Category: Spring 2002 Newswire
Local Immigrant Families Face Potential Hunger
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON, April 26–Mary Nguyen is worried. The State Supplemental Food Stamp Program is out of money, and she knows she could lose her benefit any day. If the legislature doesn’t come up with $1.2 million to fund the program through the end of June, she and 8,000 other poor Massachusetts immigrants will soon be forced to find other ways to feed their families.
“If the food stamps are cut, I will not be able to buy enough food for my family,” said Nguyen, a mother of two and the plaintiff in a law suit challenging the state’s plan to stop issuing food stamps on May 7. A judge has granted a preliminary injunction in the case, but Deborah Harris, Nguyen’s lawyer at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, said the hold will probably be only a “temporary reprieve.”
Currently, 450 Lawrence immigrants receive an average of $90 a month in food stamps through the State Supplemental Food Stamp Program (SSFSP). If the state does not come up with additional funding for the program, they could lose their benefit through July 1, the start of the next fiscal year.
At local food pantries and soup kitchens, employees are preparing for the worst.
“We expect an increase in the number of people coming here,” said Rejeanne Keeley, executive director of Neighbors in Need, which operates seven food pantries in Lawrence and one in Haverhill. “(The imminent cut) is almost draining the life out of people.”
The scheduled cut comes at a time when the food stamp caseload is the highest it’s been since 1998. Since November, the program has grown from 6,377 cases to 8,137 cases, an increase of 28 percent, according to Dick Powers, spokesman for the state Department of Transitional Assistance. Powers blamed the economy and rising unemployment for the increase.
Meanwhile, food pantry use is already higher than normal in the Merrimac Valley. Last year, Massachusetts food pantries served 16 percent more children each month than in 2000, according to a Project Bread survey of 18 food pantries. Advocates worry that eliminating the state’s food stamp benefit could put an even greater strain on these private organizations.
“People are saying: ‘What am I going to do, how am I going to feed my children if anything is cut back?’ ” said Sister Mary Ellen Broderick of the Good Shepherd Center Soup Kitchen at Lawrence’s Lazarus House emergency shelter.
Passing the Buck
When Congress reformed the welfare system in 1996, it removed virtually all immigrants from the federal food stamp rolls. Though it subsequently restored the benefit to roughly a third of non-citizens, this eligibility cut resulted in a huge cost shift to states like Massachusetts, which opted to continue the benefit using state money. Since 1998, Massachusetts has appropriated more than $40 million to the SSFSP to cover benefits for non-citizens. This year, it appropriated $8.2 million, $1.2 million less than proved necessary this year because of the recession and the post-Sept. 11 economic downturn.
“They (the federal government) left states holding the bag,” said Sheri Steisel, director of the Human Services Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures. “Now, 45 states and DC are facing budget gaps and can no longer afford to make up the difference.”
But states may not have to bear the cost of providing food stamps to immigrants for much longer. President Bush has proposed providing food stamps to legal immigrants who have been in the United States for five years, and Congress is now working out a House-Senate compromise on the issue.
If Congress votes to restore food stamps to immigrants, Massachusetts could save more than $9 million next year. If it doesn’t, advocates fear, the SSFSP could face underfunding again next year.
“Massachusetts is facing a fiscal crisis, so it is really important for the federal government to bear the responsibility for federal benefits,” said Reshma Shamasunder, director of benefits policy and government affairs for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Coalition.
Under-enrollment Still a Problem
Even with the recent increases, current immigrant food stamp caseloads are much smaller than they were in the early to mid-1990s, before welfare reform. In 1998, the year Massachusetts took over the federal immigrant caseload, 9,358 people were on the rolls. By 2001, there were 5,549.
In Lawrence, participation in the SSFSP fell from 700 to 450 cases from 1998 to 2001, according to the DTA.
The federal program has also seen a dramatic decline, particularly among the citizen children of immigrant parents. From 1994 to 1999, the number of citizen children of non-citizen parents participating nationally in the food stamp program declined by 42 percent, according to an Agriculture Department report to Congress.
“It appears that parents who themselves are not eligible may make less of an effort to enroll their children,” said Paula Fromby, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University and co-author of a study that examined welfare participation rates among poor people in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio.
Fromby’s “Three City Study” found that over a two-year period, 51 percent of mostly Dominican households in Boston with citizen caregivers received food stamps, while only 37 percent of households with non-citizen caregivers received them.
While the immigrant caseload is now rising, experts caution that the numbers do not necessarily translate into increased enrollment rates. Ellen Parker, executive director of Project Bread, said that it is possible that while the “absolute numbers” of participants grew with the recession, the percentage of participating immigrants remained the same.
“I’m not sure if (the growth) means that we have an increase in our success rate,” she said. “It may just mean that the (eligible) population is getting bigger.”
What Accounts for Under-enrollment?
According to surveys of immigrants, the No. 1 reason immigrants don’t participate in food stamp programs is that they don’t think they’re eligible.
“There is an enormous amount of confusion as to what immigrants are and aren’t eligible to receive,” said Marcela Urrutia, policy analyst for the National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino advocacy organization.
Jorge Santiago, who has studied Lawrence-area Latina former welfare recipients at the Institute for Community and Workforce Development at Northern Essex Community College, said that “at the time welfare reform was being implemented,” there was “a lot of confusion among even the case managers about who was eligible.” In some cases, he said, local field offices deliberately withheld information about available benefits to save money.
“The vast majority of Latinas (in my study) weren’t even told” that they remained eligible for food stamps after leaving welfare, he said.
Some immigrants also believe they would jeopardize their chances of achieving citizenship by accepting food stamps. In reality, the Immigration and Naturalization Service can consider cash assistance, but not non-cash assistance like food stamps, in determining whether an applicant is a “public charge,” and thus, legally, a “burden” to the country.
“When welfare reform passed, people got scared and stepped away,” said Catherine D’Amato, CEO and president of the Greater Boston Food Bank. “They went from government support to private support.”
Onerous application processes also discourage enrollment. In Massachusetts, the process begins with an eight-page form and can require up to 20 forms of documentation, according to Project Bread. Eric Bost, Agriculture undersecretary for food nutrition and consumer services, acknowledged in testimony before Congress last June that “the complexity of program requirementsámay deter participation among people eligible for benefits.”
Meanwhile, some immigrants say they feel degraded and demeaned by the welfare office experience.
“We treat people with respect, and we sometimes hear that they don’t get that same treatment from the welfare office,” said Frank Cortez, director of Merrimac Valley Catholic Charities Food Programs, which runs food pantries in Lowell and Haverhill.
The effects of declining food stamp participation can be seen in food pantry use over the last five years. Since 1997, there has been a 13.5 percent increase in the number of individuals seeking assistance from the feeding programs served by the Greater Boston Food Bank, according to communications manager Janet Zipes. The Food Bank now serves 58,301 individuals weekly, roughly equivalent to the population of Haverhill.
In Lawrence, Cortez said, his pantries have experienced a 25 percent increase in use each year since the 1996 welfare reform legislation became law. Keeley of Neighbors in Need said she has seen an increase in the number of “working poor,” people making a living but still not making it.
And at Bread and Roses, a soup kitchen in Lawrence, executive director Linda Monroe said, “Most of the people we provide services to are working at a minimum wage.”
Susan Hofer, Second Harvest’s spokeswoman, said that the umbrella hunger relief organization now provides service to 23 million Americans, 6 million more than receive food stamps.
“We’re now providing more assistance than the food stamp program is, and that’s a problem,” Hofer said.
Published in The Eagle-Tribune, in Lawrence, Mass.
DEA in New Bedford Making Strong Impact on Drug War
WASHINGTON, April 22--Waiting in the East Room of the White House in 1999 to hear President Clinton speak, New Bedford Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. tapped retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, then the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on the shoulder and said, "General, we have a problem and we need some help."
The Mayor was referring to the increasing drug problem in New Bedford, and, he recalled recently, Mr. McCaffrey "immediately came back with some logistics for the area and suggested that I meet with his staff."
New Bedford, with a population of more than 100,000, is the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts. It is positioned on Buzzards Bay and is 54 miles south of Boston and 33 miles southeast of Providence, which makes illegal drug trafficking in New Bedford a growth industry.
In 1999, at the Mayor's request, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) moved into New Bedford and "set up shop, boosting local law enforcement and giving us that extra punch to stop drug trafficking," said the Mayor.
The DEA provides the largest counter-drug presence in Massachusetts, with offices in Boston, Springfield, Cape Cod, Worcester, and New Bedford. With a mobile enforcement team, the agency was established to help state and local law enforcement combat the illegal drug trade.
Determining whether federal enforcement was necessary in New Bedford, and whether it could help in dealing with the drug problem, were questions worth exploring, and the results have been significant.
"The DEA provides additional manpower or person power," said New Bedford Police Chief Arthur Kelly. "It allows for them to work on more complicated cases, involving situations outside of state limits. Just recently, they helped with a seizure of just over 500 pounds of cocaine."
In December, local undercover law enforcement working with the DEA seized more than 600 pounds of cocaine, worth approximately $20 million, making this the largest cocaine seizure in state history.
In February, detectives dismantled a heroin packaging operation from Providence to New Bedford worth approximately $1.4 million.
"Everything is collaborative," Mayor Kalisz said of the effort of local law enforcement agencies and the DEA. "The fact is, with their presence we can better determine how drugs are getting here. Networking and connections have obviously paid off, and the type of networking has complemented the local law enforcement."
In collaboration with the DEA, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in 1990 established High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) to help fight drug trafficking regionally.
The New England HIDTA, which began operating in 1999, is one of 28 in the nation. The program concentrates on drug trafficking organizations and on the drug transportation corridor running north from New York City, and is financed by the ONDCP.
Despite the federal presence, New England HIDTA concentrates specifically on the drug issues concerning New England.
"The goal of the New England HIDTA is to reduce trafficking of drugs through law enforcement investigations and coordination and cooperation among various agencies in New England," said George Festa, the director of the New England program. "Our mission primarily is to target the criminal groups that are transporting heroin and cocaine from New York to the area."
To qualify as a high-intensity drug trafficking area, a region must be the center of illegal drug production, manufacturing or distribution, have expressed a determination through local law enforcement to respond aggressively to the problem, and demonstrate that a significant increase in federal resources is necessary to respond to drug-related activities harmful to the community.
For New Bedford, the "primary drug is heroin. We are getting very high purities," Mr. Festa said.
According to the Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC), heroin has emerged as a threat equal to or greater than cocaine in Massachusetts, mainly because of a significant rise in the drug's purity and a steep decline in its price.
Heroin that sold for $3,000-$5,000 per ounce in March 1999 cost only $2,500-$3,100 in September of that year; today, glassine bags that typically contain one user dose of heroin sell today for $4-$30, depending on the purity of the heroin, according to NDIC availability reports.
The NDIC reported that documented heroin distribution offenses in Massachusetts rose 11 percent in 1999 and that documented heroin trafficking offenses rose 32 percent.
The nearby cities of Providence, Woonsocket and Hartford also serve as regional heroin distribution centers outside the state for transporting the drug into Massachusetts markets.
Heroin is transported to Massachusetts in privately owned, borrowed and leased vehicles or by bus along Interstate 95, as well as by boat into seaports in Fall River, Salem and New Bedford.
Drugs are transported to the New Bedford area both by air through New Bedford Regional Airport and by sea, according to the NDIC.
The most significant threat the New England HIDTA confronts is the transportation of drugs across the border from Canada and along the region's thousands of miles of coastline.
Most heroin in New England comes from Southwest Asia (Pakistan), and has become a top priority for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston.
Although that office did not want to comment on what it is doing to help combat drug traffickers in Massachusetts, the NDIC reports that drug organizations are difficult for law enforcement to penetrate and dismantle for several reasons, including the fact that transactions are kept within the organization and that the traffickers obtain false identification papers from sources in the United States.
"There is a network of different kinds of people leading different kinds of lifestyles in different areas making them less obvious to law enforcement," said Carl Alves, director of the New Bedford Prevention Partnership. "Obviously, there are different levels of sophistication, making it difficult to combat, but we have developed a pretty united force in the community."
Mr. Festa said, however, that the New England HIDTA, with an annual budget of $2.8 million, is working primarily with local law enforcement to "target, investigate and disrupt or dismantle drug trafficking operations."
The regional HIDTAs also get supplemental funds from Washington. But President Bush's fiscal year 2003 budget would reduce HIDTA funds to $206 million from this year's $220 million. If approved, the decrease would eliminate these supplemental funds.
"The budget is level-funded, so you know you're going to get at least the same thing next year as you did last year," said Kurt Schmid, National HIDTA Director of the ONDCP. "Because of a reduction in the budget, there are no excess supplement funds, so it's important to develop management tools to determine where the priorities are in the program."
"HIDTAs are going to essentially have to sustain a performance programáto make reasonable, sound management decisions," Mr. Schmid said. "HIDTA dollars are one-year money that is distributed on a variety of issues. We don't compare one HIDTA to the other - regional problems are all very unique."
"It is critical that we gain more money to attack the heroin problem," said Mr. Festa. "This budget money enables us to continue to grow and tackle the drug problem in New England."
Focusing on strategy is a value-added trait of regional HIDTAs, according to Mr. Schmid, and New Bedford is spending allocated money to purchase updated technology that the ONDCP provides.
The Counterdrug Technology Assessment Center (CTAC), a branch of the ONDCP, is the central federal counterdrug technology research and development organization; it provides specific technology for specific law enforcement sites.
"Currently, our technology is in all 50 states, and we have technology useful in assisting officers on the street, such as night vision glasses and thermal imagers," said Dr. Albert Brandenstein, CTAC's director and the ONDCP's chief scientist.
"All of the technology is in the state of Massachusetts," Dr. Brandenstein said. "Since February, 45 agencies have received 74 deliveries already, and by the end of the year 79 agencies will have received 109 deliveries."
But the importance of the federal presence in the local war on drugs is a matter of some dispute.
"In down economic times there is more drug use, but with the budget down there is less treatment," Mr. Alves said. "If you look back in time over the past 10 years when drug use and crime was downáI believe that is because of the strong effort in the community that makes things happen - we are a strong community."
The ONDCP added a local DEA presence to the New Bedford community, creating a "tremendous boost to local law enforcement, enabling our local officials to work with trained federal officials," Mayor Kalisz said. "A truckload of cocaine and $1 million in cash from illegal drug activity was discovered through help with the DEA - they have caused the type of change we are seeing."
"I think it's great that these suppliers are getting caught and confiscated; unfortunately, there are 4-5 guys behind them waiting to take their spot," Mr. Alves said. "People don't use drugs for fun and experimentation -it becomes an addiction. We need to arrest the addiction and not the person."
Mr. Alves, who also runs a treatment facility in New Bedford, believes positive reinforcement in the community and within families, with the help of law enforcement, will make a difference in reducing drug trafficking.
"I think the challenge is demand reduction. We need to work with our kids and give them positive choices and focus on demand reduction and all these things have to happen simultaneously," Mr. Alves said. "There is a lot to be done, and we can't get discouraged. "It's a part of life, and it's been here forever."
The New Bedford community continues to advocate against drugs and violence through neighborhood watch and educational programs, which makes it easier for undercover DEA agents to produce more immediate results, Mr. Alves said.
But Mayor Kalisz expressed confidence that, the DEA's quiet presence and undercover operations in New Bedford will eventually be recognized.
"We certainly don't want to the DEA to leave or disappear. I am most pleased that with such a strong federal presence, the DEA goes unrecognized," Mayor Kalisz said. "That will eventually come to an end, but for an extended period of time they have made a tremendous effect."
Written for The New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Drug Benefits for Seniors May Be Key to N.H. Senate Victory
WASHINGTON, April 25--Seniors who have had to choose between the food on their plate or the pills that keep them healthy will be making another important choice this November, when the rise in health care costs promises to return as a key issue for New Hampshire voters in the upcoming U.S. Senate race.
Governor Jeanne Shaheen, the only declared Democratic candidate for Senator Bob Smith's seat, testified this week (DATE) before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which began hearings on legislation to limit current patent protections for drug companies.
In her appearance before the U.S. Senate committee Shaheen said that rising health care costs ranks as the No. 1 issue in New Hampshire. "It's the issue I hear the most about as I travel around the state, and the cost of health care is driven by the cost of prescription drugs," she said.
Shaheen addressed the need to close loopholes in the 1984 Hatch-Waxman Act, which was created to spur generic drug competition and provide additional patent protection for research-based brand-name drugs. Hatch-Waxman allows generic drug manufacturers to get products to market once a brand's patent expires, usually after 12 years, but also allows 30-month extensions if the brand-name company sues a generic manufacturer for infringement of its patent. Pharmaceutical companies have been criticized for manipulating the patent extension loophole by filing frivolous appeals to prolong drug patents and keep generic versions off the market.
Prescription drug spending went up 17 percent in 2001, and drug expenditures are expected to continue to increase by more than 12 percent per year over the next 10 years. It has been estimated that greater use of generics could save consumers $8 billion to $10 billion each year. For example, a prescription for the blood pressure drug Cardizem costs $1.45 per pill, compared to $.22 for the equally safe and effective generic version, a savings of 85 percent.
New Hampshire spent $41.7 million in 1996 on prescription drugs through Medicaid, but by fiscal year 2001 spending more than doubled to $88 million. Of the 17 brand-name drugs whose patents will expire within the next two and a half years, from the allergy pill Claritin to the depression relief drug Wellbutrin SR, an estimated 50 percent savings by marketing generic versions of those drugs would save $2.5 million for New Hampshire consumers, according to a study by the Business for Affordable Medicine coalition.
The problem disproportionately affects seniors; an AARP report shows that Americans 65 and older, who are eligible for Medicare and who represent 12.4 percent of the population, account for more than 40 percent of all drug spending.
In New Hampshire, a number of initiatives have been taken to offset health care costs for seniors: a recent program urging pharmacists to substitute generic drugs for brand-name ones where possible; creation of a tri-state purchasing pool with Maine and Vermont to acquire discounted drugs at a bulk rate; and distribution of pharmaceutical discount cards to seniors.
Last week the New Hampshire Senate voted unanimously for a bill crafted to bring down health care costs in the state. Prescriptions would be screened before being dispensed and generics substituted where possible, unless doctors specify that brand-name drugs are needed.
For low-income seniors in the Keene area, there are several pharmaceutical assistance programs that announce offers by drug companies of free or reduced-price medication. The Medication Assistance Program, run by the Cheshire Medical Center, serves as a "go-between" for finding special discount prices and helps seniors fill out the required paperwork. With more than 800 patients using the service, the total monthly savings are significant: $81,787 just this past February, according to Hayley Compos, the program's coordinator. The program provides benefits similar to what is available on the Internet, but makes the process more comfortable for seniors who prefer one-on-one assistance.
But nothing comes easily in the struggle for senior assistance, because even after a qualified applicant requests a drug, it is uncertain it will ever arrive. "There are changes every day," Compos said. "A pharmaceutical company can just say 'I don't feel like giving away this medication anymore,' and they don't have to notify me, and since it usually takes four to six weeks for medication to start arriving, I have no idea that it's not going to be coming in."
The lack of networking between small referral services around the state pushed Martha Bauman, a long-time advocate of prescription drug coverage, to start a statewide task force called the Monadnock Senior Advocates almost a decade ago. The group, she says, provides issue-oriented information such as a senior resource guide, develops partnerships with other senior service providers and hosts an annual event to honor the contributions of older residents.
Bauman says a major problem is that many seniors feel unable to improve a rapidly worsening scenario for medication users, though, she adds, as education increases, seniors are "becoming more politicized." By empowering seniors, the group hopes to influence state health policy decisions.
Another recent initiative is the Medication Bridge Program, created two years ago by State Sen. Beverly Hollingworth, D-Hampton, which uses a software system to network 40 statewide pharmaceutical assistance programs and keep track of applications and provide technical assistance. More than 8,000 adults and children received an estimated $7.5 million in free medications in 2001 through the program.
The program's director, Bernice Cameron, who also worked with the nonprofit Foundation for Healthy Communities to distribute informational pamphlets listing statewide assistance programs, communicates regularly with drug companies. "Everyone badmouths the pharmaceutical companies, but when we've appealed to them one-on-one, they've really bent over backwards to get assistance to the people who need it," Cameron said. In 1999, pharmaceutical companies provided more than 2.7 million prescriptions valued at approximately $500 million for 1.5 million patients through patient assistance programs.
Though she considers the Bridge program a "Band-Aid solution" to the more important issue of securing federal financing for prescription drug coverage, she said it is a necessary service for New Hampshire seniors, especially in a state with less money collected from taxes and consequently fewer services than other New England states.
Some physicians believe that the assistance programs are not merely Band-Aid solutions, but can also create building blocks for a government consensus on how to make cheaper drugs available. "They're trying to get their foot in the door now rather than deal with the government later on," said Bill Siroty, an Amherst internist.
A major barrier to achieving a viable assistance program has been, for many administrators, the impossible burden of paperwork that the drug companies require. "It's an administrative nightmare," said Christine Spicher, Keene's human services director.
Even for physicians, Siroty argues, current drug benefit plans are confusing and poorly managed. "As a doctor, I've seen that it's become this patchwork quilt of different benefit plans run by different drug insurance companies, and it's impossible to tell what plans patients are on," he said.
With the population of seniors expected to double in the next 20 years, drug coverage is becoming critical. One interesting trend indicates that as insurance companies continue to cut drug coverage, and as Medicaid provides for the poorest among the elderly, soaring drug costs are now affecting the mid-range income level of seniors. "It's become a middle-class problem," said Steve Hahn, an AARP spokesman.
"Prescription drugs are everybody's concern, whether you're a senior or a single mom or working without insurance," said Carmalina Nims, director of the Monadnock United Way.
Many New Hampshire seniors have even looked north to Canada for low-cost drugs, either organizing bus trips or ordering the medication on the Internet at often half the price in the United States. During the 2000 presidential campaign, some groups challenged candidates to "get on the bus" with seniors going to Canada to buy reduced-rate medications.
Next month, the Alliance for Retired Americans plans to send a bus from every state that borders Canada across the border to draw attention to the issue of affordable drug programs. "I promise you this, seniors will make it an issue in the November elections," said Bette Cooper, the Alliance's spokeswoman. "[Candidates] will face a very irate electorate that will be very vocalá. They will have things to say at the ballot box."
In 2000, Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH) helped pass the Drug Import Fairness Act to prevent the Food and Drug Administration from improperly stopping the importation of safe and less expensive drugs manufactured abroad. Bass maintains that the price caps lead to higher prices in America, which has a free market in pharmaceuticals, by requiring U.S. taxpayers to subsidize the high cost of drug research while countries like Canada keep their drug costs artificially low through mandatory price controls.
Senator Smith also spoke in favor of the reimportation of prescription drugs. "That's free trade, and if (seniors) can get them cheaper and wish to buy them cheaper, then absolutely" they should be able to buy their drugs from abroad, he said.
Shaheen, in her testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee on Tuesday, said that the reimportation of drugs from Canada was crucial to helping New Hampshire seniors obtain their medication. "Many of my constituents go across the border to buy their drugs, and the only difference is the price. I see it as an issue of fairness. Why can they get their drugs so much cheaper in Canada?"
A bill soon to be debated in the Senate to limit current patent protections for drug companies has the pharmaceutical industry up in arms. The bill's sponsors, Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., say that their bill would speed the entry of generic drugs to the market and "achieve monumental savings for seniors and familiesáupwards of $71 billion over the next 10 years."
Jeff Trewhitt, spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, says PhRMA is "adamantly opposed" to the bill, calling it "heavily tilted in favor of the generics industry."
According to PhRMA, the number of generic drugs has tripled in the past 18 years, and of the generic drug applications submitted to the FDA for approval, 94 percent were given a "smooth transition," Trewhitt said, while only a tenth of brand-name drugs ever enter the market. PhRMA contends that if Hatch-Waxman is amended, there will be less innovation, research and development of new drugs. Critics argue that the drug industry - America's most profitable industry-spends more than $1.3 billion a year in advertising new brands, nearly double what it spends on research.
A number of bills to include a prescription drug benefit in Medicare have been introduced in the last few years. In June of 2000, both Congressmen Bass and John Sununu supported the Medicare Rx 2000 Act to guarantee voluntary prescription drug coverage, which narrowly passed the House. The plan promised to subsidize private insurance companies and health maintenance organizations to offer prescription drug coverage, which the insurance industry opposed, saying that it would be too expensive.
Last year's prescription drug benefit plan, which would have provided $300 billion under Medicare, was defeated in the Senate. This year's legislation would add an additional $50 billion, but advocacy groups say that amount is still inadequate. The Leadership Council of Aging Organizations argued that the $350 billion would cover, on average, only $2 out of every $10 beneficiaries will spend on prescription drugs. AARP spokesman Hahn said the bill would cover only basic costs and should include a "reserve fund" to help alleviate economic shocks as well as rising premiums.
"Our members are willing to pay for Medicare, but they want to see a good deal first," Hahn said.
During the last session of Congress, Sununu co-sponsored a drug company-backed bill to extend patents on the allergy drug Claritin and seven other drugs and would have produced fewer generic options and higher prices.
Sununu supports pharmaceutical companies' quests for patent extensions under the Hatch-Waxman act "if there was a delay in government approval of five years or more." Though the legislation promises 20 years of patent exclusivity, most companies see only about 12 years of market time once the FDA approves the drug.
"Sununu has distinguished himself as a champion for the drug companies," said Colin Van Ostern, communications director for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
Senator Smith has voiced his support for the Schumer-McCain legislation. "I would be in favor of closing those loopholesá To extend those patents would not be in the interest of seniors," he said, pointing out the difference between his stance and that of Sununu's on closing the Hatch-Waxman loopholes. "I think there's a huge difference between the two of us on prescription drugs. He favors extensions of patents, and I do not." Sununu is challenging Smith for his seat in September's primary.
Bass said he also supports manufacturing companies who seek patent extensions, within the scope of the law. "If for some reason a patent infringement took place, and an extension was permitted, the drug companies should have to justify or prove that the infringement existed," he said.
Bass also warned that there should be a limit to how much Medicare can provide to seniors for pharmaceutical assistance. "This should not be a question of 'see how much you can get,' " Bass said of senior advocacy groups that demand higher coverage. "Higher costs will make the premium higher, with the result that less people can afford it."
With pressure from interest groups and senior constituents on the rise, many lawmakers expect a Medicare prescription drug benefit to be enacted by the end of the year.
"We're expecting the House to act before Memorial Day," Hahn said. In fact, both Sununu and Bass said they were committed to pushing legislation through this year.
Shaheen's spokeswoman, Pamela Walsh, says the governor has written to each New Hampshire lawmaker to support a voluntary prescription drug plan under Medicare, and Shaheen said her opponents in November's Senate race have not worked toward such a plan.
"They have not supported prescription drug benefits and efforts to lower the cost of drugs for people," Shaheen said of Smith and Sununu.
The governor urged New Hampshire citizens to push for change by pressuring their representatives in Washington.
"What people can do is to lobby their congressional delegation and urge them to close those loopholes in Hatch-Waxman that keep people from having access to lower-cost generic drugs," Shaheen said. "People are still going to have access to brand-name drugs, and if someone wants to spend more on their drug of choice, they can do that, but they should also have access to the generic drugs. It's an issue of consumer choice."
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
Gregg and Kennedy: The Not-So-Odd Couple
WASHINGTON, April 25--After a decade of sparring in the Senate, Sens. Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) - who some may think have little in common other than their states' shared border - have found some new common ground. The lawmakers with contrasting ideologies and styles have agreed in the current session of Congress on everything from anti-terrorism protection to agricultural subsidies, collective bargaining, environmental conservation, and - most notably - education reform. And another political odd couple, President George Bush and Sen. Jim Jeffords (I-VT), may have helped bring them closer together.
Since the 107th Congress started in January, 2000, the Granite State's Gregg, a fiscal and social conservative who supports cutting taxes and expanding gun owners' rights, has strayed at times to vote the same as Kennedy on initiatives such as a failed amendment to help firemen unionize. And the quintessentially liberal Kennedy, famous for his support of the poor and disadvantaged and increases in funding for programs like Medicare, has shifted to the right to reach compromises - as he did when he worked with Gregg and Bush to reauthorize the massive education bill that was signed into law in January.
This education compromise started when Bush, four days into his term, summoned Gregg and Kennedy to the White House to talk about reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the law that comprises the major part of the federal government's commitment to K-12 education. Joining them were the heads of the House health committee - Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and George Miller (D-CA). The law that was enacted in 1965 had not been renewed as it was supposed to be in 1999, because of partisan squabbles, and Bush made reaching a compromise a priority.
So the president called the four partisan education leaders together for coffee and asked them to help him reauthorize the bill before the end of the year.
Gregg and Kennedy did not have a good track record: they had spent most of their time serving on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee disagreeing, according to observers. Jeffords was the chair of the committee, Kennedy was the ranking minority member and Gregg was the ranking majority member.
"They sat on both sides of Sen. Jeffords in hearings," recalled committee spokesman Jim Manley. "And Senator Jeffords, who is hard of hearing, got caught in the middle of some epic battles."
In a typical squabble in 1995, for example, Gregg and Kennedy traded jabs over a successful Republican committee effort to repeal a Depression-era law that protected workers wages on federal construction jobs. Gregg, calling the law "a holdover from a time that is past," said their debate was "about whether we believe or not that the market system works." Kennedy retorted by calling opposition to the law "an uglier face of class warfare, waged by Republicans to keep blue collar workers down, to keep them out of the middle class."
There were a few instances when they managed to work together such as in 1989, when Gregg was governor and worked with Kennedy to call on the Bush administration to investigate the rising cost of home heating oil.
But most of the time they were each other's nemesis. Kennedy once tried to sneak special health care coverage for fisherman into an obscure section of the federal budget; his plan failed because Gregg found the initiative, labeled as a neighborhood health item, and killed it.
Their styles differ greatly as well. Gregg is taciturn, Kennedy more outgoing and at times a bit bombastic.
"Senator Gregg has a sarcastic, biting kind of analysis of things while Kennedy kind of sits there and gets a head of steam going," said Joel Parker, a lobbyist at the National Education Association who covers the Senate health committee.
"They didn't know each other very well," said Manley. "They were from different parties and very different philosophical backgrounds and very different political backgrounds."
Gregg, 55, was elected to his second six-year term in the Senate in 1998 after serving two terms as governor and four terms as a U.S. Representative for the second congressional district; Kennedy, 70, has served in the Senate since 1962, when he was 30. Gregg stays out of major ideological battles, preferring, he said, to take "complex issues and breaking them apart to get a result;" Kennedy, Manley acknowledges, loves the game of legislating.
Case in point: During the State of the Union address in January, Bush thanked Gregg for his help on the education bill. But when television cameras turned to the audience to show the New Hampshire senator, they scanned the crowd in vain before turning back to the president and then on to Kennedy. Sources said Gregg was not in Washington the night of the speech.
"That's demonstrative of the senator's style," said Mark Wrighton, a political science professor from the University of New Hampshire. "He isn't the kind of person to seek out credit."
That presidential praise, though, came after a year of impasse and compromise. After meeting at the White House in January, 2001, Gregg and Kennedy spent the early part of the year writing the Senate version of the education bill before bringing it to the floor of the Senate.
Then their burgeoning working relationship was tested. The House passed its version of the education bill on May 23, 2001. On May 24, Sen. Jeffords left the GOP, shifting control of the Senate and anointing Kennedy the head of the health committee and Gregg the ranking minority member. Jeffords, the buffer between the two, was gone. Now they had to not only help the Senate pass its education legislation (which it did on June 29) and then help consolidate over 3,000 differences between the Senate and House bill - they also had to rule one of the most high-profile committees together.
Manley said he and other staffers on the Hill expected a "shootout at the OK Corral" between Kennedy and Gregg when they assumed their new roles. But they surprised everyone by getting along.
"They actually developed an excellent working relationship," he said.
Gregg went from being the ranking majority member to the ranking minority member - a role that requires more leadership and compromising with the chair.
"When Jeffords, who is very low key and very soft spoken, was still on the Republican side and chairman, he would agree more with Democrats than Republicans," said Manley. "So at times Gregg [when he was ranking majority member] tried to act as the conservative champion."
But as the ranking minority member he had to be more tempered, said Gordon Humphrey, a former senator for New Hampshire from 1979 to 1990. "The chair has to rely pretty heavily on the ranking minority member," said Humphrey. He added that Kennedy, a "much stronger ideologue," very much relies on Gregg to garner Republican votes.
"I am the theoretical leader of the Republicans and I know I need to participate with the majority," Gregg said. "In this system, the committee can't function as a committee unless the chairman and the ranking member work in a professional way."
Gregg also works across the aisle in committee with Senator Fritz Hollings (D-SC), the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary, on which Gregg is the ranking minority member.
"You develop a style," Gregg said. "At the end of the day, you need to be able to produce something." And Gregg does this even with someone like Kennedy who, Gregg said, "plays for keeps" and "has the votes and will beat me on [many] issues."
Observers say Gregg's close relationship to Bush - so close that he helped Bush practice for his presidential debates against Al Gore - has elevated his status.
"A part of the job of top Republican is to support the president, be the voice of the president," said Humphrey.
Gregg did advance Bush's education priorities over the summer while meeting with the education leaders - Kennedy, Boehner and Miller, dubbed the Big Four. They convened in regular secret sessions in Kennedy's hideaway in the third floor of the Capitol two to three times a week, even meeting through the August recess.
Then, on the morning of the September 11 attacks, Gregg and Kennedy were on the third floor of the Russell Senate Office Building, where both of their offices are, with First Lady Laura Bush and Splash, Kennedy's Portuguese Water dog. Mrs. Bush had planned on speaking about early childhood education at a 10:00 health committee hearing down the hall from Gregg and Kennedy's offices.
After hearing that the second World Trade Center tower was hit, Gregg said, he called Kennedy. "I went to Ted's office and Laura was already there. The three of us sat in his office for a while watching what was happening." They moved to Gregg's office, where the watched the second tower collapse.
"All I could think to myself was, the only other thing like this was when John F. Kennedy was shot," Gregg said. "And here I was sitting with JFK's brother."
On September 12 the Big Four issued a statement pledging to move ahead on the education bill, and they did. They worked for more than 100 hours on the legislation that was signed - after a year of compromises - into law right after the New Year.
Gregg admitted work amongst the Big Four was slow at times.
And though he said Splash added some levity to the meetings in Kennedy's hideaway, Gregg said negotiations over issues such as public school choice and civil rights language were often like "running into a brick wall."
"There were some points that I didn't think we'd reach agreement," Gregg said. "We spent six weeks on supplemental services. We weren't moving on until we got that worked out, and I was adamant about what had to be included in this bill."
But they pulled it off.
"Senator Kennedy and I have clear philosophical disagreements, they are deep and significant," said Gregg. "But we use the rules to pursue our positions in the most aggressive ways we can."
Thomas Rath, a Concord attorney and veteran Republican activist, said that despite their differences Gregg and Kennedy "have mastery to get results in a Congress that can get grid locked."
This skill, history shows, has helped them work on other issues aside from education.
Gregg voted on April 12 for the amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill to help firemen unionize - legislation Kennedy supported. Though the proposal to ease restrictions on collective bargaining by emergency workers did not garner the votes it needed, Gregg supported the Democratic measure. He said he did so because "New Hampshire firefighters came to me and made a good argument."
On November 15, 2001 Gregg joined with Kennedy and Sen. William Frist (R-TN) in introducing legislation they drafted for a bioterrorism protection plan. The successful proposal, which passed the Senate on December 20, calls for stepping up inspections of imported food, giving states money to improve public health systems, and encouraging pharmaceutical companies to produce drugs that treat illnesses such as botulism.
More examples abound.
In February they cosponsored a bill to designate some Massachusetts and New Hampshire communities as a national heritage area. Kennedy supported an amendment to the farm bill Gregg introduced last December to phase out the federal sugar program. In August 2001 they supported confirming John L. Henshaw as assistant secretary of labor directing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
"Neither one of them is one-dimensional," said Rath.
Of course, differences remain.
And school vouchers, something Gregg has advocated for since the Clinton administration, may be the most polarizing difference, predicted lobbyist Parker.
Last June, when Gregg proposed a creating a pilot program to test the effectiveness of vouchers, Kennedy said, "above all, there is no evidence that students using vouchers for private schools do better in school." The proposal lost, 58 to 41.
When Gregg and Kennedy disagreed in July on holding hearings for nominate Gerald Reynolds to oversee the federal office that enforces Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in school sports, Gregg accused Kennedy of being partisan in his opposition to Reynolds. Reynolds was appointed by Bush in mid-April, 2002.
"I think we now know where each other stands and where we can get on those issues," said Gregg.
And committee spokesman Manly predicted that Gregg and Kennedy will never agree on issues such as vouchers, cloning, and pension reform.
"They'll work together when they can and oppose each other when they have to," Manley said.
Gregg said he sees no epic issues arising, "unless they try to nationalize health care again," he said
More evidence of the Gregg-Kennedy alliance will emerge in the coming weeks, when the two announce new early education legislation.
Gregg may continue to become more visible, according to UNH's Wrighton, thanks to his role as the president's spokesperson on the committee and his legacy as the crafter of the education bill. "These things have helped him to become a player on issues," he said, "and it's always good for any state when its senator gets the opportunity to become a player."
Asked if he likes being considered a player, Gregg grinned and said, "Everyone likes to be acknowledged."
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Maine Leads in Tightening Homeland Security and Maintaining Trade
WASHINGTON, April 25--Within two years, Maine's 23 points-of-entry by land will boast a more efficient, more secure and more technologically advanced monitoring system. It will allow vehicles to cross the border from Canada into the United States more rapidly, and it is intended to ensure the safety of federal officials stationed at them.
The new system will cost the U.S. Customs Service $50 million to install. Among the improvements will be cameras that can detect contraband, biometric systems that identify people by their fingerprints and high-speed communication systems that allow guards - some working alone at virtually barren entry points - to contact help quickly in case of an emergency.
The system represents the federal government's push to improve security throughout Maine, not just on the Canadian border, but also at the seaports sprinkled along the state's long, rocky coast.
"Maine really is in the lead on this," said Doug Doan, senior vice president of New Technology Management Inc., which has contracted with Customs to implement the new system. Refurbishing Maine's ports-of-entry is a priority, Doan said.
Maine is at the forefront, literally, of the nation's twin - and sometimes conflicting - missions of protecting its homeland and preserving its system of free international trade. There are "two competing ideas: free flow of goods and services, and at the same time keeping out the bad guys," Doan said.
The enormity of the operation is a major obstacle to securing the U.S. homeland. "It is not possible to check every container that comes into this country.á That would kill the economy," said Brian C. Nutter, Maine Port Authority administrator.
Because of its geographical location, Maine plays an important role as a throughway for trade. Maine felt the affects of Sept. 11 in unique ways, though only temporarily. In fact, economic prospects in the coming months look good. But homeland security experts say another incident of similar magnitude could seriously damage the economy, and that's why there is a push to secure a better system of homeland defense in Maine.
Besides its unique geography - a porous, 611-mile border with Canada and a 1,000-mile coastline - Maine has been in the spotlight because it inadvertently played a role in the attacks of Sept. 11. Reports suggest that the some of the hijackers, who later drove two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers, initially and illegally crossed the Maine-Canadian border.
Almost eight months later, the U.S. government has employed New Technology Management. and other high-tech companies to improve homeland defense. But despite all of these technological upgrades for Maine's numerous ports-of-entry, "perfect security isn't ever possible," Doan said.
How Maine fits into the equation
Maritime inspectors in the Italian port of Gioia Tauro last October discovered a suspected al-Qaida member stowed away in a shipping container headed for Halifax, Canada. The Egyptian man had with him airport maps and security passes. The incident exemplified the vulnerability of the international trading network - a system that security experts argue can be a vehicle to carry out terrorism.
Protecting the U.S. homeland while preserving the flow of trade has been a hot topic lately. Monitoring the massive amount of traffic that crosses U.S. borders and floats into its waterways is an awesome challenge. In fiscal year 2001, the Customs Service reported that 479 million people entered the United States by land, sea and air. The same year, 5.7 million maritime containers and 11.1 million commercial trucks passed through Customs.
Geography contributes to the role each state has in these national numbers, which is why Maine is a key component in the effort to tighten security while still inviting trade.
In 2000, $8.7 billion worth of imports - .7 percent of total U.S. imports - came into Maine by land, sea and air. A large portion of these imports, which range from petroleum to vegetables, is eventually shipped to Canada and to southern and midwestern states.
The Port of Portland, the second largest port in New England, is an active point of trade. It is the only seaport in Maine that accepts containers, which are motor-home sized, cargo-packed, steel boxes carried on vessels and trucks.
Each week, about 30 to 60 containers enter the seaport, which is small in comparison to the seaports in Boston and New York City. But the cargo that enters Portland supplies every county in Maine. Therefore a slowdown in cargo, which occurred after Sept. 11, subsequently damages commerce throughout Maine.
Portland is the state's most diverse port-of-entry. Crude oil is its predominant import, which is directly siphoned to Montreal through a pipeline.
The second-leading import is refined petroleum, used to produce heating oil and gasoline. The huge tankers that carry these products could seriously damage the local fishing industry if the vessel were struck in the harbor, causing the petroleum to gush into the water.
To prevent such incidents from occurring, ships coming into harbor must inform the Coast Guard 96 hours in advance. The ships must tell the Coast Guard who and what are on board. That information is run through a database to check if everyone and everything could be dangerous. Inspectors scrutinize ships that originate in other countries.
The Coast Guard is, by in large, considered first in command. Other agencies, such as Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the Agriculture Department, also participate in the inspections, but their roles depend on the type of vessel coming into port.
Inspectors usually comb the ship after it has docked Only when a ship has potentially dangerous cargo or comes from a hostile country do inspectors check its cargo outside the port.
Inspectors examine 2 percent of the cargo that comes into port. Said Lt. Mike McCarthy of the Coast Guard's Maine safety office: "Hopefully we're targeting the right 2 percent."
On Sept. 11, inspectors in Portland slowed the pace of examinations significantly. In fact, the flow of the entire transportation industry slowed down, and Maine commerce felt it.
Trucking across the Canadian-Maine border ground to a halt in the face of an ill-equipped monitoring system. Companies awaiting these shipments lost money when cargoes didn't arrive on time.
The fishing industry, lobstermen in particular, lost money because the planes that were supposed to be carrying their goods to other parts of the country were grounded. The fishermen were forced to sell their goods at a reduced price.
These days, commerce appears to be business is usual. Steven Levesque, commissioner of Maine's Department of Economic and Community Development, said that commerce was damaged by the slowdown of goods, but only for a few weeks. Most others agree. McCarthy said that the same number of containers is arriving at the Port of Portland as before Sept. 11.
But what would happen if there was another incident? Security experts such as Sean Burke, a research associate for Stephen Flynn, a security adviser for a think-tank based in New York City, contends that it would kill the economy.
"That's bullshit," said Levesque, who, like many, stressed that the ingenuity and diligence of Mainers would let them fight through the commercial industry's woes.
But, in fact, what worries national policy makers and Mainers alike is how to maintain trade if you build walls around the borders.
Needed: Money
Money is the most obvious means for improving security and maintaining trade. It pays for the new gadgets that monitor ports-of-entry and the additional inspectors positioned at the border and seaports.
Since Sept. 11, Maine's federal representatives have pushed for legislation and additional funds that would especially benefit the state.
The most recent legislation to clear Congress was the Border Security Act. It emphasizes better communication among federal agencies, including the CIA, the FBI, the Customs Service and the INS. The new law calls for updating a centralized database containing the names and backgrounds of potentially dangerous people and for strengthening biometrics technology.
Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are also lobbying the Senate Appropriations Committee to dole out enough money to triple the number of Customs, Border Patrol and INS agents stationed at the northern border.
"Increased funding for staffing and expanded use of technology for security and processing is essential to the economic vitality and physical security of á our northern states," Snowe and Collins said in a joint press release.
Referring to the Maine delegation's immediate call for beefier security after Sept. 11, Jeffrey Monroe, director of Transportation in Portland, said: "I don't mean to blow smoke up anyone's tuckus," but Maine's representatives "were right on the ball á as soon as the gates opened."
Nevertheless, one Maine homeland security official called the amount of money "conservative." that will go to improving security, especially in Maine. Others say that more money for more guards and more gates is a "short fuse approach." Instead of more guards at the borders, they say, the entire system requires revamping.
Burke said the system needs to include the private sector, which is especially insistent about improving homeland security. "They're going to pony up dough," Burke said.
The Coast Guard, for instance, employs fishermen to report anything suspicious out on the water. The fisherman are part of the "9,000 sets of eyes" that McCarthy said the Coast Guard has asked to stay alert to dubious activity.
As Col. Mark Gilbert, Maine homeland security coordinator, put it, "Mrs. Johnson, who lives next door, knows what's happening on her block."
But whom does Mrs. Johnson call when she spots suspicious activity? And once she has called, say, the state agency, whom does it call? That the question is even asked points up the problem of creating an efficient system of homeland security: communication.
Monroe said there is a lack of communication among federal agencies working in the Port of Portland and that there are times when the Coast Guard doesn't inform Portland officials of potential threats from some ships that come into port. "They city should be privy to threat assessments, and we're not," Monroe said.
McCarthy, however, said that communication between the federal agencies and the city of Portland is "excellent."
Technology, Policy and Borders
Technology will have a major role in preserving trade while keeping dangerous contraband from entering into the city.
Maine's first step has been to refurbish its border entry points, where, in addition to installing more lights to illuminate the stations and replacing battered signs, workers are implementing advanced biometric systems., thus pushing Maine beyond what Flynn calls the Customs Service's typical "paper-based system."
"If you are wanted in some way, and you are at a port-of-entry in Maine, you are in big trouble," Doan said.
Other options include attaching a microcomputer to a truck's motor control system. The microcomputer, which would receive signals from a global positioning system, would switch off a truck's engine if the vehicle strayed from a designated path and automatically alert the police.
This same system could be used with containers carried across borders or shipped into ports. An electronic system would alert the police if the containers were tampered with.
Aside from high-tech face-lifts, which necessitate money and time to install, border adjustments have also been taken into consideration.
One idea is to place U.S. Customs inspectors at a checking point in Canada, thus relieving some of the congestion at the border crossings. But U.S. and Canadian inspectors use different security procedures, which could cause controversy among the inspectors.
An answer to that, said Wade Merritt, director of the Maine International Trade Center, could be to create a single border around North America, with the exception of Mexico. Canada supports this idea, he said, because it worries that the United States might establish a security system that would exclude its northern neighbor, thereby hurting the "symbiotic" trade relationship between the two countries.
Overseas inspection is another idea. U.S. inspectors would work at overseas ports-of-entry and would inspect cargo headed toward the United States. Overseas inspections, which would require somewhat of a global partnership, have been widely accepted as one of the best ideas to ensure security and relieve congestion along the borders.
There are other more conventional ideas as well, including Congressman John Baldacci's proposal to impose stricter weight-limits on trucks that drive through towns on I-95 on their way to and from Canada. Inspectors could, examine the smaller cargoes more quickly..
Burke admitted that "there is no perfect system" and said that the goal should be to implement a system that would ensure that the economy could withstand another fatal incident. The obstacle isn't just the money or the technology, he said; "the obstacle is the complexity of the system itself."
Flynn put it this way: "A credible system would not necessarily have to be perfect, but it would need to be good enough so that when an attack does occur, the public deems it to be the result of a correctible fault in security rather than an absence of security."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
Profile of Mr. Peter Cressy, President and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council
WASHINGTON, April 25--He may be relatively new in Capitol Hill lobbying circles, but he is no novice when it comes to Washington politics.
After a naval career filled with prestigious assignments and nearly a decade in collegiate administration, including a stint as president of UMASS Dartmouth, Peter Cressy, 60, now has a new challenge as president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), the lobbying arm of the liquor industry.
Mr. Cressy's visibility within the Capitol Beltway has increased over the past several months. He has received high praise within industry circles for organizing conferences designed to address binge and underage drinkers. Additionally, his name appeared on the front pages of the nation's newspapers last month when he disputed NBC's decision to ban spirits advertising.
Since his arrival in Washington almost three years ago, Mr. Cressy said he has sought to promote responsible drinking. "We think people should view the use of beverage alcohol as a practice of moderation," he said. "We need to demystify [alcohol], and normalize it·. I believe normalization will lead to moderation and responsible use."
Citing a need to "demystify" the public's perception of distilled spirits, he said many Americans are unaware that the alcoholic content of a standard mixed drink is the same as that of a 12-ounce can of beer and a 5-ounce glass of wine. According to the organization's Web site, www.distilledspirits.org, spirits are taxed at triple the rate of wine and double that of beer. Further, the site said, a 750-millimeter bottle of spirits at an average cost of $10.62 is taxed 55 percent in federal, local and state taxes. "That creates a dangerous misperception," Cressy said.
During his tenure, DISCUS determined it would seek to advertise its members' products on television in an attempt to end the near-monopoly beer and wine industries hold over that medium's alcoholic beverage advertising. While a good chunk of cable channels air spirits ads, including ESPN and TBS, the broadcast networks do not.
Last winter, NBC decided to depart from the networks' longstanding refusal to accept hard-liquor ads. But pressure from some members of Congress and beer advocates persuaded the General Electric Co.-owned network to change its decision
"I thought it was a great shame," Mr. Cressy said. "Our standards [for the ads] are higher than the highest of any product in the history of television." One in every five ads, he said, would have preached responsible drinking.
He added that currently, only one in 50 commercials on television promotes responsible drinking. "We think differentiating between liquor and beer makes no sense at all," he said. "This could have been a good opportunity for [outside advisory groups] to demand high standards. The headline could have been, 'Spirits set a new high standard, beer and wine to follow.' What they've done is mask the problem."
Mr. Cressy's career began in the military after he received degrees in history and political science from Yale University in 1963. "It just made sense to me," he said. "I was a child of World War II. My first memories were of my father as a war doctor. I grew up thinking it was important to spend some time in uniform."
During his naval career, Mr. Cressy first became acclimated to Washington politics when he served in senior positions in the early 1980s at the State Department, the House and the Pentagon.
Raymond McGrath, a former Congressman from New York and now a Washington lobbyist, first met Cressy when he handled Mr. McGrath's casework problems as naval liaison to the House.
During his 28 years in the Navy, Cressy served in Japan, Iceland, Italy and the Mediterranean. He also served aboard ships near the coast of Vietnam during the evacuation of Saigon and the Mayaguez Rescue Operation in 1975. He ended his military career as commander, Fleet Air Mediterranean, and commander, NATO Air Mediterranean, during the Gulf War.
Mr. Cressy said he had never intended to stay in the Navy that long, but "every time I planned to get out, the Navy offered me another challenge."
During his Navy service, Mr. Cressy managed to receive a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University, a master's in business administration from the University of Rhode Island and a doctorate in education from the University of San Francisco.
Before entering the military, he considered law, stock brokering and journalism as potential careers. Although academia was not a primary ambition for him while at Yale, it became intriguing to him during his studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I.
This passion for knowledge would eventually lead the retired rear admiral to pursue presidential positions at academic institutions, first at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and two years later at UMASS Dartmouth, positions he called the most challenging of his career.
"I think universities are complex places. As president, you have limited authority yet enormous responsibilities. You manage every day by consensus," he said.
While at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Mr. Cressy caught the attention of Robert Karam, former vice president of the University of Massachusetts and currently president of the Karam Financial Group in New Bedford.
"We recognized he was a rising star in higher education," said Mr. Karam, who was instrumental in bringing Mr. Cressy to the New Bedford-Fall River region to head UMASS Dartmouth.
One of Mr. Cressy's primary responsibilities at UMASS Dartmouth was to bring together the New Bedford and Fall River communities into what is now referred to as Southcoast Massachusetts.
"I [sought] to increase the interaction of the university with the region, and I hope there was a positive effect on the economy and the quality of life in the region," said Mr. Cressy, who made fundraising for UMASS Dartmouth one of his top priorities.
Before his arrival, the school was dependent on state aid, but by his departure in 1999, state aid had dropped from 70 to 40 percent of its total income, according to Mr. Karam.
Mr. Karam and Massachusetts State Senator Mark Montigny both credit Cressy with three other significant achievements at UMASS Dartmouth, all of which stem from his role as salesman: professional accreditation of the business school, growth of the Center for Marine Science and Technology in New Bedford and the establishment of the Advanced Technology Manufacturing Facility in Fall River.
After receiving a $3 million donation from Woolworth heir Chuck Charlton for the business college, Mr. Cressy raised additional funds to attract top faculty to the newly named Charlton School of Business. The growth of the Center for Marine Science and Technology appealed to Brian Rothschild, a top marine scientist, whose work at the center led to a $20 million increase in New Bedford's fisheries business. The establishment of the Advanced Technology Manufacturing Facility improved that industry's connection to the Southcoast community.
Mr. Cressy passionately and actively strove to integrate the university into the regional economy, Sen. Montigny said. "For those of us who care greatly about this area and UMASS Dartmouth, it is the absolute key institution for the Southcoast in terms of realizing its economic potential," he added. "I think we've made more progress in the past five years, than all previous decades. And absolutely, you need someone like [Mr. Cressy] who shares the goal and is aggressive in the pursuit."
With a laugh, Sen. Montigny said that Mr. Cressy constantly pestered him for money for the school. "He came to me about 365 days a year, and it was never enough. But that's good. I always felt his aggressiveness was appropriate - it was very important for the institution for him to be aggressive and persistent."
The growth of the Dartmouth campus and the surrounding communities during Mr. Cressy's tenure led to its recognition by U.S. News & World Report as a top-ten northern regional university.
"When he's focused on an issue, he expects everyone to be focused on that issue as well. He's taken that same drive, same discipline and same persuasive skills to DISCUS," asserted Mr. Karam.
Although it might seem unusual that a former university president is now a flack for the alcohol industry, Mr. Cressy said he promoted moderation and responsible drinking while at UMASS Dartmouth, and now delivers the same message in his current post.
Deno Curris of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities said he was impressed that Mr. Cressy and DISCUS are committed to eliminating alcohol abuse on college campuses. "I think we've been through the period of prohibition, and it was a failure," he said. "If students do drink, we as educators should emphasize responsible drinking."
He added that it was beneficial that a former university president is spearheading the crusade to combat underage and abusive drinking.
"Under the leadership of Mr. Cressy· we will be looking at implementation of programs that encourage education on alcohol consumption," he said.
"I don't know if it will work," said Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president of George Washington University. "Cressy's one guy on a crusade, trying to get universities to take drinking seriously. But it's always helpful to have somebody who can speak the sociology of university life and can begin his remarks [to schools] by pointing to the fact that he too has devoted a portion of his life to leading an academic institution. He seems to have an instinctive sympathy for academic life and an understanding for our values," said Mr. Trachtenberg.
Reflecting on his unusual career path, Mr. Cressy said: "I consider myself very, very fortunate to serve in and work in three different careers. I thought the military was [ideal for me] during the Cold War. Nothing is as important to democracy as education. And likewise, I find it fascinating to be back in Washington."
Mr. Cressy said he decided to leave the presidency of UMASS Dartmouth because "after six years, I thought it was a good time to leave. No CEO should stay too long." After three years in Washington, he's not saying how long he intends to stay with the Distilled Spirits Council but he will say he eventually intends to retire to Southcoast Massachusetts.
"I wouldn't be surprised if this is his last hurrah, although you never know," Mr. Trachtenberg said. "He's still a youngish, vigorous man. This is surely a sufficient challenge to consume someone for a decade."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
The District and Northern Virginia Prepare for a Baseball Team That Has Not Yet Arrived
WASHINGTON, April 25--Speculation is swirling about the Capitol Beltway that Washington or Northern Virginia could house a baseball team as soon as 2003, but some Washington businessmen are skeptical, warning that several obstacles could thwart the area's hopes of landing its first major league team since the Senators departed the District after the 1971 season.
In the past six months, two of Major League Baseball's top officials, including commissioner Bud Selig, acknowledged the Washington-area as a potential market for a baseball team, initially playing at RFK Stadium in Southeast Washington.
Chief operating officer Robert DuPuy told reporters in mid-April that a Washington-area team was "inevitable," though he would not speculate on when a team would arrive. Nonetheless, both DuPuy and Selig said a team would not relocate to the region until Major League Baseball agrees to a new collective bargaining contract with the players, and until it resolves the "contraction" issue-its attempt to shrink the number of baseball teams by one or two.
"Baseball has made it clear that they're going through contraction and the labor contract first; the second phase is relocation. It's the right plan," said Winston Lord, executive director of Washington Baseball Club L.L.C., the D.C.-based group trying to bring a team to the region.
In the past 30 years, baseball expanded from 24 to 30 ball clubs, but no baseball team during that period has moved, and no team has ever been "contracted" out of existence.
Interestingly, the next team to relocate will be the first move of any club in Major League Baseball since the second Senators franchise left Washington in 1971 for Texas only a decade after the original Senators left Washington in 1960 to move to Minnesota. In both cases, the Senators owner was lured from the District by sweet stadium deals.
Most baseball insiders assume the Montreal Expos would be most likely to relocate to the Washington region, unless the Expos are contracted, according to Patrick Courtney, a public relations manager of Major League Baseball.
"If contraction doesn't go through, I think it's pretty clear that something has to be done with Montreal," Courtney said. "Everyone recognizes that Washington is a viable market, so it's a possibility" that the Expos would relocate to the District].
Courtney and Lord both said that Montreal is a dying market, and the Expos have routinely attracted crowds of fewer than 5,000 to their games over the past few seasons. A good number of minor league teams attract larger crowds than the Expos seat on some nights.
"It doesn't make sense why they should be operating a team in Montreal in those conditions when you have as [ripe] a market as you do in Northern Virginia," said Jerry Burkot, spokesman for Virginians for Baseball.
Two prominent groups, Washington Baseball Club and Virginians for Baseball, are jockeying for a Washington-area team, although there is no promise that a club will reside anywhere within the Beltway next year. Major League Baseball, however, is more inclined to eliminate teams than to relocate them in cities without franchises, according to baseball insiders.
"The commissioner is on record saying there is a potential for movement, though [baseball's primary focuses] are the collective bargaining agreement and contraction," Courtney said..
There is little doubt that the Washington area could support a baseball team. Outside of major league soccer, there is no competition within the metro area during the summer months that would endanger the team's economic vitality, said Bobby Goldwater, commissioner of the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission.
Redskins owner Daniel Snyder is interested in purchasing a baseball team with Black Entertainment Television CEO Robert L. Johnson and moving it to Washington, though his bid is not the one Washington Mayor Anthony Williams supports.
Several roadblocks still exist, many of which have been documented in the past, and the most relevant argument is the District's proximity to Baltimore and the Orioles; approximately 40 miles separate the cities.
Although Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley is on record supporting D.C. Washington's pursuit of a team, Orioles owner Peter Angelos abhors the idea of competition from Washington, arguing that a sizable chunk of Washington-area fans travel to Baltimore to watch baseball at his cozy Orioles Park at Camden Yards.
If baseball relocates a team to the Washington-area, the Washington Baseball Club may have an edge over the Virginians for Baseball group based on recent history. Over the past decade, all new baseball stadiums with the exception of the Texas Rangers' new digs were placed in downtown areas of cities. D.C.Washington Baseball Club is one proposing a field within the city limits. Virginians for Baseball, founded in 1994, five years prior to the establishment of ts competitor, wants to place a team in the Northern Virginia suburbs.
William L. Collins III, president and CEO of Alexandria-based Metrocall, spearheads Virginians for Baseball. He first tried to bring an expansion team to Northern Virginia in the mid-1990s, but lost out to Arizona and Tampa Bay.
"We believe many owners regret that decision to place a team in Tampa," Burkot said. "The St. Pete market, where the dome [Tropicana Field] is located, is away from the center of the business community in Tampa. We feel that it may have been a mistake at that point." Collins later tried to lure the Houston Astros to the region.
Washington Baseball Club (WBC) is a coalition of D.C. businessmen, including AOL co-founder James Kinsey and Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines. Fred Malek, one of most outspoken supporters of Washington baseball and a part of WBC, is a former co-owner of the Texas Rangers with President George W. Bush.
"Our group has a passion for two things: baseball and Washington," Lord said.
Both Mayor Williams and the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission showed their support for the WBC in January by entering into a two-year agreement to join efforts to lure a team to the District. The commission, an independent agency of the District of Columbia, manages and operates RFK Stadium, the former home of the Senators and Redskins that sits next to the D.C. Armory in the Southeast quadrant of the District.
"This agreement sends the strongest possible message to Major League Baseball that the nation's capitol has the finest combination of people and resources to support a team," Williams said. "I congratulate everyone who has worked so diligently in forging this alliance which puts the best interests of the District at the forefront. Now more than ever, there is no question that Washington, D.C., is ready to play ball."
Although RFK Stadium will need refurbishing for the sport, including construction of a new baseball diamond and improved technologies, Goldwater said the ballpark, which seats 45,200, could be baseball-ready in four to six weeks.
"The biggest advantage for D.C. we have is RFK Stadium," Lord said. "It's a big asset for us, but it's a 40-year-old ballpark." Goldwater said.
A new stadium, possibly near the four-year-old MCI Center in the city's downtown or along the Anacostia River, just blocks from RFK, could be constructed within two to three years of a team's relocation to the District.
"Obviously, we can't turn RFK into Camden Yards, and we wouldn't put the money into it," Lord said. "A new ballpark would be a certainty if a team moved to Washington."
"Our hope is to look at every possible site in D.C. by the end of the 2002 season. And we're only talking about D.C.," Lord added.
According to Goldwater, "our goal is to have an MLB team permanently in the District, not necessarily on our property."
The agreement between the WBC and Goldwater's commission requires that the commission manage the new stadium even if the ballpark is not on the site adjacent to RFK Stadium.
Burkot argued that a site in Northern Virginia is more central than one in Washington. "I think when you look at the economics of marketplace, the sheer numbers of population, and [where] the center of the business community is, I think [it would favor] Virginia," he said. "You have half a million people living in D.C., maybe another half-million people working there. 4 million people live out in Northern Virginia, and another two million work there· Families are centered out in Northern Virginia. And it's easier to come to a ballgame in the evening without coming into the District."
Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College economist who specializes in the business of sports, said: "D.C. probably has an edge over Northern Virginia. I think there are some issues with transportation with the bridges [in Northern Virginia]. And D.C. would probably have the higher cachet." Because of the Metro subway system, Lord argues that D.C. has an edge on transportation - especially if the ballpark is placed in the center of the city, near the MCI Center. "The Metro drives you to the downtown," Lord said.
He added, "If a team is placed by Dulles Airport, it'll be like going out to a Redskins game at FedEx field [in suburban Landover, Md.]. It's an event, but you have the traffic concerns."
"The last time I looked, the Metro goes into Virginia, too," Burkot said, laughing. "There are several potential locations where a ballpark would be a great fit. Any location that the stadium authority chooses will be centrally located and will recognize community and neighborhood needs."
Zimbalist said that a team could thrive in either the District or in the Virginia suburbs.
"It is politically viable, as opposed to economically viable, to place a team in Washington," said Ronald Utt, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation specializing in urban renewal. "In the way that baseball teams are promoted, D.C. is the [ideal] site for a team. [The city could provide] heavy public subsidies, tax abatements and subsidized stadiums. Corporate welfare is oriented to hospitality of entertainment and tourism, aspects that you can't find anywhere else [outside of a city]· They are for-profit groups that have tapped into government subsidies."
Utt was referring to efforts in the late 1980s to construct a Redskins park in Alexandria, adjacent to the District. "As much as people like sports, they don't want it in their neighborhood," he added. "They're lucky to be in proximity to people who want it, so in the case of the Orioles, the Maryland taxpayers helped to fund the stadium, and the Virginians have the opportunity to use it."
The Orioles have insisted that a team in Washington would damage their revenue stream, because the Washington area constitutes a fourth of their fan base. A study conducted by Virginians for Baseball determined that a team in that state would affect only 10 to 15 percent of the Orioles fan base, a report that Zimbalist supported.
"It's one region, but it's two different markets," Goldwater said. "No one connected with the effort to bring baseball to Washington wants to hurt the Baltimore Orioles. There is enough population, enough fans of baseball, in addition to the people who live here - and the 23 million tourists that come to the District here that don't have much to do at night during the summer - so there should be no question that Baltimore and the Washington markets can successfully maintain two baseball franchises."
Burkot pointed out that "more people [attending] Orioles games come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware than come from Virginia. Our fan base would be centered in Northern Virginia and maybe the District."
When offered the opportunity to discuss the Orioles' position, team spokesman Bill Stetka refused to shed new light on the subject, or even to state the longstanding position of Angelos's club.
"I'm not interested in reaffirming anything," he said on April 16. "It's a non-story until something new comes out."
A day later, DuPuy told reporters in New York that it was "inevitable" that a baseball team would call Washington or Northern Virginia home.
As a result, Stetka was more willing to speak on April 18. "I don't think what [DuPuy] said is anything substantially different from what Bud Selig said in [January]," he said, referring to Selig's statement that relocation is likely in baseball's future and that the Washington area. was a prime candidate.
Stetka later added, "We're not going to block a move for something that hasn't happened. We'll work with MLB to determine what their strategy is. I would think anything beyond what was said by Mr. DuPuy is pure conjecture."
The WBC's Lord acknowledged that "if baseball were to conduct an independent study and it showed that it would damage the Orioles, we certainly wouldn't want to put it ther.," Nevertheless, he added, "we're not giving up the belief that it wouldn't strongly hurt the Orioles."
Zimbalist agreed. "Both would have modern stadiums· and Washington is in the nation's seventh-largest media market."
Asked if the Orioles would accept a money package from Major League Baseball in exchange for dropping its opposition to a team in Washington, Stetka said, "That's all way down the road, and I can't speculate on anything until anything definitive from MLB comes to us."
MLB's Courtney agreed, saying baseball has not determined if it will go through with relocation to strengthen the markets some teams play in. "In [DuPuy's] opinion, he just thought there'd be a team in Washington at some point. It wasn't like, 'this is Major League Baseball's opinion,' though he is [chief operating officer] of baseball."
Proponents of public financing of private initiatives - including using subsidies to construct sports facilities - generally assert that downtown ballparks lead to urban revitalization.
Lord supports the notion of stadiums as centers of economic growth, pointing to Baltimore's Orioles Park and the adjacent football stadium, PSINet Field. "Take away those two ballparks and the Inner Harbor, and what do they have?" Lord said. "The Inner Harbor is beautiful, and those [parks] have revitalized the area. Look at the surrounding areas around the parks, and look what has been done."
But Zimbalist and Utt dispute the economic gain theory.
"The two stadiums are wonderful tourist places, but they have done nothing for the city of Baltimore," Utt said. "It is palpably absurd to think otherwise. Walk in any direction [from Camden Yards] but towards Harbor Place, and you'll find bona-fide slums. Stadiums don't add much to economic vitality. The players and executives tend not to live in the community, and those that do work there generally have only part-time jobs."
While Zimbalist agrees a team improves social vitality, he does not support heavy public financing of private ballparks. "Right now, [facilities] are financed from federal subsidies, and that's silly," he said. "I think modest financing is OK, but on the local level. The public has to realize it's a consumption good [rather than a means to boost the economy]."
"It would not help the economy," Zimbalist continued. So why place a team in Washington? "It's enjoyable. You shouldn't do it for economic reasons. It's like saying, 'why have a symphony? It's not going to boost the economy, but enrich the culture."
Washington's delegate to Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton favors a city stadium for both social and economic reasons.
"Being a native Washingtonian, she's aware of the loss that was created when the Senators left," said Doxie McCoy, Norton's press secretary. "A team would boost the whole spirit of the District; the nation's Capital should have a team. It's a rallying point for our residents for both social aspects and economic aspects."
While it is not certain that a baseball team would captivate the region as the Redskins have, Lord is confident a new ballpark would be the center for community growth, suggesting that a new Smithsonian sports museum could be added to the WBC's plans.
"We're looking to build potentially a ballpark village and integrate it into the community," he said. "This isn't about making money, it's about giving back to the city."
IF MLB determines to move a team to the metro area, it will be interesting if the decision comes down to a "'city versus suburb" debate. Baseball, after all, has never indicated that urban revitalization is one of the sport's priorities.
There is doubt, of course, that a team will inhabit either Washington or Northern Virginia by 2003, but the region is more than ready to re-enter the small fraternity of cities that house Major League Baseball teams.
"Major League Baseball is very familiar with Bill Collins and his partners," Burkot said. "He has owned minor league teams with the Yankees, Cardinals, Red Sox and Astros. We haven't been as visible and vocal in the media in the past several years, but we've been working behind the scenes and kept in touch with people with Major League Baseball."
As for the District, Lord put it this way: "Both the city and our group want a private-public partnership. There are ways that the city can contribute, that will help revitalize parts of the city. We have a strong mayor who supports our effort."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Rich Get Richer, Poor Get Poorer in Mass.
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON, April 24--The earnings gap between rich and poor has grown more in Massachusetts in the last 20 years than it has in all but two states in the country, according to a report released yesterday. Only New York and Oregon experienced more growth in "economic inequality" over the last two decades.
"The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," said Elizabeth McNichol, director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities State Fiscal Project and a co-author of the report.
Massachusetts also has the fifth-largest gap between rich and poor, with the top fifth of earners making an average of $165,700, more than 10 times what the bottom fifth of earners make ($15,700). This translates into an income disparity of $150,000
Twenty years ago, the gap was not nearly so large. At the end of the 1970s, Massachusetts was ranked 24th in the country in its ratio of rich to poor; at the end of the 1980's, it was ranked 23rd.
"We went from the middle of the pack to near the bottom," said Jim St. George of the TEAM Education Fund, a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in Boston.
Massachusetts economists attribute the growing gap largely to the economy and changes in the labor market. As manufacturing jobs have moved out of state, low-skill, low-paid workers have either been laid off or moved into less lucrative service jobs, explained Paul Harrington of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. In the services industry "the distribution of income is much broader" than in the manufacturing industry, he said.
"Many of these jobs are minimum wage or less and part-time, not full-time," added Marguerite Kane, an associate professor of political science at Merrimack College. "Though they have unions, they tend not to get contracts that provide as much salary or benefits as they had in the manufacturing sector."
According to the study, Massachusetts is one of only two states where the bottom fifth of earners lost a significant share of their income over the last 20 years. Since the early 1990s, the average income for the bottom fifth of Massachusetts workers has fallen by 7 percent, St. George said.
Another factor contributing to the change has been the surge in bonuses and stock options given to high-paid executives, Harrington said. Such extras have "substantially altered the distribution of income in the state," he said.
Though experts differ on how to redress income inequality, some suggest raising the minimum wage, strengthening unemployment insurance, removing barriers to employment and implementing supports such as transportation and child care for low-income families. Local economists, meanwhile, emphasize the importance of job skills training.
"People with modest skills will do well if we find ways to enhance their skills," St George said. "We need to invest in community colleges across the state."
He suggested that the state pay for these programs by raising income taxes for the upper-income people, increasing the tobacco tax and sales tax and closing corporate tax loopholes.
Kane agreed that "Massachusetts needs workers who are trained for the new economy, particularly an economy that is driven by technology."
But Roger Taylor, a professor of economics at Northern Essex Community College, said it is unfair to blame the government entirely.
"A lot of (economic inequality) is (the result of) initiative," he said. "There are opportunities out there, but unless someone pushes you, you aren't going to take advantage of them. We have to reward people like Bill Gates, Drew Bledsoe and Oprah Winfrey."
Published in The Eagle-Tribune, in Lawrence, Mass.
Keene-born Sports Journalist Reflects on His Career
WASHINGTON, April 24--Steve Goff always knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. By the time he was 10, he was writing his own periodic sports magazine, which he sold to friends and relatives for a nickel a copy.
At 35, Goff, now the soccer editor for The Washington Post, has realized his dream and couldn't be happier with his job. A native of Keene, he got his start as a sports reporter at the Sentinel while in high school.
Goff played on his high school freshman soccer team, but even then his passion for writing about sports overcame his desire to compete in them. Because there was no Keene High School newspaper, Goff presented his services to the Sentinel.
"I asked them if they needed help, because it's obviously a small staff, and offered to shoot pictures and write stories," he said.
He arrived at the newsroom by seven every morning, where he would write a story before leaving for his first class at nine. Weekends and summers were spent covering American Legion baseball games and soccer matches.
By his sophomore year at American University, Goff was sports editor of his college paper, The Eagle. In the fall of 1985 the Eagles, AU's soccer team, went to the NCAA playoffs, providing Goff his first introduction to professional sports writing.
At about the same time, he began working part-time at the Post, answering phones and covering high school sports and college soccer. He proved his abilities as a reporter and editor, eventually moving up to the full-time staff.
"I love to write, and I want to keep writing," he said. "I've found a niche, and because of that niche, the Post soccer coverage is probably the best in the country, and it's good to know I play a large part in that."
For the Love of the Sport
While attending a media luncheon at the start of the 1992-93 basketball season, Goff met Karen Goldberg, a reporter from The Washington Times, the Post's local daily competition. She had also been the sports editor for her college newspaper, and they were both covering George Washington University basketball games for their papers. They soon started dating. Despite Goff's initial apprehension that dating a writer from the local competition would hurt his chances for a promotion, they maintained their relationship and a year and a half later were married.
"It was a little strange," Goff said. "People were always saying to us, 'You work for the Post, you work for the Times, you must have a nice house rivalry.'"
Goff noted that marrying a fellow journalist is far from unorthodox; bureau reporters and foreign correspondents are often found in pairs. A mutual understanding of the profession's rigorously long hours for relatively low pay is crucial to the relationship, he explained.
"If you don't have a passion for the business, then there's not much reason for being in it. You're not going to make a million dollars, and it involves working on weekends and nights - it's not an easy life," he said. "It helps to be married to someone who knows how it works and shares the same passion."
After the birth of their son, Ryan, now 5 and a budding soccer player, the new mother decided to forego the traveling that goes along with sports writing. She opted instead to shift her career from the sports page to the family section, where she writes on health and medicine from their home in Reston, Va., a 20-minute drive from Washington.
Goff is typically at the Post from 5 P.M. until 1 A.M, helping to edit the newspaper's four editions, a demanding schedule but one he prefers.
"I couldn't function in a nine-to-five business suit world. It would be uncomfortable for me," Goff said. "I like consistency. I know when I'll be in the office, which is good when you're married and have a kid."
The World's Game
It's a crisp spring day at RFK Stadium. Goff is observing a scrimmage between the local Major League Soccer team DC United and the team's younger opponents from American University. He is positioned at the border of the field, hands clasping a tape recorder, notepad and pen behind his waist. "It's a lot of standing," Goff says, lifting one hand to shade his eyes. The youngest DC United player, Justin Mapp, 17, rushes past in a blur of red and white, the team's colors, and takes aim at the net.
"Goal," the reporter says softly, as the ball cuts through the air amidst a tangle of limbs and acrylic uniforms.
Goff's copy chief at the Post, Karl Hente, calls Goff "mellow" but adds that he still surprises his co-workers with his passion for the sport. "His intensity is fairly quiet," Hente said.
A long-time friend, Ridge Mahoney, a senior editor for the weekly magazine Soccer America, explains Goff this way: "He's not the most garrulous person. He has a great sense of humor but in a subtle kind of way, and he's far more laid back than other guys who cover soccer, the ones who live on the edge. He's not a wild-eyed enthusiast who only sees the positive in the sport. He sees the difficulty of growing the sport in this country."
Indeed he does. The game received a much wider audience in America when the 1994 World Cup was held in this country, but having traveled to nearly every Central American nation and all through Europe to cover soccer, Goff knows how important the game is in other cultures, compared to the United States.
"International soccer needs to be experienced," he says. "The game, the sport, the team means so much to the people that support it. Soccer for the most part is the world's game. It's not like that to the U.S. and it probably never will be, but to the rest of the world it's everything. The pageantry, the intensity, the rivalry, the emotions, it's all part of it. It's not just what's on the field. There's a whole circus going on around the game."
"That's one reason I've grown to love it," Goff continues. "Americans see it as dull, and it can be, but there's an awful lot of dull baseball games and NBA games. In it's context, soccer can be the most spectacular and exciting sport in the world."
Beginning next month, Goff will spend six weeks in Korea and Japan, covering the World Cup for the Post. In the long run, he hopes to lend his sports writing talent to a literary work, an ode to his passion and his profession.
"My ultimate ambition someday is that I'd like to write a book. I'd pick 11 places in the world, because there are 11 players on a team, where soccer means so much in the life of the people," and the soccer-worshipping citizens of cities like Glasgow and Buenos Aires would make up the chapters of the book, he said.
Though Goff has no intention of taking a time-out from covering soccer in the near future, he said the book would be a great thing to pursue. In writing it he hopes to change the way Americans perceive the game.
"International soccer transcends sport. It's about culture, society, race. It means more than just kicking a ball around."
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
Chris Hansen, Peterborough Native and Washington Lobbyist, on Starting Over After 50
WASHINGTON, April 24--Seniors gained a strong new lobbying voice on Capitol Hill earlier this month when Peterborough native Chris Hansen, a former Boeing Co. executive, signed on as director of advocacy for AARP, the country's most-powerful interest group for elderly concerns.
Hansen, 53, retired last summer as senior vice president of government relations at Boeing, the country's largest airplane supplier. But after less than a year of being "intensely bored" in retirement, he accepted a high-profile position with the nonprofit organization AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons). Hansen could pass as the poster image of an AARP member: independent, active and willing to start anew after 50.
Hansen's newly created post makes him not only the organization's chief lobbyist on Capitol Hill but also gives him responsibility for overseeing state, grassroots and elections advocacy for AARP's 35 million members. His position will make him a key voice in Washington on issues such as Medicare reform and prescription drug coverage, Social Security solvency and such consumer protection issues as predatory mortgage lending and telemarketing fraud.
Born in Boston in 1948, Hansen spent his childhood shuttling between Needham and Belmont, Mass., and Peterborough, where he lived from age 9 to 17, while his father managed the W.W. Cross manufacturing plant in Jaffrey.
What Hansen misses most about Peterborough, he says, is the community atmosphere. His childhood memories include weekly church dinners, pitching for the Peterborough Micros baseball team, attending Boy Scout meetings and trout fishing with his father.
While working in Washington, D.C. for Boeing, Hansen never forgot his New Hampshire roots. When the Export-Import Bank of the United States, an independent federal agency which helps support American exports, faced potentially steep budgetary cuts, he told a reporter for The Wall Street Journal that the budget cuts would not only hurt big businesses such as Boeing but would also exact a heavy toll on small businesses and communities. For example, the Micro Ball Bearing plant in Peterborough (now NH Ball Bearing), at the time the city's largest employer, would have lost a large share of revenue if Boeing, its biggest customer, scaled back its orders.
"I got very emotionaláheck, I used to play for the Micros. I understand what that means for small communities," Hansen said.
Elizabeth Schwartz, a colleague of Hansen's for over 15 years, said the lobbyist's respectful manner was never affected by his powerful position. "Chris didn't get caught up in the power culture of Washington, D.C. He was always very respectfulá something I think he developed from growing up in a small town in New Hampshire."
Early on in his career, Hansen's mother would call every year to ask what his new job position was, responding, "you make it sound like you're a lobbyist or something." "As though it were a bad thing," Hansen laughed, but he admitted that his mother was embarrassed to mention it to friends in her bridge club. He recognizes that the general public "has a phenomenally negative" view of lobbyists, but he admits some of that distrust is well founded. But there are many kinds of lobbyists, Hansen argues, including those that advocate what they consider to be good public policy, such as the issues addressed by AARP.
Hansen believes that his newest post fits well with his experience at Boeing, because "in my mind I was working for the people in both cases." By opposing European Union subsidies for Airbus, the European civil aircraft manufacturer and Boeing's principal competitor, he was defending American businesses and jobs, he said. He admitted, however, "that was more true of some issues than others."
Hansen got his start in lobbying unintentionally while reaching out to his Congressional representatives as a political science undergraduate at the University of Denver during the politically volatile decade of the 1960s.
"I can remember political science professors encouraging us to go on strike, and I didn't want to go on strike," he said. "What I did want to do is I wanted to express my views on some things, and I started becoming a big letter writer to Senate offices and congressional offices and started thinking of how to really get involved."
After completing his graduate studies at the American Graduate School of International Management and after a short stint working for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, Hansen arrived in Washington in 1974, where he represented a group of 20 major international businesses before Congress and the Nixon and Ford administrations while simultaneously helping to direct a small international business trade association.
The next year Hansen joined General Dynamics Corp. and was soon promoted to corporate director, Washington affairs, in which post he managed daily operations in the Capitol and in field offices nationwide.
In May 1986, Hansen joined the Boeing congressional affairs office, where he held a number of positions and worked on issues ranging from space exploration to civil aeronautics. "I was basically stretched all over the place like a dog's breakfast," he said.
Of all Hansen's achievements at Boeing, he is proudest of how he was chosen by the company's senior leadership to lead the consolidation of the Washington offices of Boeing, McDonnell Douglas Corp., North American Rockwell Corp. and Hughes Aircraft Co., Boeing's former competitors and now its subsidiaries, into a cohesive organization.
"It was actually a very good process, pulling people together who were used to competing with each other, into a teamáit really worked, people really came together," he said.
During his tenure at Boeing, Hansen worked on developing relationships with Congressional members and their staff, engendering their trust and respect, and proving himself as a nonpartisan, reliable and honest representative of Boeing's business interests.
Doug Badger, chief-of-staff for Washington State Congresswoman Jennifer Dunn, worked with Hansen on several Boeing projects. "It always helps to have somebody you respect and who has credibility on both sides of the aisle and on both sides of the Capitol, somebody you can trust to put together a carefully thought-out and coordinated legislative strategy," Badger said of Hansen.
Denny Miller, a close friend and colleague, said Hansen's likeability was a necessary element of his success as a lobbyist. "This city is still 90 percent personality and 10 percent substance, and if you're not able to get in the door to sell a product, you're certainly not going to complete a sale," Miller said.
After more than 15 years at Boeing, Hansen decided to take an extended break, but after a few months spent consulting for friends and playing sports, he was ready to begin working again. "I had no idea what I was going to do, butáI was convinced that I was young enough that I could do something different and that I was still young enough to have a career ahead of me and I could learn something new," he said. "I guess it's a little bit of an unusual thing to do."
Hansen lives in Reston, Va., a Washington suburb, with his wife, Linda, 54, an artist, and their dog, Blue. After his two children, Erik, 21, and Jenny, 19, moved out to attend state colleges, Hansen and his wife have been working on building an art studio for her. She is preparing a gallery exhibit.
Hansen visits friends in Keene and Peterborough regularly, though most of his family members now live in Maine. When he does retire, he hopes to improve his golfing abilities, and find a waterfront home in a small town resembling Peterborough.
"I miss the lifestyle," he said. "We didn't lock our doors, people took care of each other and it was a much more stable environment. It was a big deal when somebody moved away, and I think by and large most of the people I grew up with still live there. There's a continuity in the lifestyle there that I appreciate."
Hansen sees his role in AARP as a personal mission as well. Since he has moved into the age group of those he represents on Capitol Hill, he says, he can easily relate to issues such as social security and health care.
"Our whole system is based on the fact that if you work and you do certain things along the way that there will be a retirement, and there will be medical security, and that you will be able to afford prescription drugs when you need them," Hansen said. "I think that's the promise of America."
The most enjoyable aspect of Hansen's new career is his conviction that he is having a positive impact on many people's lives.
"My favorite thing about what I do right now is that I can wake up in the morning and believe that I'm involved in a pursuit where I'm trying to help people. I really think I can make a difference here."
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire
