Category: Margaret Stevenson
Do You Know What Video Game Your Kid Is Playing?
VIDEOGAME
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
Dec. 14, 2006
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 —This holiday season, as video games top kids’ wish lists, parents may want to spend a little more time understanding what their children are asking for, according to recent studies.
Most video games are rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, a video game industry-sponsored group, but the National Institute on Media and the Family, a non-profit group that monitors children’s entertainment, concluded in its annual “Video Games Report Card” that parents needed to be more involved in what is age appropriate for their children.
As consoles like the popular PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 have improved their technology, the graphics have become more intense as well. With the average gamer being 33 years old, many games are geared towards adults, according to Patricia Vance, the rating board president.
At issue is how parents can be sure their children are playing appropriate games and whether legal intervention is required to aide them.
“Frankly, if a parent can’t figure out what’s in a game from those descriptors, then they must not be looking at the box,” said Adam Thierer of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a conservative think tank. “It’s right there to see.”
Besides the Entertainment Software Rating Board, there are other ways for parents to learn about the games their children are playing. Jay Senter of Commonsense Media, a non-profit group that closely analyzes the content of mass media, noted that there is an abundance of material available.
“For so many parents today, it is an overwhelming job—to keep track of what kids are exposed to,” he said. “We provide parents with an information source.”
New London mom Nicole Dallas said she is careful in not letting her 14-year-old son get his hands on violent video games.
“I’m on top of it,” said Dallas, a mother of three who heads the PTA at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, and works at the school, said she checks what kind of games her kids play.
Sue Radway, the director of the Youth Service Bureau in Waterford and a parent as well, said she thinks more parental awareness is needed in that area.
“The best way to know what kids are doing is to do it with them,” Radway said. “It’s the holiday season and a kid says, ‘I want Grand Theft Auto’ on their Christmas list and the parents may go out and buy it.”
Grand Theft Auto, is not only one of the most popular video games, but also one of the most violent, rated by the board as “M-17,” a mature rating that is designed for those aged 17 and older.
Not every parent is as aware of these issues.
While 70 percent of parents surveyed said they pay attention to ratings, less than one-third of kids polled said their parents followed ratings, according to a recent report by the National Institute on Media and the Family.
“For that reason, this year we are shining the spotlight on parents,” said the institute’s Dr. David Walsh. “That it’s now our job to kind of step up and say, you know, there are some things that we need to do. We need to pay attention to the ratings. We need to use the tools that are now in the consoles.”
Thierer noted that many next-generation consoles sold today have tools that allow parents to control what their kids are watching and/or playing.
Last week, the rating board announced a new television ad campaign that explains the rating systems to parents. Vance said mature ratings should be taken seriously and that big retailers have stepped up their support of the Entertainment Software Rating Board’s system.
“Video games, without a doubt, are one of the most popular forms of entertainment for our children, and half of all the total game sales for the year are happening right now, for the holiday season,” said Vance.
Dallas’ son, Frankie Dallas, a 14-year-old student at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, said his parents traded in his violent games after hearing about a school shooting where the shooter said he had been playing video games earlier that day.
“I don’t mind that my mom is tough on what we can play,” Frankie said. “She doesn’t want us to have messed up lives.”
Carlos Burns, a 24-year-old sales floor representative at the Target in Waterford said the problem isn’t with retailers selling games to underage kids, but with parents buying them.
The National Institute on Media and the Family gave an “A” to major retailers like Best Buy, Target, and Wal-Mart for asking for identification 100 percent of the time that the institute had its “secret shoppers” try to buy games that had “M-17” ratings.
“The system at Target is that they have to look older than 41 in order to purchase an M-17 rated game,” Burns said. “Since it is the holiday season, parents are buying a lot of these games for them.”
Sens. Joseph Lieberman, the Connecticut Independent., and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., have co-sponsored a bill with Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., that would award grants to study the impact of media on children. Lieberman said he plans to reintroduce the bill in the coming Congress.
Currently, there is no federal regulation of videogame content. Retailers and most of the gaming industry use the Entertainment Software Rating Board system as a voluntary standard.
Lieberman praised the rating system and said, “This is about parents exercising some responsibility for what their children play and see and therefore to protect their children from the worst impact of them.”
Doug Lowenstein, president of the Entertainment Software Association, which represents the gaming industry, said Lieberman and Clinton have “been unwavering in their belief that our industry has a responsibility to give parents the tools they need to make sound decisions about the games that come into their homes.”
Clinton called the ad campaign a “great step forward” adding, “The ratings only work if parents understand them and if retailers enforce them.”
But Jack Thompson, a lawyer who has advocated regulation of the video game industry, said the new campaign was just a way for the industry to avoid future regulation.
Legislation has been proposed at the state and federal levels to try to regulate the sale of certain video games to minors by setting the board’s rating system as a national standard. So far, most of the legislation has been unsuccessful on the grounds that private sector standards cannot be used by the government nationally.
The issue has become so controversial that a Web site called www.GamePolitics.com, is devoted to keeping an eye on the clash between the video game industry and legislators.
“I perceived there was quite a lot going on in this area but very little consistent tracking of what was happening,” explained Dennis McCauley, who launched the site in 2005.
Kevin Bankston a staff attorney and First Amendment expert at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization that opposes regulation on free speech grounds, said that a government-imposed rating system would be unconstitutional and called the attempts by politicians to pass that legislation “political maneuvers.”
“Video games are speech and these attempts are unconstitutional,” Bankston said.
Thompson said the solution is for Congress “to pass a law banning the sale of mature video games to kids and then proving to the court they are harmful. Very simple.”
Complicating the debate is the controversy about whether violence in video games has any effect on the behavior of minors.
Lieberman noted that more than 2,000 studies that have been done indicate violence in the media has adverse affects on children.
Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine recently announced that adolescents who play violent video games may have differences in activity levels in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and self-control.
Nicole Dallas of New London said she worries that playing violent video games does affect behavior.
“If you plant bad things, bad things will come out,” Dallas said. “Children play games and don’t understand that life is not like that game.”
She said parents can get involved by communicating and being interested in what their children are doing.
“Make time, make that game, don’t show up at the school when you get a call from the dean,” she said. “Show up on open school night. Let teachers know as well as the child that you care.”
Parents need to check the ratings of the games their kids are playing, Dallas said.
Her son does not blame his mom for regulating his use of violent video games, saying he hopes to have a good life and knows that his mom only wants the best for him.
The 14-year-old says he has big dreams of playing for the NFL and afterward he wants to become a scientist.
“My mom just wants us to lead decent lives,” Frankie said.
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Simmons’ Office Prepares to Pack Up After Losing One of Nation’s Closest Races
SIMMONS
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University News Service
November 16, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 —Filled cardboard boxes, taped and ready to be shipped back to Connecticut, were stacked up in the congressional office of Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) on Thursday morning, proof that after six years in office and a tough fight in the midterm elections, he is going home.
“It’s sort of like going through old photographs,” Todd Mitchell, Simmons’ chief of staff, said with a touch of nostalgia. “There are files from when Rob was a freshman.”
Clad in a dark Tommy Hilfiger sweater, jeans, flip-flops and capped with a hat from the basketball team of University of Maryland, his alma mater, Mitchell moved about the office, packing and throwing away trash.
Two large trash containers sat in the hallway outside of his congressional office, filled with shredded paper, newspapers and crushed boxes.
After losing his run for reelection by less than 100 votes to Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) in one of the tightest congressional races in the nation this year, Simmons conceded Wednesday and is to vacate his congressional office by Dec. 3.
“It was a classy way to end it,” Mitchell said of Simmons’ concession.
Mitchell said he thought people in Connecticut’s 2nd District, would quickly miss the work Simmons has done.
“Joe Courtney has some big shoes to fill,” he said. “We wish him good luck.”
Mitchell said he was sure Simmons would be sitting down with his family and taking stock.
“Politics is still in his blood and bones,” Mitchell said. “It will take time to figure out where he will go from here.”
His staff will be looking for new work and Mitchell said it would not be easy finding a new job on the Hill given the recent Democratic majority. He estimated that 900 Republican staff jobs were lost in the election.
William Cox, a staff assistant in Simmons’ Washington office, said he was looking for another position after joining Simmons’ staff in June, shortly after he graduated college.
“We are spending this time wrapping up constituent services and leaving the office in order,” said Cox, of eastern Connecticut.
Mitchell, who has worked on the Hill for 15 years, the last six with Simmons, said he wasn’t really scrambling to find new work right away.
“I think I’ll spend some time with my nine-month-old baby and maybe lose the 25 pounds I gained while working here,” he joked.
Simmons, who has been in Connecticut for the recount, will not be returning to Washington until Dec. 4, according to Mitchell, who said there are essentially no votes until Dec. 5.
Simmons will be dropping by his office to pack up his things before they have to be out, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the transitional period is a difficult one, but that closing up the office properly, serving constituents, and making sure the staff is heading in the right direction are his top priorities.
“We want to make ‘a seamless transition’ like Rob said,” Mitchell said.
The office is still dealing with a few last spending requests and, Mitchell said, he hoped that Courtney will follow some of Simmons’ more popular policies.
“Rob Simmons has been vocal about two submarines a year for Connecticut and tax relief, among other issues” Mitchell said. “Will Courtney take a seat on the Armed Services Committee? Is he going to finish Route 11? Will he support tax relief?”
Mitchell said Simmons brought tax cuts to the 2nd District in Connecticut, which he called “the most taxed state in the nation.”
Unanswered letters from constituents that the staff will be unable to get to and reports regarding individual constituent issues from the 2nd District will be transferred to Courtney, Mitchell said.
Mitchell said he wished the race had been more about Simmons and his record and not about the president’s popularity. He said this midterm election was national and not local.
“This was possibly the worst political environment since Watergate,” he said.
He called Simmons “collateral damage” of the message being sent to President Bush and the Republican-led congress.
“There were more moderates getting bumped out,” Mitchell said. “People are moving further apart and Rob was one of the middlemen.”
Mitchell called the race against Courtney “tough but fair.”
Mitchell said he had no regrets and that he worked for “a great man” who served the people of eastern Connecticut well.
“That’s the frustration about it—less than 100 votes,” Mitchell said. “It’s pretty maddening when you think of everything you’ve done.”
Mitchell said that politics aren’t easy and that going into the field, you know there is always a winner and a loser.
“I guess I better get back to packing,” Mitchell said.
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Conn. Democrats Welcome Their Freshmen
CTFROSH
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
November 14, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 —Democratic members of the Connecticut delegation gathered on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning to welcome presumptive incoming colleagues Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy.
“I want to welcome Chris Murphy and Joe Courtney to Washington,” Sen. Christopher Dodd said.
Speaking at a podium flanked by Connecticut flags, Dodd said that last Tuesday’s election results showed the nation that the people wanted change. He said both Courtney and Murphy ran good, strong campaigns and really talked about the issues.
“It is an honor to be here,” said Courtney, who as of Tuesday afternoon had a slim lead over incumbent Rob Simmons in the 2nd District race that has yet to be officially decided.
Courtney said he was very excited to get to work in two months in the 110th Congress.
“This is a very exciting day for the congressman-elect,” said Brian Farber, spokesman for Courtney. Farber said Courtney met with likely Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and had been busy going through new member orientation.
Even though the recount process in his race was not expected to be completed until late Tuesday evening, Courtney has been considered the congressman-elect because he held a lead. Farber said the results from the last towns were expected Tuesday evening.
Courtney said it was still premature for him to discuss expectations about his actions in the 110th Congress.
Dodd joked that he was confident in Murphy because Murphy is Dodd’s mother’s maiden name. Dodd said he was confident in Courtney because the 2nd District is the district Dodd represented in the House in the 1970s before being elected to the Senate.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro of the 3rd District advised the new members to “savor the moment.”
She added that making a difference in the lives of the people is what service in Congress is all about
“That’s why Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy are here,” DeLauro said. “We stand united together and we are going to show this nation that we can govern.”
Rep. John Larson from the 1st District said, “Connecticut will expect great things and we will deliver.”
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Dodd Discusses His Future Chairmanship on Banking Committee
CTDODDBANK
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
November 14, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 —Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) vowed Tuesday to work closely with his Republican counterpart as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and hinted about a possible presidential run in 2008.
Dodd is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in two years.
“One of the things we don’t get to do enough of is get around the country,” Dodd said. “One thing I can guarantee is if I decide to [run for president], is that I’ll get around the country.”
Dodd, who has served on the committee since 1981, will become chairman of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in January.
“I don’t know if anyone has served this long on a committee and not been chairman,” he joked.
Dodd and Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the committee’s current chairman, held a joint press conference in the Capitol to discuss the changes expected under the Democratic majority in the 110th Congress, convening in January.
Dodd is also in line to become chairman of the Rules and Administration Committee, but will forego that chairmanship in favor of the Banking Committee. He said that his new position would not factor into his decision on a presidential run.
Dodd emphasized that he and Shelby would work together, noting that the two had come from a breakfast where they discussed future actions of the committee.
Dodd said that Shelby had done a good job as chairman, describing him as “the one [GOP] committee chairman you could count on to get things done.”
Shelby congratulated Dodd and said that Dodd was an old colleague of his from the House and that he looked forward to working with him.
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East Haddam Woman Speaks Out About Breast Cancer Study
CTSISTERSTUDY
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
November 9, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 —Lyn May, a journalist from East Haddam who hosts a weekly television show on Long Island, interviews different people each week, but last year one guest’s message really hit home.
The guest, Carrissa Dixon, was there to speak about the Sister Study, a long-term project to study the health of sisters of women who have had breast cancer.
Dixon, recruitment coordinator for the study, said the study was looking to enroll a broader base of participants. May said Dixon mentioned needing more “women of color” and older women.
May, who is 66, African-American and the sister of a woman who has had breast cancer, realized she was exactly what the Sister Study was looking for.
“As we were doing the interview, I said, ‘Would you believe I am the perfect candidate?’ ” May said. “Then I said, on air, ‘I’ll join the study.’ ”
By analyzing the data of the currently cancer-free sisters of women who have had breast cancer, the study will seek to find the correlation, if any, of environmental factors and genetics to breast cancer.
Sixteen years ago, May’s only sibling and older sister, Carol Tyler, was diagnosed with breast cancer after being told for two years the lump she felt was only a cyst.
May said there were no previous cases of breast cancer in their family.
When May found out her sister was sick, she flew to Ohio, where the two grew up.
“It is ideal to have a sister to talk to,” Tyler said of May’s role during her illness. “So she could act like the grownup—and she did.”
Tyler said she demanded a biopsy on a Tuesday, went in for tests on the Wednesday and had a mastectomy on Thursday.
Tyler, who is now 72 and lives in Columbus, Ohio, has been cancer-free since her surgery. She said she was touched that her experience was so meaningful to her sister.
“She was there with me the night after I found out,” said Tyler, a retired health care administrator for the Red Cross. “It reminded us a lot of our mortality—I was in my mid-50’s.”
Tyler said being proactive about her personal health was what saved her life.
“Women need to be their own case managers,” she said. “My tumor was missed for a couple of years—you really have to listen to your body.”
May said medical help only goes so far and that it is really important to understand your own body and, in this case, to know your own breasts. She said valuing your intuition could help save your life.
“When it happens to one of us, it feels like it happens to all,” May said of the disease. “You feel powerless. You feel that you all have the cancer.”
Their family is not alone. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women of any ethnicity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2003, the center reported, 181,646 women were newly diagnosed with the disease and 41,619 died from it.
Tyler said she thought the Sister Study was right in trying to find more women on a broader spectrum.
Dixon said being interviewed on May’s show and having May sign up for the study on air really helped get the word out about the study.
“We are really looking at how women’s genes are affected by the environment,” Dixon said.
The Sister Study is being conducted by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
The study’s goal is to find out the environmental and genetic factors that may lead to breast cancer.
The Sister Study has nearly 30,000 participants and hopes to reach 50,000 in the next year, according to the study’s Web site, www.sisterstudy.org.
“Black women are more likely to get breast cancer at a younger age, and it is more aggressive,” Dixon said.
To participate in the study, a woman must be 35 to 74 years old and be the sister of a woman who has or had breast cancer.
A participant has to fill out questionnaires and be interviewed by telephone. Later a nurse visits the participant at home and collects blood, a urine sample, a toenail clipping and some household dust. Participants are followed over a 10-year period.
“Most people are afraid to join a study,” May said. “I think they are afraid it will take too much time.”
May said collecting the data doesn’t take long and doesn’t hurt.
“It’s important that I take part in this because of my age and because of my race,” she said. “I am part of a population that has had a tougher time with the disease.”
May said she felt the Sister Study can make an important contribution to understanding the impact of the environment and who gets breast cancer and who doesn’t.
“We really want to encourage more women of color and older women,” Dixon said. “We want them to benefit—women from all walks of life.”
Tyler said, “I wish them good luck on this –I think race and medicine are far too superficially dealt with.”.
Dixon said May was a keynote speaker in June at a rally in New York City to publicize the Sister Study and to enroll more participants.
May said she found her presence at the rally in New York to be beneficial because she wanted to get the point across that the study was not anything to be fearful of and that it was not intrusive.
May said she felt her value at the rally was that she was able to tell potential participants, “It’s safe! Come join!”
“Lyn has been an awesome spokesperson since the day she decided to join,” Dixon said.
“That one-day trip to Long Island really paid off. She has really been an asset.”
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Connecticut Delegation Reacts to Rumsfeld’s Resignation
RUMMYREACT
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
November 8, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 —In the aftermath of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation, Connecticut legislators are open to the “fresh perspective” President Bush hopes nominee Robert Gates will bring to the table but hesitate to pass early judgment.
“Today, the president finally acknowledged that we need new leadership at the Pentagon,” Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn .) said on Wednesday. “But it will take more than a personnel change to take our country in a new direction toward making America safer and respected again around the globe.”
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said he is glad that the president is responding to the challenges the nation faces in Iraq by bringing in someone with a fresh perspective.
“I have said for some time that our country needs a new defense secretary,” Lieberman said. “Our policy in Iraq has been losing public support, and this allows us to open a new discussion with the American people, our military and our allies to find new approaches to getting the job done in Iraq quickly and in a way that does not compromise American security.”
Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) could not be reached for comment because of the pending recount in his tight race against Joe Courtney in the 2nd district of Connecticut.
Lt. Col. John Whitford, spokesman for the Connecticut National Guard, said: “We are very grateful for Secretary Rumsfeld's service. We will work hard with his successor to do what is right for our country. The National Guard will continue to fight the global war on terror both home and abroad with the newly elected leadership."
Dodd said that the nation needs a fundamental shift in its Iraq policy as well as an effort on the part of the administration to repair the damage he says the policy has caused to the U.S. armed forces.
“Inexplicably, Secretary Rumsfeld had reportedly once again refused the Army’s top leaders’ requests to address this serious concern by funding the replacement and repair vehicles and equipment lost or worn out in combat,” Dodd said.
The senators were also cautiously positive about Gates, a former CIA chief.
“By all accounts Mr. Gates did a credible job as the director of the CIA,” Dodd said. “It is my hope that his past experience has sensitized him to the danger that politicized intelligence can pose to our nation’s national security and to the ability of our military commanders to understand and carry out the mission on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere as they seek to advance U.S. interests.”
Lieberman said he wished Rumsfeld well and thanked him for his service to the nation.
“Former CIA Chief Robert Gates is a very fine man with solid credentials in national security,” Lieberman said. “But I will withhold final judgment on the matter until we get through the hearings.”
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Fantasy Congress Game May Help Engage Younger Crowd in Politics
FANTASYCONGRESS
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
New London Day
November 1, 2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1—“Most people know about the Three Stooges instead of the three branches of government,” said Andrew Lee, creator of new interactive online game called Fantasy Congress.
“This idea has the potential to be another avenue for young people to become interested in learning how our government works, which I think makes it fascinating,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).
The Web site, fantasycongress.org, was launched last month and already has received quite a bit of publicity and had more than 21,000 users as of this week.
“I like the idea of it,” said Brett Arnold, a civics teacher at Waterford High School. “It can help show students how Congress operates in Washington and the democratic process,” he said.
The game’s Web site, in addressing educators, says, “Fantasy Congress is the perfect tool for bringing home the process of legislation and the role of Congress to your students.”
Lee, the game’s creator, is a 21-year-old senior at Claremont McKenna College in California. The idea of a game involving Congress came to him a few years back when a roommate of his was involved in Fantasy Football, he said.
“If more people cared about government, we’d have a better government,” Lee said.
Just like the popular fantasy sports games, players must make up their teams with real people. However, instead of drafting athletes, participants of Fantasy Congress draft members of Congress of varying seniority.
“One of the upsides to Fantasy Congress over Fantasy Baseball is that you don't really have to worry about your team being destroyed by injuries,” Lieberman said. “Then again, there probably aren't many Fantasy Baseball owners who worry about losing their shortstop because he has ties to Jack Abramoff.”
When drafting your team of 16, you choose two senior senators, two junior senators, four senior House members, four junior members and four with mid-range experience.
Points are scored as members move legislation through committees, then to the floors of the House and Senate and finally to the President’s desk. The rankings of each legislator are updated daily according to what progress they have made in the real-life Congress.
As with other fantasy games, you can change your lineup of legislators on the weekends, adding different members to the lineup and benching others.
At the end of the congressional session, the player wins whose members of Congress have totaled the most points.
“This could enhance student interest in government,” said Dan Mello, chairman of the social studies department at Ledyard High School.
Mello said that while his students learn the lawmaking processes in school, the game could help it become more real to them.
“Any opportunity to teach students and give them hands-on experience, like using Fantasy Congress, is a valuable lesson,” said Brett Arnold, who teaches civics at Waterford High School.
Lee, who referred to himself as both a football fan and political junkie, said while he was watching CNN, his roommate was discussing Fantasy Football and he felt like “a lonely political blogger.” He wanted to find a way to get people more excited about politics.
“Fantasy football notes every stat that could occur,” Lee said. “If we did this for Congress, we would have a more effective legislature.”
The idea to create an interactive game to get people more excited and interested in Congress hit him. With the help of three other students, his idea became a reality a few weeks ago.
On the site’s home page, a letter from the creators says, “In this game, we give you the power to draft and manage a team of members from the U.S. Congress. Enjoy our gift to you, o great nation: the power to play politics!”
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), said, “Young people have more power than they give themselves credit for, and can affect the agenda in Washington in many ways.”
Todd Mitchell, chief of staff for Rep. Robert Simmons (R-Conn.), said, “Any approach that gets more young people involved in the political process has Rob Simmons’ stamp of approval.”
The site encourages Fantasy Congress players to use their “political savvy” when choosing their members. A legislative tutorial is available on the site to explain how a bill becomes a law.
“Whether it is through Web sites like this one, volunteering on a campaign or, most importantly, heading to the polls on Nov. 7th, our democracy is only enriched by more young people engaging in the democratic process and policies and issues affecting the nation,” Dodd said.
Lee said he and his colleagues received a $5,000 prize from their school for winning a Web entrepreneurship contest and so far have poured $2,000 of that money into the Web site.
“We are thinking about advertising,” Lee said when asked about maintaining the Web site. “Right now, we are still college students, though. We’re more worried about midterms,” he said.
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Conn. Congressmen Comment on North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Clai
NKOREA
The New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
October 10, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 —Members of the Connecticut congressional delegation this week called for the U.S. to work with the United Nations and North Korea’s neighbors to deal with the rogue regime.
“The latest news about North Korea testing a nuclear weapon brings them one step closer to a full blown nuclear weapons program,” said Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “This is an extremely dangerous development.”
North Korea announced Monday that it had performed an underground nuclear weapons test. While concern about North Korea is not new, Monday’s announcement prompted alarm throughout the nation and around the world
“North Korea’s explosion of a nuclear device is an affront to the United Nations, the world community and to all those who hoped to offer sensible alternatives to their nuclear ambitions,” Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) said Monday.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said the United States has known for some time that the North Koreans have had enough nuclear fuel to build as many as 10 or 11 nuclear weapons of the size that were used on Hiroshima.
“Now that they have used some of that fuel to test a nuclear device, it tells us again that we live in a dangerous world, that we have got to work with our allies and we’ve got to work with each other,” said Lieberman, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Simmons, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, suggested several approaches to dealing with North Korea.
“First, we must continue to support the engagement of the world community, especially China and Russia to stifle North Korea’s nuclear plan,” Simmons said. “Second, we must continue to develop our own missile defenses.”
Simmons also said the United States needs to “strengthen” its regional partners like South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
“Finally we need to consider stopping any and all international programs which allow North Korea to divert resources away from humanitarian aid and towards nuclear weapons,” Simmons added.
Dodd accused the Bush administration of spending the last five years sitting on the sidelines while North Korea developed its program.
“It’s now time for them to get serious and use the United States’ influence with China and South Korea to bring North Korea to the table,” he said.
Lieberman stressed the importance of working with the United Nations Security Council and the nations in that region.
“I think we are stronger when we are working with the other nations in the region and we don’t lose any strength by sitting down with the North Koreans and trying to negotiate the end of their nuclear program,” Lieberman said.
“We have to stick with them as we try to get [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-Il and the North Koreans to do away with this capacity that they have now shown that they have,” Lieberman said.
Ted Bromund, Yale University’s associate director of International Security Studies, predicted that the test will tighten U.S. alliances with the democracies in the region, lead to no concessions from anyone, and encourage China to move more rapidly away from its remaining support for North Korea.
He added that it is no coincidence the test took place right after a South Korean was all but assured he would become the next United Nations Secretary-General.
“The test is simply another way of stepping up the pressure on the United States to make concessions, and on South Korea to disengage from its alliance with the U.S.,” Bromund said. “It is also a way of gathering information that North Korea may need to perfect its nuclear capable missiles which already have the range to reach Japan and are close to being able to reach the United States.”
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Connecticut Congressmen Denounce Foley’s Actions
FOLEYMESS
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
October 3, 2006
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 —Republican and Democratic Congressmen from Connecticut denounced the actions of disgraced ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) who resigned Friday after it was disclosed he had been writing sexually explicit messages teenage former House pages.
“When it comes to those who attempt to sexually exploit children over the Internet, no individual—not even a member of Congress—is above the law,” Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) said. “Mr. Foley must be held accountable for his inexcusable actions.”
Simmons received $2,000 from Foley’s campaign committee in June of 2001. On Monday, Simmons donated the money to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
“I support a full criminal investigation into this incident,” Rep. Simmons said. “If it is found that any member of Congress or staff willingly participated in a cover-up of Mr. Foley’s actions, that individual should resign immediately.”
Foley resigned Friday after explicit and inappropriate electronic messages e he had written to underage male pages were made public.
“We in Congress are personally responsible for the well-being of the minors in the page program, and for a member to prey on them is absolutely reprehensible, one of the worst violations of the public trust imaginable,” Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) said in a statement released on Sunday.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) added: “This is a very serious matter, and most importantly we need to know what, if anything, is being done to protect young House pages from unacceptable behavior by members.”
Congressional pages are students in their junior year of high-school who serve for one year as House or Senate messengers.
In an editorial Tuesday, the conservative Washington Times asked Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to resign because of suggestions that he reacted insufficiently to early warnings regarding Foley’s behavior.
Lieberman said he was disturbed by the suggestion that the House leadership may have been ignoring or covering up the Foley scandal.
“If it is found that anyone in the House, whether a leader or a member, contributed to this disgraceful and immoral exploitation of a minor in the page program, then they should be held fully accountable,” Lieberman stated.
Lieberman said he has proposed setting up an Office of Public Integrity that would be able to investigate ethical complaints against members of Congress and would be equipped with an executive director and an investigative staff. Lieberman promised to bring back up his proposal in a post-election, lame-duck session in November.
Dodd said it was important to find out when the Republican leadership knew of Foley’s behavior and why all the page oversight board members were not informed, rather than just the Republican chairman.
Democratic Senators Denounce Vote ID Bill
VOTERID
New London Day
Margaret Stevenson
Boston University Washington News Service
September 27, 2006
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 —Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) accused Republicans Wednesday of trying to hold down voter turnout by pressing for passage of a bill that would require people to present photo identification before they could vote.
“They are making it an issue because they want to suppress the vote,” he said.
At a press conference along with Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Dodd said of the bill, “It’s unacceptable, it’s un-American and it’s just flat out wrong. And we are prepared to do anything necessary that would make sure this law does not pass in the U.S. Senate in the closing days of this session.”
The Federal Election Integrity Act, which the House passed on Sept. 20, would require potential voters to present appropriate photo identification at the polls beginning with the 2008 elections.
“This is a solution in search of a problem,” Dodd said. “There is not a single study anywhere that would indicate that people are showing up in person, which is what you have to do, to vote with false identification.”
Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn), who voted in favor of the bill, rejected the accusation.
"People are required to have photo identification to engage in routine activities such as boarding an airplane, entering a government building, purchasing cigarettes and cashing a check,” Simmons said in an e-mail response to questions. “Our voting system deserves at least as much protection as these day-to-day activities.”
Dodd and other opponents of the bill called it a poll tax that affects the poor, the elderly, and the disabled.
“The numbers are startling—4 million disabled people would be disenfranchised who do not have voter identification, would have to go out and pay an outrageous cost,” Dodd said.
At the press conference, Clinton said that “senior citizens, minorities and countless other Americans who struggle to make ends meet will be discouraged, deterred [and] voters would be required to buy a very expensive ID to vote—a modern day poll-tax for countless hardworking Americans.”
The bill’s backers say it will help protect against voter fraud.
“The bottom line for me is our election law says you have to be a citizen to vote, and proving that you are a citizen seems like a reasonable safeguard to ensure the law is followed,” Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn) said.
Simmons called the bill “a simple, commonsense proposal and a necessary safeguard against vote fraud.”
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