and a mental health organization to do presentations for attendees. The meeting will be opened up to residents to "speak their minds and ask questions," according to Maloney's press secretary. Maloney is not sure how he will get home to Connecticut since planes are not yet flying but his press secretary said, "he wants to be there; he will get there one way or the other."
Also at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Maloney's staff from his Waterbury office will be in Danbury holding office hours for constituents who want to meet about their private concerns with the effects of these attacks.
"Ironically," said Maloney, "the regular order for the House this week was to do the defense authorization bill." The defense bill has been pushed forward to next week. Maloney says he doesn't think that the contents of the bill itself will change in the short run. However, he expects to attend an unplanned military briefing within the next few days to the House Armed Services Committee discussing new strategies.
Maloney predicts a shift of focus, especially for the anti-terrorism subcommittee of which he is a member since in light of Tuesday's terrorist attacks, "the view of Congress about terrorism has made a fundamental shift," said Maloney.In the past the anti-terrorism subcommittee has concentrated on protecting U.S. military facilities and embassies. "Now we will broaden our scope to protect civilian targets; the budget will follow that," said Maloney.
"Now the U.S. will not only prevent and retaliate but hunt down terrorists and those that support them. Instead of just pulling attackers out, "root and branch, now there will be an effort to cut down the tree," said Maloney. Maloney attended the two House briefings Wednesday over first, the investigation and next, the relief efforts. He witnessed two senses on the House floor that day and described them as, "very serious, deeply concerned," and "angry...and rightfully so about these attacks." Maloney says he believes all House members "want to take whatever action is needed to make a lasting effect."
Maloney also attended a briefing on Thursday to the Financial Services committee of which he is a member discussing the condition of financial markets in the wake of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. All financial markets are now open except for the equities market, the stock exchange, which will reopen on Monday at 9:30 a.m. The American Stock Exchange is the only exception since it is located right next to where the World Trade Center used to stand.
After the briefing, Maloney was confident that all financial institutions were working fine. He was concerned that the economic burden of the attacks would, he said, "fall not on banks but mostly fall on the insurance industry in the biggest, most expensive insurance loss in the history of the world." The testimony at the briefing contained the opinion that the insurance industry is strong enough to handle it, but this is a, "serious financial blow not only to the U.S., but especially to Connecticut," said Maloney.
Maloney commented on the, "long tradition in American history," in which he cited the motto, "politics stops at the water's edge," referring to the obliteration of partisanship in the government whenever it comes to dealing with the world beyond America.
Congressmen Comment About Attacks
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON -- Rep. James Maloney (D-5th) was attending a meeting yesterday on energy issues at the Hall of States, a few blocks from the Capitol, when he was told about an airplane crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City.
As the meeting broke up, Maloney thought to himself "one plane might be an accident, but two planes means something is wrong." He headed in his car to his office a few blocks away and spotted smoke coming from the Pentagon on the other side of the Potomac River. Maloney called his office by cell phone and was informed that his staff had received orders to evacuate the Capitol building immediately.
Maloney headed to Democratic campaign headquarters, located a few blocks from the Capitol, where he met his press secretary, and his chief of staff. His chief of staff, Janice Morris, had her 20-month-old baby girl Claire with her because she ran and got her from the Capitol day care center when she was directed to evacuate her office.
Maloney sent the rest of his D.C. staff home, but he called his Waterbury office to instruct the staff there to stay open to provide his constituents with information and services.
Maloney described the disaster as "clearly, the largest and most damaging terrorist attack in terms of loss of human life in the history of the United States."
"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.
Maloney said it was too early to tell who was behind the attacks, but he acknowledged that everyone will first suspect terrorist groups from the Middle East.
At 4 p.m. Maloney participated in a conference call conducted by house leaders Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R- IL) and Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO). They announced that Congress would reconvene this morning at 10 a.m. after an intensive security sweep of the Capitol.
When Maloney came to Washington, he said he knew that a tragedy could occur comparable to the Kennedy assassination he recalled from his boyhood. However he "didn't think that anyone was prepared for a terrorist attack against a civilian facility where ordinary people who go about their ordinary lives are suddenly subject to a mass murder."
Maloney predicted that this event would provoke tighter security across the country and said the anti-terrorist subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee, of which he is a member, will undoubtedly take a look at security and terrorism issues in light of these events.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D, CT) also released a statement. "Let me say in the strongest terms that 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.
