Category: Fall 2002 Newswire
Sununu Attends ‘Historical’ Signing
By Riley Yates
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002–As Rep. John Sununu watched President Bush sign the resolution authorizing U.S. use of force against Iraq, he reflected on what a historical moment it was, he said later.
Very rarely, Sununu said in an interview after the White House ceremony, is Congress asked to debate whether to allow the country to go to war. He said he was glad Congress had made the decision to support the president’s efforts to disarm Iraq.
Sununu, who was sitting offstage, just to the right of the president, was one of about 100 legislators attending the ceremony.
“This will send an unmistakable message to our allies and Iraq,” Sununu said, reiterating comments Bush made before he signed the resolution. “I think it is a step forward in an effort to secure world peace.”
Congressional support of Bush is important, Sununu said, because it makes the United Nations realize how committed the United States is to eliminating Iraq’s biological and chemical weapons capabilities and denying it any nuclear capacity.
The United Nations General Assembly Wednesday held its first meeting on Iraq since the resolution passed the House, 296-133, and the Senate, 77-23, last week. All four members of the all-Republican New Hampshire delegation voted for it.
Bush must be credited with the resolution’s smooth passage, Sununu said. “I think the president made a strong case.”
Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Sununu’s Democratic opponent in their closely contested Senate race, has also been a vocal supporter of Bush’s efforts to contain Iraq.
“[The resolution] was very important,” Colin Van Ostern, her spokesman, said Wednesday. “All options must be on the table.”
“The next step,” Van Ostern added, “is for the president to proceed on the path he’s begun.”
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Kennedy Starts Talk on Raising Federal Minimum Wage
By Randy Trick
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--Standing in front of a chart featuring a caricature of an empty-pocketed man reminiscent of the 1951 board game "Boom or Bust," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy Wednesday denounced the congressional Republican leaders who are set to block his plan to increase the minimum wage.
Kennedy used a press conference to unveil his proposal to increase the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.65 an hour over the next five years for the workers who "work hard and play by the rules."
"The Senate of the United States and the House of Representatives still have time to pass a minimum wage increase," Kennedy said. "We have seen our Republican friends in leadership object to it and oppose it, but we haven't given up."
In 1996, when the minimum wage was increased from $4.25 an hour over two years, Kennedy was the main mover of the legislation. He and his fellow Massachusetts Democrat Sen. John F. Kerry ground floor action to a halt to confound then-Majority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan. After much partisan wrangling, Kennedy and his Democratic colleagues pushed the increase through.
Since then, the buying power of the minimum wage has decreased with inflation. The $5.15-an-hour minimum wage set in 1997 is worth $4.60 in 2002 and will be worth only $4.49 in 2003, according to Kennedy.
A modest rate of inflation, currently 1.24 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, gradually decreases how far a dollar can be stretched. Some states, such as Alaska and Washington, annually increase their state minimum wage as inflation increases.
On the federal level, Congress would have to vote to increase the minimum wage. Kennedy said he is seeking to do what should have been done years ago - bring the minimum wage up to a level where families can make it.
"Our increases in 1996 and 1997 will virtually be eliminated because of the gradual creep of inflation if we take no further action this year," Kennedy said.
With the senator Wednesday were representatives of the National Urban League, an advocacy group focused on conditions for blacks in the nation's large cities. Hugh B. Price, president of the group, said increasing the minimum wage would help pull 1.4 million urban families out of poverty.
The $3,000-a-year increase would give full-time workers the equivalent of 15 months of groceries, eight months of rent, seven months of utilities or ay a year's tuition at a community college, according to Kennedy.
"This issue is really all about the dignity of the men and women that earn the minimum wage," Kennedy said. These wage earners are janitorial workers, service employees, hotel and restaurant workers and childcare workers, he said.
The senator also said the minimum wage is a women's issue because many minimum-wage earners are women, a children's issue because many minimum-wage earners are single mothers and a civil rights issue because many earning the minimum are minorities.
Kennedy faced fierce opposition from a Republican-controlled House and Senate in 1996, and indications are that he may face it again. While Republican leaders have looked favorably at tax cut ideas that Democrats proposed Tuesday, increasing the minimum wage is a decidedly partisan issue.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Connecticut Laying Out Smallpox Plan
By Marty Toohey
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--The Connecticut Public Health Department is nearly finished with a comprehensive smallpox vaccination and counter-bioterrorism plan, and full details should be announced by the second week of November, public health commissioner Dr. Joxel Garcia said Wednesday.
Use of smallpox in bioterrorism has concerned public health officials nationwide since the attacks of Sept. 11.
Garcia's plan includes a comprehensive education campaign and the means to vaccinate all of the state's 3.4 million residents within a 30-day period. Although most of the framework will be in place by mid-November, some key details, such as the number of immunizations and exact dates, are contingent on whether President Bush enacts a nationwide vaccination plan. Garcia said he's particularly eager to know if "mass vaccinations or only a limited amount" will be available from the federal government.
There is widespread speculation that Bush could implement the nationwide plan by December, but Garcia and other Connecticut medical workers said they haven't heard any more than rumors.
"None of us [in the hospitals] know for sure," said Louise-Marie Dembry, director of the epidemiology laboratory at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
Garcia had a guess, though.
"The federal government, through the Centers for Disease Control [and Prevention], is asking us to have a plan by December, so I would assume December is a good bet," Garcia said.
The CDC asked each state to present a comprehensive plan by December, and Garcia wanted Connecticut's plan finished early "to act as a template for other states. We have a lot of knowledge about the proper way to vaccinate. We want to share that."
Garcia has a statewide group of advisers, including public health, National Guard and law enforcement officials and emergency medical personnel, helping him craft the plan.
The plan would call for federal workers to administer a "first wave" of vaccinations to key medical personnel across the state. Garcia gave 100 to 250 as a rough number for the first wave, but the numbers are still far from certain, he said. People vaccinated would include core personnel from hospitals, such as lab technicians and emergency medical units. They would also receive immunization-related training.
The first wave would then be responsible for vaccinating about 10,000 selected people in the event of an outbreak, and those 10,000 in turn would be responsible for vaccinating the rest of the population.
Under the plan the entire state would be immunized within 30 days, Garcia said.
"It is comprehensive, and it should fit into any guidelines the [federal] government creates" if Bush implements a nationwide plan, he said.
The state health department's plan would incorporate the Yale-New Haven and Hartford Hospitals as "bases" in the event of bioterrorism. The bases would also help with things like training, technology and surveillance, Garcia said.
Individual "sentinel" healthcare workers across the state would also be trained to spot cases or potential outbreaks. An area's population density and number of at-risk workers will determine the number of its sentinels, Garcia said. The sentinel workers would not necessarily be among the first people immunized, he said.
The names of the sentinel providers will be kept secret for security reasons, Garcia said.
The plan would also include a statewide education campaign. Smallpox vaccinations must be carefully applied, and the state wants to ensure the vaccine is administered properly.
"This is not as simple as going to the shopping center for the flu," Garcia said.
The state's current outbreak plan is to isolate a diagnosed carrier, find and test individuals the carrier had contact with and work outward until all carriers have been located. A CDC team should arrive within a few hours of the first diagnosis and administer the vaccine, which is usually effective up to four days after contraction of the disease, Garcia said.
A smallpox vaccine hasn't been administered in the United States since 1972, and the disease was declared eradicated in 1980.
Previous vaccinations may provide limited protection, but probably wouldn't offer full protrection, Yale-New Haven's Dembry said.
About one-third of all smallpox cases in the 1960s were fatal, but Dembry said modern methods may reduce that percentage.
"Or it may not," she said. "We just don't know at this point."
The United States and Russia are known to possess small amounts of the virus, but defense experts fear terrorist organizations or enemy nations may acquire it.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Bush Signs Resolution Authorizing Force Against Iraq
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--Joined by members of his Cabinet and congressional lawmakers, President Bush signed a resolution Wednesday authorizing the use of force against Iraq. Congress approved the resolution last week with comfortable majorities in both houses.
Rep. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.), the only New Hampshire representative to attend the ceremony in the White House East Room, said later in a phone interview that he felt it was important to be there because he wanted to witness the signing of the resolution.
Sununu added that he also wanted to be present because a congressional vote authorizing the president to go to war is a rare occurrence.
"It is important to show that the country is united behind the president," Sununu said.
"The resolution I'm about to sign symbolizes the united purpose of our nation, expresses the considered judgment of the Congress and marks an important event in the life of America," Bush said in his speech. "The 107th Congress is one of the few called by history to authorize military action to defend our country and the cause of peace."
Bush praised members of both parties in Congress and said, "They have deliberated with care and they have spoken with clarity on behalf of the American people."
Sununu agreed and said he believes that "people in New Hampshire understand that we need to do what's necessary to protect our national security."
Throughout his speech, Bush reiterated that Iraq must meet demands that include disarmament and destruction of all biological and chemical weapons, dismantling of any nuclear weapons program, release of or accountability for all Gulf War personnel and an end to support for terrorists--or force by a united coalition would be required.
"I have not ordered the use of force," Bush said. "I hope the use of force will not become necessary. Yet confronting the threat posed by Iraq is necessary, by whatever means that requires."
Sununu said he believes the next step following the signing will be to turn to the United Nations Security Council for action before the use of force becomes necessary.
"I believe that the president is committed to working through the Security Council and to work with the U.N.," Sununu said.
"Every nation that shares in the benefits of peace also shares in the duty of defending the peace," Bush said. "The time has arrived once again for the United Nations to live up to the purposes of its founding to protect our common security."
Bush signed the resolution as the United Nations began its first day of debate on the situation in Iraq.
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
Smith Eligible for Federal Pension, Other Benefits
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--Just because Sen. Bob Smith probably won't be working for the federal government after he leaves the Senate in early January, it doesn't mean the government won't still be paying him.
Smith hasn't made his retirement plans public yet. But one thing is sure: after 18 years in Congress and two years of active duty in Vietnam, Smith will be eligible for a federal pension for the rest of his life.
Smith, who was elected to the House in 1984, can choose to be covered under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), and also is eligible to receive Social Security retirement benefits when he turns 62 on March 30.
Smith's press secretary Eryn Witcher said that because Smith was still working he had not asked for his pension to be calculated.
But according to a formula from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), members who have served 20 years and are 60 years old are eligible to begin receiving their pension immediately.
Although Smith served only 18 years in Congress, he can add his two years of service in the Navy to his total and thus qualify for immediate benefits.
Should he do so, Smith would be eligible for 1.7 percent of the average of his three highest earning years in the federal government, multiplied by the number of years he served in Congress.
Under this formula, Smith, who has earned $150,000 a year for the past three years, according to OPM, would get an annual pension of $51,000 a year if his military service is included in his years of service total.
Members of Congress are also eligible to receive the same health and life insurance benefits as other federal employees.
The federal government offers about 250 different plans, and the most popular fee-for-service family plans available in New Hampshire for Smith-Blue Cross-Blue Shield's basic family plan or its standard family plan,--would put his premium, paid every other week, at either $75.74 or $94.83, according to OPM.
Smith also is eligible to purchase federal life insurance for himself and his family for up to five times his final salary.
Officials at OPM said the federal health and life insurance plans are attractive to many people because they are inexpensive and numerous.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Companies Not Being Advised to Move Offshore
By Max Heuer
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--A Treasury Department official said Wednesday that accounting and consulting companies have stopped advising client companies to move their headquarters to countries that provide tax havens.
"Those kind of marketing activities have been put on ice," said assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy Pam Olson at a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury and General Government. "We are cautiously optimistic that we've turned the corner."
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who chairs the subcommittee and was the only senator to attend the hearing, said the public embarrassment and media attention paid to embattled New Hampshire-based Tyco International has perhaps made companies reevaluate whether to move their headquarters.
Olson agreed, saying it was probably also "a combination" of the public pressure and the Internal Revenue Service's "getting more aggressive." She added, "There is still a lot of work to be done."
Dorgan opened the hearing by playing a recording of an Internet broadcast by Ernst & Young, in which one of the accounting and consulting firm's partners, Kate Barton, citedTyco as an example of offshore success.
In the recording, Barton says of the offshore move, "The improvement on earnings is powerful enough to say that maybe the patriotism issue should take a back seat."
Tyco reportedly saved $400 million in 2001 by moving its headquarters in 1997 to Bermuda, where it pays no U.S. taxes on sales abroad and can lower its U.S. taxes on sales in the United States. Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski was indicted last month in New York on charges of enterprise corruption and grand larceny--stealing about $600 million from the company. Kozlowski resigned as chairman and CEO of the Exeter-based firm earlier this year amid accusations of tax evasion and misuse of Tyco funds.
But while Tyco was used symbolically at the hearing as an example of a company that moved offshore and failed, the Connecticut-based tool company Stanley Works was cited as a company that decided to move offshore but then stayed in the country once the spotlight was turned on its planned move.
The Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating Stanley Works for possibly deceiving shareholders on the economic effect of a move to Bermuda, when it decided on Aug. 1 to cancel the move less than three months after receiving shareholder approval to go offshore.
"Stanley Works decided to do the right thing," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal testified. "But there are corporations that already did go to Bermuda and are being favored because they did the wrong thing."
He added that the Connecticut company was under heavy legal and public pressure at the time and is now at a "strong competitive disadvantage" because its main competitors exploit the loophole.
Dorgan also emphasized a lack of patriotism in company managers who move their companies offshore, but he said there are still many admirable American companies.
He asked whether companies that move their headquarters to Bermuda should receive the military protection of the United States.
"To Mr. Kozlowski and others, maybe they should call on the Bermuda Air Force and Navy to protect them," Dorgan said, noting that Bermuda's military numbers only 27 soldiers.
"Isn't it the case [that corporations that move offshore] are saying, 'We don't want to contribute to this country's defense'" Dorgan added.
Bills pending in both chambers would close the loophole.
"I support reform of the tax code that would eliminate this type of loophole," Rep. John Sununu said in a phone interview after the hearing. He added that he supports a measure proposed by Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA) that would penalize the stock holdings of executives whose companies move abroad, calling it "a step in the right direction."
Colin Van Ostern, a spokesman for Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Sununu's Democratic opponent for the Senate, said in a phone interview, "One of Gov. Shaheen's top priorities is to shut down offshore corporate tax loopholes." Because of the loopholes, he added, "New Hampshire small businesses are forced to play on an unequal playing field."
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
President Bush Stumps for Maine GOP Candidates
WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2002--President Bush is scheduled to be in Bangor Tuesday for a rally supporting Republican candidates for office.
According to Chuck Mahaleris, campaign manager for House candidate Steven Joyce, the president will be at Hangar 12 at the Bangor International Airport at 6 p.m.
Mahaleris said he expects people from all corners of Maine to attend the rally, which will support Republican candidates, including Sen. Susan Collins, gubernatorial candidate Peter Cianchette and House candidates Kevin Raye, running in the 2nd District, and Joyce, running in the 1st District. Last week, former President Bill Clinton held a rally for Democratic candidates at the Augusta Civic Center.
Although the White House had not formally announced the president's travel plans as of Wednesday afternoon, Cynthia Bergman, communications director for the Maine Republican Party, confirmed Bush's plan to attend the rally and said Vice President Dick Cheney was expected to be in Portland on Monday. Cheney was scheduled to hold a fundraiser for GOP candidates at the Sheraton in South Portland at 11:30 a.m.
"A visit from the president and the vice president with less than three weeks to go is a huge boost to our candidates and our supporters as well," Bergman said.
Campaign managers for Collins, Cianchette and Raye had no comment Wednesday afternoon on Bush's rally plans. Joyce's office alone is distributing 500 tickets for what they call "a big win for Maine."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
Kennedy Leads Democrats’ Charge Against Bush Economy
By Randy Trick
WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2002--Calling on Republican leaders in Congress and in the White House to acknowledge an urgent need to improve the economy, Massachusetts's senior senator, Edward M. Kennedy, on Tuesday rallied the Democratic troops for discussions in the Senate on revitalizing the economy.
Saying the Senate can no longer "sit around and say we don't have an economic crisis," Kennedy called on President Bush to play ball with Democrats who are seeking to extend unemployment benefits, increase the minimum wage and give employees more control over their pensions.
"We have…foreclosures on homes, the highest rate since the time of the Depression…. We have double-digit inflation in health care and we still say 'Well, it isn't really robbing the pockets of the families to pay.' We don't really see the tuition rising," Kennedy said on the Senate floor.
"Why is all that coming in place now under a Republican administration?" Kennedy asked in remarks that were intended to set the tone for the coming discussion.
Kennedy's comments came after two key Democratic leaders, House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, blasted Bush Tuesday for letting the economy slide and asked him to get on board for immediate tax cuts and other steps to stimulate economic growth.
Gephardt's economic revitalization package carries a $200 billion price tag, and includes $75 billion in tax cuts, $25 billion in spending for school construction and $75 billion for health care, particularly for Medicaid and for jobless workers who have lost health insurance.
The initial response from the White House was terse. The president's press secretary, Ari Fleischer, called the tax cut idea "interesting."
A measure Kennedy strongly supports to extend unemployment benefits until next July 14 is pending in the Senate. Kennedy, on the floor Tuesday, cited the rising unemployment rate in Massachusetts, which has reached 5 percent, according to state officials.
"Travel with me through many of the New England states, including my own state of Massachusetts, where we have the highest unemployment," Kennedy said.
In the Merrimack Valley, unemployment reached 7.4 percent in August, the highest in the state after New Bedford. with 8.1 percent, according to the Massachusetts Division of Employment and Training.
Kennedy also pointed to the national trend, where, he said, 8 million people are unemployed while only 3.2 million new jobs are available.
Kennedy was expected to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon, where he will call for an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.65 an hour.
At the press conference, representatives of the National Urban League were expected to say that the $1.50 increase would help 1.4 million households from going hungry or becoming homeless.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Daniel Webster’s Desk Switches Hands
By Riley Yates
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2002--From the galleries, it could be any of the desks lining the second row of the Senate floor. But carved inside the drawers of the Daniel Webster desk is a long history of the representatives of New Hampshire.
In recent decades, the senior senator from New Hampshire has used the desk. With Sen. Bob Smith leaving the Senate, the desk will be passed on to Sen. Judd Gregg, who, as the chief deputy whip, will move it to the front row of the Senate floor, alongside desks belonging to other members of the Republican leadership.
Gregg will become the 19th senator to carve his name in the desk's drawer, joining the likes of fiery Webster, the first known owner of the desk, who was born in New Hampshire but became a senator from Massachusetts; the Massachusetts abolitionist Charles Sumner; and every modern senior New Hampshire senator starting with Sen. Norris Cotton, who served from 1954 to 1975.
It was Cotton who guaranteed that the desk would remain in New Hampshire hands. In 1974, he authored the legislation that made the desk the right of the senior New Hampshire senator.
Others who have sat at the desk include New Hampshire Sens. Warren Rudman, Gordon Humphrey and John Durkin.
There are only two other such desks, Henry Clay's, which goes to the senior senator from Kentucky, and Jefferson Davis's, which goes to Mississippi's senior senator.
The desk meant very much to Smith, its most recent owner. It is "near and dear to [Smith's] heart," his spokeswoman, Lisa Harrison, said in a recent e-mail, and in speeches and editorials Smith has often mentioned the desk.
"This desk reminds me every day that we are but temporary stewards of our great nation," Smith said in a statement.
Much like the nation, the desk is surrounded in legends. Because the Senate Curator's Office did not record where Senators sat until 1985, the knowledge of who sat in the chair and when lies in the order of the names carved into it.
It may have been the desk where Sumner was beaten by Rep. Preston Brooks of South Carolina in 1856-an early indicator that the issue of slavery had polarized the nation.
Sumner had given a two-day, 112-page speech opposing the admission of Kansas into the Union as a slave state. Calling it "a crime against Kansas," Sumner condemned slavery, as well as pro-slavery advocate Sen. Andrew Butler of South Carolina.
Brooks, who was related to Butler, took offense and entered the Senate chamber after adjournment and beat Sumner repeatedly with his cane.
The beating outraged the North, but Brooks's office quickly was flooded with canes sent from the South. In the House, Southern members refused to vote for a motion to censure Brooks.
The division of the nation over slavery had been made painfully apparent.
Another tale surrounding the desk lies in its lack of a three-to-four inch writing box, which was added to the top of all the Senate desks beginning in the 1830s.
Webster supposedly refused to have the desk altered because he wanted to use the same version that senators before him had used.
"If the desk was good enough for his predecessors, it was good enough for him," Don Ritchie, associate historian of the Senate Historical Office, said.
Webster's decision to not to allow the alteration was typical of people born in an independent-leaning state whose motto is "live free or die," Ritchie said.
He was a maverick figure, Ritchie said, both in the Senate, where he served four terms starting in 1827, and as Secretary of State for Presidents William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and Millard Fillmore.
He was best known for his eloquent speeches, Ritchie said.
"He was the great orator of the Senate," Ritchie said, perhaps the great orator of his day.
"People would line up for hours to listen to him," Ritchie said.
And, Rudman wrote in his 1996 memoir, Combat: Twelve Years in the U.S. Senate, he was truly a native son of New Hampshire.
"[The] senior senator has the special privilege of carving his name in Daniel Webster's desk because, although Webster represented Massachusetts, he was a New Hampshireman," Rudman wrote.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Remaining N.H. Delegates Endorse Iraq Resolution
By Riley Yates
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2002--Rep. Charlie Bass and Sen. Bob Smith reiterated their endorsement of President Bush's resolution allowing the use of force in Iraq. They were the last two members of the all-Republican New Hampshire delegation to air their views on the House and Senate floors.
With Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in power, America's security would be perpetually at risk, both said.
Because of the large volume of members wishing to speak on the issue, Bass submitted his statement for the Congressional Record Wednesday night. Smith was expected to speak late Thursday night but provided reporters with an advance copy of his speech.
Both said a preemptive strike against Iraq made sense in the post-Sept. 11 world.
Congress needs to "ensure that the citizens of America do not live in fear of another tragic terrorist attack or of harm from rogue nations," Bass said.
Smith said America must learn a lesson from the Sept. 11 attacks: that it must prevent these kinds of attacks before they occur.
U.S. officials knew that Osama bin Laden was dangerous, Smith said, but failed to act quickly enough to prevent him from killing Americans.
"We cannot afford to make miscalculations like this again. The price is simply too large to bear," he said. "We must be proactive, otherwise our very survival as a nation is at risk."
It is impossible to trust Saddam Hussein, both Bass and Smith said.
"After a decade of deceit and deception, in which we have permitted a hostile dictator to repeatedly violate every agreement we have in good faith put before him, the use of force has become a necessary option," Bass said.
Smith agreed, saying that "as long as [Saddam Hussein] remains in power, U.N. resolutions and weapons inspections will not contain Saddam, protect America, our friends and allies, nor the Iraqi people."
Sen. Judd Gregg and Rep. John Sununu, the other members of the New Hampshire delegation, gave speeches in support of the Iraq resolution earlier this week.
The House passed the resolution Thursday, and the Senate was expected to follow later Thursday or Friday.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
