Category: Fall 2002 Newswire
Sierra Club Focuses on Sununu-Shaheen Race
By Riley Yates
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002–The Sierra Club, which believes Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen has a better environmental record than that of her opponent, Republican Rep. John Sununu, has highlighted the New Hampshire Senate race as one of the few contests nationwide where environmental issues could swing an election.
“In New Hampshire, environmental issues are taking a more prominent role than ever,” Laura Scott, the chairwoman of environmental education for the Sierra Club’s New Hampshire chapter, said Tuesday at a press conference here.
“Most candidates want to be considered environmental candidates,” she said.
Scott said this environmental focus is surprising from a state with a conservative reputation, but she argued that residents “treasure the clean air and the open spaces we have” and vote with the environment in mind.
In view of this attitude, for the six weeks until the election the Sierra Club plans to send voter packets to New Hampshire residents that say Shaheen has done more for the environment than Sununu and to buy television and radio airtime for ads directed against Sununu.
The voter packets showcase three votes Sununu made in Congress that the Sierra Club says were anti-environment, including a 2000 vote exempting some businesses from cleaning up toxic waste Superfund sites, the main focus of the Sierra Club ads.
The Sierra Club also plans to continue with the grassroots organizing it began before the Sept. 10 primary, Scott said, attending farmers’ markets and county fairs and going door-to-door talking about the candidates’ environmental records.
Sununu’s record was first scrutinized during the GOP primary, when his opponent, Sen. Bob Smith–who won praise for being a conservative who opposed oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge–questioned Sununu on the environment several times, most notably during their televised debates.
Scott credited Smith’s campaign with bringing environmental issues to the forefront in New Hampshire politics.
“I think Smith pushed it [the environment] because he viewed Sununu’s environmental record as one of his weaknesses, which it is,” Scott said.
Julie Teer, Sununu’s campaign spokeswoman, called the Sierra Club’s portrayal of Sununu unfair.
“It’s a partisan group,” Teer said. “Ninety percent of their resources go to electing Democrats.”
“This is absolutely 100 percent political,” she added.
Teer defended Sununu’s record, highlighting legislation to protect a 12-mile section of the Lamprey River that he authored in 1999 and helped pass.
“When you see John Sununu’s record,” Teer said, “it is a record of preservation and results.”
“John has worked to strike the critical balance between protecting the environment and promoting New Hampshire’s economic growth,” she said.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Mass. Unemployment Hits Five Percent: Kennedy Proposes Extending Benefits to 2003
By Randy Trick
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--The Massachusetts job market, and Lawrence's in particular, received a lot of bad news Wednesday, and a glimmer of some good.
Just as the Massachusetts Division of Employment and Training announced the state unemployment rate has jumped from 3.8 percent to 5 percent from August 2001 to August 2002, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) unveiled a legislative proposal to extend federal unemployment benefits through June 2003 in states with high unemployment.
Massachusetts is included in the list of high unemployment states, Kennedy told reporters at a press conference.
Despite Kennedy's assurance, Massachusetts has only the 25th-highest unemployment rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. When Congress extended unemployment benefits in March 2002, many states received 26-week extensions, while the rest of the nation received 13-week extensions. However, Massachusetts stopped qualifying for the 26-week program in June when the state's economy improved slightly.
During the recession in the early 1990s, the 15 states with the highest unemployment received longer extensions, ranging from 20 weeks to 33 weeks, while the other 35 states received extensions of 13 to 26 weeks (see sidebar).
In the Merrimack Valley, the unemployment news coming from Beacon Hill is harder to swallow than elsewhere in the state.
Unemployment in the Lawrence area reached 7.4 percent in August, up from 6 percent during the same month last year. Only the New Bedford area has a higher unemployment rate - 8.1 percent.
But 400 miles down the seaboard, the state's delegation is proposing solutions.
Kennedy's proposal, also written by New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, a fellow Democrat, comes as unemployment nationwide has increased by 2.2 million people, to 8.1 million currently collecting benefits.
For nearly 2 million of these unemployed, their benefits will expire in a few weeks, when the extension from last spring ends.
"The bill we introduce today will extend their benefits just as we have every recession over the past three decades," Kennedy said." Families are struggling, and we must act."
Kennedy and his Democratic co-sponsors said they feel they can pass the bill in the Senate in time, but admit the House - where key Republicans already have denounced the bill - will be a tougher sell.
A statement Wednesday by the Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee said providing longer benefits would lead to more and longer unemployment.
Kennedy has support in the House from fellow Massachusetts lawmaker Rep. Marty Meehan, a Democrat from Lowell. He has been lining up support from his collogues for Kennedy's proposal.
"The administration's economic program is failing, and we must reach out to protect Massachusetts workers and their families that have lost jobs," Meehan said.
Kennedy's bill would stand a better chance of passing if President Bush were to get behind some kind of economic support package, Kennedy and his co-sponsors said.
"The Bush administration has fought efforts to provide adequate unemployment assistance to workers," Kennedy said. "But the administration can no longer afford to ignore [the issue]."
The cost of extending the benefits will draw $14 billion from the federal Unemployment Benefit Trust Fund, Kennedy said. However, he said, the fund already has a surplus of twice that amount.
The unemployment fund comes from taxes on income and business profits and is meant to help those that cannot find jobs, Kennedy said.
"The funds are already there; they're paid into that fund for this kind of emergency," he said. "It's absolutely irresponsible not to use the funds put aside by hardworking people to help."
The extension bill may not see any action until the Senate finishes debating the Homeland Security Act, which Kennedy hoped would conclude this week. After that, he said, he expected his bill would be discussed.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Senate Approves Investigation of 9/11
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--The U.S. Senate gave its approval to one of Sen. Joe Lieberman's homeland security amendments on Tuesday, voting to create an independent 10-person commission to examine the events leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks.
The amendment, co-sponsored by Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), had almost no opposition heading into the vote.
The White House initially opposed creating the commission, but reversed its position last week after taking criticism.
"The overriding purpose of this inquiry must be a learning exercise, to understand what happened without political interference or reconceptions about the ultimate findings," Lieberman said.
Lieberman's staff compared the commission to ones established after Pearl Harbor, the death of President John F. Kennedy, and the Challenger explosion.
The commission would file its initial report within six months, and its final report and recommendations on how to prevent future attacks within a year.
The Senate approved the amendment, 90-8, with Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) voting against it.
The House approved a counterpart measure in July that would limit the range of the commission's inquiry to intelligence issues. The Senate version would also grant authority to examine law enforcement, diplomacy, border controls, immigration and the role of commercial airlines.
House and Senate conferees must resolve the differences between the two versions and reconcile different versions of the homeland security bill to which the amendment was attached before President Bush can sign it into law.
Earlier in the day, Lieberman won another small victory as the Senate defeated, by a 70-28 vote, an amendment by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) that would have required Bush to gain additional congressional approval three times over 13 months before the department became a full cabinet agency.
Lieberman, an opponent of Byrd's amendment, said it would unnecessarily delay creation of the department.
Negotiators are still working to resolve the issue of workers' rights within the new department. Bush has threatened to veto the Democrats' version of the bill because, he says, it limits his flexibility in hiring, firing and re-assigning employees within the department. Democrats say granting the president the extra authority would contradict civil rights agreements for federal employees that have been in place since the 1950s.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Senators Respond to Health Threat of West Nile Virus
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--Chairing a Senate hearing Tuesday on the growing threat of the West Nile virus, Sen. Edward Kennedy called on his fellow lawmakers to help combat the disease.
Congress should "provide adequate funding for public health measures to contain and reduce the spread" of West Nile, Kennedy, D-MA, said, adding that funding must go to local medical facilities so they can directly combat the rising spread of the virus.
"In the war against disease, the battlegrounds will be our nation's emergency rooms, and the heroes will be our nation's health care professionals," Kennedy said in his opening statement.
The hearing, held by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Kennedy chairs, and the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Governmental Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia, chaired by Dick Durbin (D-IL), was the first Senate hearing to focus on West Nile since it became a national epidemic.
This year the virus, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitoes that acquire the virus through the blood of an infected bird or animal, has infected almost 2,000 people and caused at least 94 deaths. The virus can spread quickly because it is present in almost all species of mosquitoes.
As of Sept. 13, the Massachusetts Board of Health reported 11 cases and two deaths. Most of the people stricken with the virus were over 50 years old. An infected mosquito pool was found in Swampscott on Sept.19.
The hearing featured testimony from Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Jesse Goodman, deputy director of the Center for Biologics, Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Witnesses emphasized that while researchers and doctors have made advances in understanding the disease, they still have a way to go in eliminating the threat of the virus.
"This is an evolving epidemic, and we don't know where it's going next," Gerberding said.
Since 1999, when the disease broke out in the United States, communities across the nation have adopted preventive measures such as spraying areas with pesticide, conducting survey tests on birds and mosquitoes and educating residents about the disease through public awareness campaigns.
Recently, the threat of transmitting the West Nile virus through blood transfusions has become a concern. Investigations conducted by the FDA, the CDC, state health departments and blood organizations have garnered preliminary results suggesting that organ transplants and blood transfusions have transmitted the disease.
"It is important to recognize that the true dimension of the risks of either blood transfusion or transplantation spreading West Nile virus is not defined at this time and more information is critically needed," Goodman said in a prepared statement.
The CDC, the FDA and the state health departments are working closely to investigate how many cases of infected transfusions occurred, what preventive measures can be taken, and, most important, how to develop a screening process to detect the West Nile virus in donated blood, Gerberding said.
Witnesses warned that generalized blood screening for West Nile would be a complex and expensive process that could be difficult to implement on a large-scale basis.
The development of a vaccine is also a possible step toward combating the disease. Fauci testified that NIAID has begun to develop a vaccine and expects to move forward with trials early next year. If the trials are successful, a vaccine might be ready within the next few years, Fauci said.
Gerberding stated that this year's funding for federal and state medical facilities is already stretched and that the only way to advance the fight against West Nile is to push for a strong public health system.
"Addressing the threat of emerging infectious diseases such as WNV depends on a revitalized public health system and sustained and coordinated efforts of many individuals and organizations," Gerberding said in her testimony.
The Boston Globe reported on Tuesday that doctors in Mississippi and Georgia have found four patients who contracted a new strain of the virus with symptoms-weak muscles, impaired breathing and fevers-that were similar to that of polio. Discovering a link between West Nile and polio will help in diagnosing and treating infected patients, said the doctors who conducted the study.
For now, witnesses reiterated simple measures all citizens can do to protect themselves, like draining pools of water in backyards, using insect repellent that contains DEET (except on infants), keeping skin covered late at night and checking window screens for holes. Gerberding emphasized the high risk West Nile has for the elderly and said she hoped continued public information campaigns would help prevent additional fatal infections in senior citizens.
Published in The Newburyport Daily News, in Massachusetts.
Nation’s Leading Medical Experts Discuss West Nile Threat With Washington Lawmakers
By Joe Crea
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--As West Nile virus cases continue to increase, two Senate panels held a joint hearing Tuesday on the health threats the virus poses and the overall adequacy of the federal and state response.
"The goal of our hearing is to determine whether all necessary steps are being taken by federal, state and local governments to assist communities afflicted by the West Nile fever," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in his opening remarks.
The committee, together with the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the District of Columbia, heard sworn testimony from Dr. Julie Louise Gerberding, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; and Dr. Jesse Goodman, the Deputy Director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
Gerberding, whose husband contracted a mild strain of the West Nile virus, said the CDC continues to work to strengthen the nation's public health infrastructure, one of the best defenses against any disease outbreak.
Kennedy criticized the Bush Administration's "serious cutbacks" in the public health infrastructure. Gerberding was ambivalent about whether more money was required.
"The system is stretched," she said. "However, we've done the best we can with the resources we have."
Gerberding also urged the public to take precautionary measures such as draining standing water, a haven for mosquitoes, and encouraged individuals, especially older people, to wear insect repellent containing DEET, a chemical that impairs mosquitoes' ability to detect human scents.
The lawmakers seemed reassured that the nation's blood supply was safe as Goodman chronicled and detailed the discriminating donor screening, blood testing and quarantining. He also said that in recent years, there has been a "remarkable decrease" in the transmission of viral diseases through blood, and he encouraged the public to continue donating, because the demand is considerable and the supply remains low.
Responding to a question about how grave a threat the West Nile virus posed to the public, Fauci said the disease would not kill large numbers of people--like HIV, which has taken 23 million lives--but still remains important.
"This is not a massive public health crisis, but it's something that shouldn't be written off as trivial," said Fauci, who predicted that a vaccine would be available within the next few years.
Kennedy said that in the fight against the virus, "the battlegrounds will be our nation's emergency rooms and the heroes will be our nation's health care professionals. To win this war we need to restore funding for hospitals, invest in the training of doctors and nurses and rebuild our public health capacity. The price of victory may be high but the cost of defeat is higher still."
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
Coast Guard to Revolutionize Communication with Boaters
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--As the U.S. Coast Guard braces for a massive shift in becoming a focal point of the proposed Department of Homeland Security, it also is about to dramatically overhaul its search and rescue communication system.
The Coast Guard announced Tuesday a $611 million contract to modernize its 30-year-old system of responding to mariners in distress. By improving search and rescue capacity, the new National Distress and Response System Modernization Project, or "Rescue 21," will improve the Coast Guard's ability to enforce maritime laws, reduce damage to the marine environment, and respond to mayday calls from boaters, according to U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thomas H. Collins.
Using "Rescue 21," a mariner in distress will make the equivalent of a "911" call for help, and the Coast Guard will be able to pinpoint the location of the caller, identify the closest rescue vessels and send help.
"'Rescue 21' will help us to overcome current challenges we have, challenges meaning blind spots in communication," said Phyllis Gamache-Jensen, Public Affairs Chief for the First District Coast Guard, which oversees operations in Gloucester.
The new system also will help the Coast Guard discern between legitimate and illegitimate mayday calls.
"The Northeast has been plagued with fake distress calls for many years," said Gamache-Jensen.
Under the current system, the Coast Guard communicates with mariners by way of radio transmitters, receivers, antenna high sites, and transmission lines. The current communication system covers the U.S. coastline, including the Great Lakes and other interior waterways, out to approximately 20 nautical miles from shore.
However, there are gaps in communication and the Coast Guard is unable to hear distress calls along the 95,000-mile-long U.S. coastline.
Once fully deployed, the new system will reduce those gaps from about 14 percent to less than 2 percent, according to General Dynamics, the Arizona company awarded the contract for developing the system.
"['Rescue 21'] will take the 'search' out of search and rescue," said Admiral Collins.
The award announcement comes amid criticism that the Coast Guard has diverted many of its resources from search and rescue, as well as regulating fishing fleets, to preventing terrorism at the nation's ports.
However, at a Department of Transportation press conference, Collins vehemently disputed these claims.
"If there's any question that the Coast Guard might be abandoning search and rescue do to our increasing homeland security measures, let this $611 million contract be the clear answer to that question," Collins said.
The system design comprises ground-based installations at approximately 270 Coast Guard facilities, more than 300 radio towers, new communications equipment on 657 Coast Guard vessels and 3,000 portable radios.
Boaters will use the same radios they have today to communicate with the Coast Guard.
General Dynamics will field-test the new system in Maryland and New Jersey in 2003, and it is expected to be completed across the United States by 2006.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Kennedy Calls for Funding Increase to Combat West Nile Virus
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said yesterday he wants Congress to increase funding for hospitals and public health programs to protect Americans from the emerging threat of the West Nile Virus.
"In a few short weeks, the virus has spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from border to border," said Kennedy, adding that the virus "can imperil the safety of the blood supply and transplanted organs."
As of Tuesday, 2 deaths and 10 human cases of the mosquito-born disease have been reported in Massachusetts this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 98 deaths in the country since January 1, 2002, according to the CDC.
"What we've learned this summer is that mosquitoes can do more than ruin a backyard barbecue," said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chairman of Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Governmental Management, Restructuring, and the District of Columbia.
In a joint Senate Committee hearing Tuesday, public health officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. National Institute of Health, and the CDC appeared in order to provide lawmakers with information about the emerging health threat posed by the West Nile Virus. The hearing focused on the adequacy of the federal response to the increased disease incidence as well as assessing current blood supply safeguards.
Recent reports have shown that the virus may be transmitted by blood and by transplanted organs.
"We need to determine whether the FDA and other public health agencies are taking proper steps to protect the safety of the blood supply and transplanted organs, and whether the NIH is developing the new vaccines, therapies and diagnostic tests as rapidly as possible to prevent infection and to protect the health of those affected by West Nile," Kennedy said.
Currently, there are no drugs on the market, no vaccines and, no diagnostic tests specifically for the West Nile Virus in blood that is donated or transfused.
However, a vaccine for the elderly, and those most at risk for the disease, could be available within 3 years, according to Anthony S. Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH who testified before the committee yesterday.
In his opening statement, Kennedy condemned the Bush administration's efforts in working to combat the disease.
"Unfortunately, the Administration's budget steps backward when it comes to protecting the public health," he said. "While purporting to provide more funding to hospitals to strengthen public health and combat bioterrorism, the President's budget actually cuts funding to America's hospitals," Kennedy said.
The public health officials yesterday all stressed the need for the public to do its part in preventing the disease.
Julie Louise Gerberding, CDC director, recommended removing standing water where mosquitoes thrive, wearing long sleeves, using insect repellant with DEET, and installing proper screens to protect homes.
Published in The Gloucester Daily News, in Massachusetts
Traffic in Fairfield County Could Worsen
By Andrew Kosow
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--The Senate's overwhelming rejection of an amendment offered by Connecticut's two Democratic senators may have removed the last major obstacle in the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe's 20-year quest to receive federal recognition and move ahead with its plans for a casino in Bridgeport.
The Senate defeated the amendment sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D - Conn.) and supported by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D - Conn.), 85-15, Monday night. Its rejection could clear the way for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hear the tribe's petition for formal recognition.
"The defeat of the Dodd amendment is a great relief to the Golden Hill tribe," the leader of the tribe, Chief Quiet Hawk, told The New York Times immediately after the vote. "It would have been a delay unneeded and unfounded."
Once recognized by the federal government, the Paugussett tribe could go forward with its plans for a casino that many say would worsen the severe traffic congestion on I-95 in Fairfield County.
"It would turn I-95 into a parking lot," Rep. Chris Shays (R-4th) said recently of the proposed casino. "I can't imagine [I-95] would not have to be widened."
A July 2001 report by the South Western Regional Planning Agency titled "Casino Traffic Impact Study" backs up Shays' assessment. "Bumper-to-bumper conditions on a summer Friday would increase from 6 hours today to 14 hours a day," the report said, adding that the average speed on northbound I-95 would lessen from 46 miles an hour to 34 based on what it describes as "conservative estimates" of increased traffic.
Not so, a spokesman for the tribe said. "Bridgeport is an ideal site because of the access," the spokesman said in a phone interview Tuesday. "People can take the Port Jefferson ferry from New York, and there is nearby Sikorsky Airport that will also alleviate traffic." He also indicated that much of the traffic to the Bridgeport casino already would have been going to the Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun casinos and would now have a shorter drive to a casino.
Dodd said in a press release that he was disappointed the Senate rejected his amendment to the Interior appropriations bill. The amendment would have imposed a moratorium on Bureau of Indian Affairs recognition of Indian tribes until major bureau reforms are instituted. But he added that he and Lieberman would continue to push for reforms.
"As we go forward, we will continue to pursue our goal of reforming the system through other avenues," Lieberman said in the same press release. "[We also will] continue showing our colleagues how these recognition decisions are having such an intense impact in Connecticut."
Shays said in a phone interview Tuesday that he had empathy for what the Connecticut senators were trying to accomplish. "The system is broken and it needs to be fixed."
The Bureau of Indian Affairs is scheduled to hear the Paugussetts' application for federal recognition on Jan. 18.
Published in The Hour, in Connecticut.
Majority of Americans Support Funds for Low-Income Heating
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2002--A vast majority of Americans support an increase in funds for a program designed to keep low-income families and seniors warm through the coming winter months, a recent survey says.
Several Northeastern lawmakers gathered Tuesday to tout the new survey as a potential bargaining chip for additional funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a federal program that helps low-income Americans pay their energy bills.
The annual survey, conducted by the Behavior Research Center, a polling firm, found that 78 percent of Americans believe it is more difficult now than five years ago for low-income families to pay energy bills, up from 67 percent three years ago; 78 percent said LIHEAP funding should be increased, and 31 percent of them said the increase should be "substantial."
"The messages we are hearing could not be any more clear," said Rep. Jack Quinn (R-NY), head of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition. "Americans believe in lending a hand when help is needed most."
New Hampshire's House delegation weighed in on the issue Tuesday as well.
"LIHEAP is one of the most important safety nets the government offers to
low income families" second district Rep. Charlie Bass said in a statement.
"This program provides critical fuel assistance to low-income families, and I will work to ensure that funding remains available in the coming fiscal year," first district Rep. John Sununu pledged in a statement.
New Hampshire is set to receive $10.8 million to $13.2 million out of a total federal package that could range from $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion, said New Hampshire Fuel Assistance Program manager Celeste Lovett.
Still, she said, the $13.2 million maximum was "bare bones."
Despite concerns over national security and war, most Americans realize the need for the LIHEAP program, said the survey, which interviewed 800 Americans. It was commissioned by the Campaign for Home Energy Assistance, a lobbying group.
Among the figures included in the survey results: 72 percent of respondents said home heating help for the poor is too important to sacrifice for military spending; and 73 percent said it makes more sense for the federal government to pay the winter heating bills of low-income and elderly people than to pay for housing them in hospitals or shelters if they become ill or are forced from their homes.
Two-thirds of families receiving LIHEAP assistance earn less than $8,000 a year, and home heating costs are expected to grow by an average of 17 percent for natural gas customers and over 40 percent for Northeast heating oil customers, according to the Department of Energy's forecast.
Now uncertainty is high, Lovett said, because the budget plan for fiscal year 2003, and emergency funding for the coming winter, have not been released.
An appropriations bill for LIHEAP funding was passed by the Senate but is pending in the House.
The Senate legislation allots a guaranteed $1.7 billion for the program and an extra $300 million for emergency - termed contingency - spending.
But while growing uncertainty over a potential showdown with Iraq also has helped contribute this year to the rise in fuel prices, the Bush administration has not released any LIHEAP contingency funding for the winter.
The administration released $100 million from the contingency allotment in August, but New Hampshire did not qualify for the aid. That package was intended to provide relief from the summer heat and did not focus on home heating.
In addition, legislation attached to a congressional energy that House and Senate lawmakers are currently negotiating would increase the LIHEAP authorization ceiling to $3.4 billion.
Sununu and Bass, along with 72 other House members, have signed a letter to President Bush asking for the release of $200 million in contingency funds left over from last year for the coming winter.
"I am hopeful that President Bush will answer our call for the release of contingency LIHEAP funds to help New Hampshire and other Northeast states properly serve the many families in need for the coming winter," Bass said.
But Lovett said that, at least in the past, the Bush administration hasn't supplied adequate help.
"This past year our funding level was much less because no contingency funds were released" until after the winter, Lovett said. "New Hampshire did not have enough funds to supply all of the people" who qualified.
In fact, according to Lovett, 3,860 New Hampshire residents who qualified for the aid did not receive full benefits. Although some emergency and partial benefits were released, 527 of those people did not receive any funds at all.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Capitol Police Testing Segway
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Sept 24, 2002--The Capitol Police Department began testing two Segway Human Transporters last week in an effort to improve response time and effectiveness around Capitol Hill.
"It is very important" for Capitol police officers "to interact with the public and do hands-on work," deputy chief Marsha Krug said. "Standing on the Segway gives you the ability to have that personal interaction."
The two Segway devices are being leased from the New Hampshire-based company for two months, and Krug said different divisions within her department would be testing the vehicles every day.
Officers need to move from the various congressional office buildings quickly, she said.
"On the Segway a person can move rather quickly to an incident to assist in any kind of situation."
While the units have a clear upside, Krug said, there is already some concern that the department's money would be better spent on mountain bikes or motorcycles.
She said that the Segway costs $4,000 to $5,000, depending on the features, and that there is some concern officers would become "less fit" if they rarely had to walk on patrols.
Krug said a company representative approached the Capitol Police with the idea while in Washington, and the department is making a constant attempt to try out different options and delivery systems.
She said the District of Columbia Parks Department has been experimenting with the device as well.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
