Category: Brian Eckhouse
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.
House Judiciary Committee Approves INS Reconfiguration Bill
WASHINGTON, April 10--Nearly a month after the Immigration and Naturalization Service approved student visas for two Sept. 11 suicide terrorists, the House Judiciary Committee yesterday approved a bill that would split the beleaguered agency into two separate bureaus, one for law enforcement and one for services such as handling citizenship applications.
The committee agreed almost unanimously, 32-2, to send the bill to the House floor. Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., voted for the bill.
Mr. Frank, the second-leading Democrat on the committee, supported the bill primarily, he said, because its enactment would be likely to open the door to other pieces of legislation that would reform deportation policy, an issue affecting many New Bedford residents. "In other words, with this bill, there [would] be a better framework to take up some other things, like deportation," he said.
Judiciary Committee chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., a sponsor of the Immigration Reform and Accountability Act, said at Tuesday's hearing on the legislation that Congress can no longer accept internal reorganizations of the INS, a Justice Department agency. "The agency operates in constant crisis management mode, responding to error after mishap, with no coherent strategy of how to accomplish its law enforcement or services missions successfully," he said. "Even when INS headquarters develops a strategy, it is ignored out in the field. It has become clear to me that yet another internal tinkering of the boxes is not going to solve the systemic problems that exist."
During yesterday's bill markup, he offered a similar sentiment. "One of the problems with the current INS is different interpretations of the same law," he said. "Different strokes for different folks."
Mr. Sensenbrenner also said he was pleased with the bipartisan support of the bill, a rare occurrence in that committee.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., is expected to propose his own INS overhaul bill in the Senate sometime in the next week.
INS Commissioner James Ziglar, a witness at Tuesday's hearing, said the House measure lacks the accountability of an INS reorganization proposal put forth by the Bush administration. The House bill proposes that a new Agency for Immigrant Affairs be created to replace the INS. It would be headed by a new associate attorney general for immigrant affairs, to whom the directors of the service bureau and the enforcement bureau would report. The legislation would also create an office of ombudsman reporting directly to the associate attorney general and Congress.
The Bush administration has proposed a streamlined chain of command at the INS with an organizational structure resembling a corporate model and without the addition of the associate attorney general position. Like the House measure, the administration plan would divide the enforcement and service bureaus and create a new chief information officer, whose responsibility would be to ensure effective integration and coordination of data systems of mutual interest to the service and enforcement bureaus, and a new chief financial officer, responsible for ensuring sound fiscal management.
"A key element of the restructuring is to provide clarity of function by improving accountability and professionalism through a clear and understandable chain of command with specific expertise at all levels," Mr. Ziglar said.
Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge has also proposed that the Border Patrol, one of the INS's enforcement units, be merged with the Treasury Department's Customs Service and assigned to the Justice Department.
Congressman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., one of the two dissenting votes on the Judiciary Committee, cautioned patience. "I am a harsh critic of the INS," she said, "but [Mr. Ziglar] was on the job for only 36 days before Sept. 11, so we should give him the chance to get things done. If he can't, replace him. We ought to give him the tools, and let him get the job done."
Not everyone outside the Capitol Beltway is championing the INS reconfiguration plans. Helena Marques of the Immigrants' Assistance Center of New Bedford said it targeted undocumented residents, forcing them to "work under the table."
"I think it will force a lot of those that are undocumented to return to their countries where they come from," she said, "or it will be difficult for them to survive in the U.S. It will create even more problems in this community."
Ms. Marques agreed that an overhauled INS would be more accountable and better organized - she said many New Bedford residents' citizenship applications are often lost within the agency. "I'm very cautious, though, because I never know how it [will affect those that are undocumented]," she said. "I'm a little skeptical."
Eva Millona, naturalization policy director for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy, said that though her group has a good working relationship with the INS, she believes reform is needed. "Yet it must be manageable and capable of responding effectively to repair the current system," she said.
Splitting the agency into two smaller bureaus makes sense on a local level, she said, but added that Congress needed to ensure a united agency nationally. "If, in due course, Congress decides to separate law enforcement and service, it should require coordination between the two functions to ensure a unified immigration policy," Ms. Millona said. "There is a need to share information systems. A shared database system is crucial."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Being Frank: Congressman Gets Few Breaks in a Busy Day
WASHINGTON, April 05--Congressman Barney Frank stood impatiently, left hand pressed against his chair in room 2220 of the Rayburn House Office Building. His eyes glared at the door to his left while an audience of nearly 80 sat restlessly.
Rep. Frank, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee's Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee, intended to start the hearing on schedule at 10 a.m., but couldn't begin until two other subcommittee members arrived to fulfill the mandated quorum for a vote.
Finally, after a five-minute delay, Democrat Steve Israel of Long Island and Republican Bob Barr of Georgia arrived. Elated, Mr. Frank said, "We got it! We got it!"
His workday had begun more than an hour earlier as he immersed himself in paperwork piled high on his desk in his office, a two-hallway walk from the subcommittee's hearing room.
March 14 was cluttered with votes, back-to-back hearings and meetings, according to the congressman's chief of staff and press secretary, Peter Kovar. Over the course of six hours -- from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. -- he had a mere seven minutes to himself, which accounts for his impatient wait for a quorum. He had a quick bite to eat before he met at 2:05 p.m. with students from Newton South High School, and he took a five-minute excursion to the bathroom while he waited to testify at a Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in the late afternoon.
At 9:45 that morning, Mr. Frank, who represents Southeastern Massachusetts in Congress, entered the greeting room of his office suite to briefly discuss the impending 10 a.m. hearing with Newton Mayor David Cohen, a scheduled witness at a hearing on a Bush Administration proposal to reduce or eliminate funds for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) to nine wealthy communities, including Newton.
Before hearing from Mayor Cohen and other witnesses on the CDBG cuts, the subcommittee voted on a bill that would allot federal dollars to alleviate the burden of brownfields. Mr. Frank expressed pleasure that federal money would aid municipalities in finding new uses for potentially contaminated industrial and commercial sites.
"This is an example of a phenomenon condemned in theory and greatly sought after in practice," he said. "This is the federal government taxing citizens and taking the money they earned privately and then giving it to other people for public purposes. á A lot of people seem to think taxes are terrible things until they want to spend for something."
"I don't think any of these communities (including Newton) have only wealthy people," Mr. Frank said. "They are in metropolitan areas. They are communities that work very hard to promote diversity. They are communities that in the absence of government action would be more homogeneously wealthy than they are. And I do not want to see us take away some of the basic tools they use to promote diversity."
Since 1980, Boston's CDBG funds have been cut 5 percent and Newton's have been cut 11 percent. Mr. Frank criticized the Bush proposal for even deeper cuts. In a meeting with students from Newton South later in the day, he said, "It's the Bush Administration saying that they care about poor people, but they really don't. They didn't even send the head of HUD," the Housing and Urban Development Department, to that morning's important hearing on housing issues, he said.
The housing subcommittee hearing was briefly recessed at noon to permit the congressmen to zip to the House floor for votes. Mr. Frank voted for the "Two Strikes and You're Out Child Protection Act," which would require the imprisonment of repeat federal sex offenders; the bill passed 382-34.
When the hearing resumed at 12:35, Mr. Frank and Republican Rep. Sue W. Kelly of Westchester County, N.Y. were the only two of about 25 committee members to return to the hearing room. Five speakers, including Mr. Cohen, testified over the next hour. Mr. Frank praised the group for concise testimonies.
"I want to say that this has been the best group of witnesses that (adhere) to the five-minute rule" allotted to witnesses, he said.
"We were intimidated," Mr. Cohen responded. The room burst into laughter.
After the hearing, Mr. Frank rushed back to his office for his first constituent meeting of the day with high school students Adam Richins of Wellesley, Jonathan Bloom of Allston and Amanda Lint of Foxboro, representing the National Youth League Conference (NYLC).
One of the first questions directed at Mr. Frank was about the life of a politician. "I (have a) talent for politics," he said. "Particularly if you're a representative, you deal with a lot of things in the course of one day. If I had to think about the same thing for seven hours, I'd probably get bored."
Regarding Iraq: "Saddam Hussein is a horrible person -- he shouldn't even be allowed to drive a car," Mr. Frank said, eliciting smiles from the trio. But he warned against invading Iraq. "Say to him: 'If you ever use a (weapon of mass destruction), then you're a dead man.' It's called deterrence. It worked with the Soviet Union."
At 2:03, Mr. Frank took a quick break for a snack. Two minutes later, 21 students and two teachers from Newton South poured into his office. Sprawled across the office's two couches, four chairs and even on the raspberry red carpet, the students were most intrigued with the federal government's response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, specifically the increased funds for homeland security.
Mr. Frank criticized the Bush Administration and the House Republican leadership for their failure to scale back last summer's $1.35 trillion tax cut after the Sept. 11 attacks. He said that homeland security must encompass more than airline security and military support and must also include health care (in the event of a bioterrorism attack) and guarding of harbors, borders and nuclear power plants. More money, he said, is also necessary for immigration control.
On several occasions, Mr. Frank displayed his dry humor with the students. After student Polina Raygorodskaya wondered how to allay fears that there might be a bomb on a plane, the Congressman quickly shot back, "You pray."
He quickly added: "There's nothing 100 percent safe in the world. You can't protect everything, but you (reduce) the problem."
At 2:45 p.m. Mr. Frank was en route to testifying at an Appropriations subcommittee hearing and took time along the walk to discuss his future in Congress. An 11-term Congressman from Massachusetts's Fourth District seat, there seems to be no doubt about Mr. Frank's continued re-election to the House. He is currently running unopposed, and has secured sizable victories in his re-election bids, winning 71 percent of the vote two years ago. As a senior member of the Massachusetts House delegation, Mr. Frank would be a top candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Senate if three-term Senator John F. Kerry vacates his seat in a bid for the presidency in two years.
Would a Senate seat interest Mr. Frank? "It would depend," he said. "If (Mr. Kerry) were to resign, I'd consider it. Yes, I'd be interested if something were to open up. If something were to change here, though, and I'd be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, then I don't know."
Now a few doors down from the Appropriations subcommittee hearing room, he makes a quick pit stop at the bathroom and then waits for 15 minutes in an office behind the committee room chatting with fellow Massachusetts Congressman James McGovern. The two must wait for two Pennsylvania representatives to complete their testimony so they can make their brief pleas for increased transportation funds for their districts in the next fiscal year. Mr. Frank requested $750,000 for planning and engineering studies on the Mansfield Route 106 Underpass Project and $750,000 for design and engineering studies on the Route 79 Relocation Project in Fall River.
At 3:50 p.m., the Congressman returned to his office for the remainder of the afternoon to sift through the paperwork still piled high on his desk.
An unabashed and proud liberal, Mr. Frank was recognized in a Washingtonian magazine poll of Capitol Hill aides in 2000 as the smartest and funniest House member, a label that California Congressman Tom Lantos, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, considers accurate. "He's the smartest man in the Congress," Mr. Lantos said as he and Mr. Frank joined other members traveling from their offices to the House floor for the day's two votes at noon.
The compliment seemed to embarrass Mr. Frank, who responded with a slight smirk.
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Bush Honors Super Bowl Champs at White House
WASHINGTON, April 02--After throwing out the first pitches at Monday's season opener at Fenway Park, the Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots topped that appearance with a visit to the White House Tuesday.
The team presented President George W. Bush with a team uniform with the number one printed on the front and back, and recognized the president as an honorary captain at a morning Rose Garden reception.
"I was really impressed by the character of this team," said Mr. Bush, as he stood to the right of the glistening Lombardi Trophy. "What impressed me most was when the team took the field prior to the Super Bowl. It wasn't one of these things where the spotlight was on any individual, everybody went out at the same time. I thought that was a pretty good signal to America that teamwork is important; that the individual matters to the team, but the team is bigger than the individual."
Patriots owner Bob Kraft said, "We, as Patriots family feel·that we represent in a very small way what the President's inspirational leadership over the last year has meant to our country, because we're a team of underdogs. We're red, white and blue, we put team first, but most of all, in the end, we were winners."
Added Mr. Bush, "Most of all· I was amazed at the play and how they won. For a guy growing up in Texas, that snow game (the second-round playoff game against the Oakland Raiders) looked pretty rough." Mr. Bush paused, as the crowd of more than a hundred laughed under an intense Washington spring sun. "But I know all the Patriot fans were thrilled with that game and the Super Bowl. I know you've got some great fans here."
After the ceremony concluded, Mr. Bush centered a circle of Patriots players who held digital cameras and camcorders to record the experience and joked like high school students visiting the White House for the first time. Tedy Bruschi, Patriots middle linebacker, chatted with Senators Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Jim Jeffords, I-Vermont who also attended the ceremony.
Coach Bill Belichick said later that it was unusual to see his usually serious team so giddy.
Wide Receiver Troy Brown said at a press gathering that he hoped the team would have the chance to return to the White House to celebrate future Super Bowl triumphs. "I could get used to this," he said with a laugh.
Mr. Bush even used the opportunity of celebrating the underdog Patriots to take a jab at his detractors. "I remember watching all the experts talk about the Super Bowl - no one thought they'd win," he said. "They learned what I learned, that in politics and sports, the experts are often wrong."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Irish Prime Minister Names Centre at Trinity College After Kennedy
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13--The awards and accolades continue to mount for Senator Ted Kennedy.
Almost three weeks after the Senate recognized Kennedy's lifelong achievements in a tribute for his 70th birthday, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern yesterday announced the establishment of the Senator Edward Kennedy Centre for Health Service Management at Trinity College in Dublin. Mr. Ahern spoke at a press conference in the Lyndon B. Johnson Room, a hall's length away from the Senate floor, with Senators John Kerry and Chris Dodd (D-CT) on hand along with Mr. Kennedy's wife, Vicki, and his sisters Eunice and Jean, the latter a former ambassador to Ireland.
"I am delighted that we have been able to honor Senator Kennedy in this way," Mr. Ahern said. "Ted Kennedy has been a true and valued friend of Ireland over many decades, in difficult as well as good times. He has been steadfast in his support for peace and reconciliation in our country. Moreover, his many notable achievements during his distinguished career as a U.S. Senator mark him out as someone very special indeed and greatly deserving of this honor."
He added, "Everybody knows - and everyone in Ireland knows - that Senator Kennedy has done [much work] in policy, in caring, assisting people to make the world a better place."
Mr. Kennedy was visibly moved by the praise. "I'm deeply moved by this generous honor from the Irish government, the Irish people and Trinity College," he said. "Ireland has always held a special place in my heart and with the Kennedy family. The pursuit of excellence in public health has been a life-long goal, and I'm honored that the Centre for Health Service Management in Ireland will continue to contribute to that important effort in my name."
The Senator first gained headlines for his connection with Ireland in 1970. That year, he condemned British oppression in Northern Ireland, comparing it to South African apartheid, in an address at Trinity College. Mr. Kennedy said Ireland has been a close friend of his family's; his brother, President John F. Kennedy, was the first chief executive to visit the country, and his sister was the U.S. ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998.
The director of the centre will also occupy the Senator Edward Kennedy Chair in Health Management. Senator. Dodd joked that in the event he needed a job in the future, the Edward Kennedy Chair might interest him. "I'm just curious," he said. "How much money does that chair pay?"
Senator Kennedy has long been identified as an advocate of affordable health care, and is currently the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
"I'm grateful for the attention this [recognition] has gotten for health care," he said. "It's a lifelong passion of mine."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Lawmakers Call for Passage of Immigration Bill to Repeal Provisions of 1996 Act
WASHINGTON, March 07--Lawmakers on Capitol Hill yesterday called on the Bush Administration to support passage of legislation that would overturn a 1996 law that Congressman Barney Frank said violated the Constitution.
The 1996 Immigration Reform Act denies immigrants who have committed two crimes the right to public benefits and a range of due process and fairness protections, according to the bill's sponsor, John Conyers Jr of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. "We grant due process rights to citizens and non-citizens alike," he said, "not out of some soft-hearted sentimentality, but because we believe that these rights form an important cornerstone to maintaining civilized society
Some of the key provisions of the proposed Restoration of Fairness in Immigration Act are providing the Attorney General with discretion to release immigrants from detention if he determines that they pose no security risk, restoring there right to a due-process hearing before an immigration judge and repealing portions of the 1996 law that retroactively permit deportation of permanent legal resident for minor offenses.
Mr. Frank, one of 24 co-sponsors and the second-ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, told immigrant advocacy groups at a press conference yesterday that the bill has no connection to the events of Sept. 11. "It is very important that we help people understand it has zero relevance to the mass [destruction] of Sept. 11," he said. "This [bill] predates it by five years·. This has nothing to do with terrorism, has nothing to do with what the Justice Department is doing."
Mr. Conyers, however, said assaults on the rights of immigrants after Sept. 11 justify passage of his bill. "The Justice Department is now holding deportation hearings in secret and detaining immigrants even after they are ordered released," he said. "The Attorney General is reducing both the independence and number of judges that handle the appeals of immigration cases. We are fending off legislation almost daily intended to reduce if not eliminate immigration to this country."
Mr. Frank added: "Nothing that we are talking about would make people non-deportable. It just wouldn't make it automatic."
Members of Congress are being urged to sponsor the bill by 76 advocacy groups, including the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition. "The overwhelming impact of the '96 bill was borne on immigrants," said Victor Docouto, executive director of MIRA. "A huge slew of elderly people - who had worked here - were stripped of their benefits [upon passage of the bill]. All of those folks overnight lost their rights to [Supplemental Security Income] benefits."
Docouto added that a later act amended the '96 bill slightly - non-citizens residing in the United States before 1996 received benefits, but those arriving after the bill's passage needed to live in the United States for five years or become a citizen to receive benefits.
Most states complied with the federal government's stripping immigrants of benefits under Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, food stamps, job training and housing, among other programs, although Massachusetts made the effort to lessen the severity of the bill on immigrants. "Massachusetts was one of the few states in the Union to develop a safety net," Docouto said. "While the impact [of the Immigration Reform Act] has been significant, the impact has been mitigated."
"We must ameliorate the harshest provisions of the 1996 immigration laws and restore needed protections for these deserving individuals," Senator Ted Kennedy, a leading supporter of the bill in the Senate, said in a statement. "Permanent residents who committed offenses long before the enactment of the 1996 laws should be able to apply for relief from removal as it existed when the offense was committed·. Current immigration laws punish residents out of proportion to their crimes. Relatively minor offenses are now considered aggravated felonies, and many permanent residents who did not receive criminal convictions or serve prison sentences are precluded from all relief from deportation."
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Officials Rebut Report that Mammography Is Not Effective in Saving Lives
WASHINGTON, March 06--Although Danish statisticians conclude in a recent report that mammograms are not essential to save lives, local and national specialists insist that regular screenings are necessary to detect most types of tumors, and to improve patients' quality of life.
"Mammograms are an effective preventive tool," said Dr. Ronald Charles, medical director at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. "I believe that the potential is there to save lives - if cancer is detected, then the person can be sent to the right place [for treatment]. The goal is early detection, and early treatment."
Stacy Souza, a statistician at the Health Center, agreed. "If a woman [with a tumor] never got mammograms, she would never know she had the disease," she said. "It could be a much greater issue 10 years down the road. It would go to the lymph [node], and metastasize."
In a Senate hearing on Feb. 28, Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), disputed a recent study by statisticians Dr. Peter Gotzsche and Ole Olsen of the Nordic Cochrane Center of Denmark. The report concluded that there was no reliable evidence to prove that mammograms save lives. But Dr. von Eschenbach said the data he has compiled indicated that they play a role.
In 1989, death rates from breast cancer began a decline of 1.4 percent a year; in recent years, he said, the decrease improved to 3.2 percent a year.
"We feel confident that mammography has contributed to this decline, but mammography alone has not driven this trend," Dr. von Eschenbach told the joint hearing. "Advances in therapy, including adjuvant therapy (both hormonal and chemotherapy) and chemoprevention approaches (such as Tamoxifen) have also played a role. Unfortunately, the current debate appears to be focused on this single component in the equation."
Accordingly, NCI continues to recommend mammography screening for women over age 40. But Dr. von Eschenbach said he believes women need unimpeded access to prevention, screening, treatment, and supportive care to win their battle against breast cancer. "We need to keep our focus on the sum of the equation: longer life coupled with better care."
Although Dr. Charles was unsure if mammograms actually save lives, he said that it is essential for women to take advantage of mammograms at free clinics that are supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Breast Cancer and Cervical Initiative. "If women don't come into the health care system and take advantage of the free care program, then their chances of getting early detection are nil," he said. Nevertheless, the Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy found in an October 2001 study that insured residents are almost twice as likely to visit a doctor as an uninsured adult in the Fall River/New Bedford area.
Caucasians are more likely to develop breast cancer than African-American women, but blacks have a higher mortality rate, and nearly half - 47 percent - die within ten years of diagnosis, according to the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. Dr. Charles said that African-Americans have a higher mortality rate because of the lack of information about resources available to them. Of the clients at the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, approximately 5 percent are black, and nearly 30 percent are Hispanic.
It was the debate over the need for mammograms that prompted. Barbara Mikulski, D-MD, to join with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, in calling the joint hearing of two Senate subcommittees to clarify the effectiveness of breast exams and inform women of various options for treatment.
The hearings were held by the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS and Education, which Harkin chairs, and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Public Health, on which Mikulski, who authored the 1992 Mammography Quality Standards Act to ensure higher quality breast imaging, sits.
At least 203,500 invasive cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year, and 40,000 women will die of the disease, said Harmon J. Eyre, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. Nonetheless, Mr. Eyre said, progress is evident in detecting and treating the disease over the past two decades primarily because of mammography.
"We have reviewed the scientific evidence relating to mammography repeatedly since 1980, and we have continuously concluded that while improvements in technology are certainly welcome, mammography remains the best tool we currently have to detect breast cancer early," he said. "Studies showed that detecting breast cancers early increases the chances of survival."
Although most scientists agree that mammography is the best test to detect tumors, not all concur that screenings save lives.
"Women with breast cancer detected mammographically have extremely good prognoses in comparison with those having cancers detected in any other way," said Dr. Donald Berry, chairman of the department of biostatistics at the University of Texas. "Mammographically detected tumors are smaller and are less likely to have spread to the axillary lymph nodes. Since women whose breast cancers were found by a mammogram do so much better, there is a tendency to attribute the benefit to mammography."
But such an attribution may be incorrect, Dr. Berry said, because while the "apparent survival from diagnosis may be longer· life expectancy may not change at all."
If scientists are uncertain that mammograms save lives, then clinicians should inform clients of this prior to a screening, National Breast Cancer Coalition president Fran Visco said at the hearing. "The issue is about saving lives, not saving the institution of mammography," she said.
Ms. Souza, of the New Bedford Community Health Center, advises women to conduct self-exams at the onset of sexual activity or age 18, and to begin regular mammograms 10 years prior to the age of their mother's, sister's or grandmother's diagnosis.
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Senators Honor Kennedy as He Reaches His 70th Birthday
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26--Political allies and foes alike showered Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) with accolades on the Senate floor yesterday as the Senate took a breather from such partisan issues as election reform and energy policy to honor Kennedy's 70th birthday.
Massachusetts's junior Senator, John Kerry, who organized the tribute, touted Kennedy as the "lion" of the Senate. "Ted is an extraordinary public servant not only because he knows who he is, and sticks to his guns, never bending with the political currents," Kerry said, "but because he has in his life and in his career proven again and again that progress doesn't happen by accident, it doesn't happen when you stick to the text of the latest opinion poll or the whispers of the morning focus group, it happens when leaders define and fight the fights that need fighting - when public servants of conscience and conviction refuse to take no for an answer. That is why for Ted Kennedy, the cause has not just endured - but triumphed, again and again."
Mr. Kennedy was first elected to the Senate in November 1962, filling the Senate seat once held by his brother, President John F. Kennedy. In 1980, Mr. Kennedy sought the Democratic presidential nomination but lost out to the sitting president, Jimmy Carter.
Orrin G. Hatch, a conservative Republican from Utah, said that he counts Kennedy among his best friends, despite philosophical and political differences. "Believe it or not, one of the reasons I ran for the Senate [in 1976] was to get the modern face of liberalism, Ted Kennedy, out of office," Hatch said. "As the past 26 years have aptly indicated, I certainly failed. Ted Kennedy stands for everything my party and state rejects so vehemently· . [But] despite our differences, we have come together on common ground."
Mr. Hatch then read a letter he received years ago from a conservative-minded senior citizen in southern Utah: "When we heard that you might run [for the Senate], we supported you. When we heard you were running, we voted for you. And when we heard you were friends with Ted Kennedy, we prayed for you." After reading the short note, Mr. Hatch paused and laughed.
Chris Dodd (D-CT), whose father had also represented Connecticut in the Senate, joked, "[Mr. Kennedy] likes to tease me all the time when he comes to Connecticut, and reminds me that he deeply resents the fact that someone can get elected on the basis of their last name."
Mr. Dodd later added, "There's a lot of kick left in the senior Senator from Massachusetts."
Mr. Kennedy, who celebrated his milestone birthday last Friday, was noticeably touched by the tribute of more than an hour. "I've been enormously blessed· with a strong commitment to public service, which is strong in my family," he said. "The greatest public honor of one's life is to serve in the United States Senate; it is to me."
Mr. Kennedy later poked fun at Senator Strom Thurmond R-SC), who is approaching his 100th birthday. "I could run four more times and still be younger than Strom Thurmond," he said.
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
Improved Training and Communication Better Prepare Massachusetts for Terrorist Attack
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14--Since Sept. 11, Massachusetts state and local officials have worked overtime to improve security, training and communication through various state and municipal agencies to prevent a future attack. Bristol County Sheriff Tom Hodgson and Richard Swensen, director of the Office of Commonwealth Security, agree that improvement is evident, yet Hodgson worries that political battles could still get in the way.
At the close of an hour-long workshop Wednesday on police operations and terrorism at the inaugural Global Conference on Bio/Chem Terrorism, Hodgson warned attendees to "rip down old parochial boundaries" and to stray from political wrangling.
"In order for this to be effective in our ability to deal with homeland security, it's about breaking down political barriers and egos," he said. "It's about having someone who can facilitate within your region, who isn't interested in getting all the credit or being the most important."
Swenson said in an interview Thursday that it was unlikely that such poor communication between various response agencies would exist in the event of a terrorist attack in Massachusetts. "The level of preparation on the part of Massachusetts is way, way, way ahead of what it was Sept. 11," he said. "And before Sept. 11, we were ahead of the curve of most states. In terms of communications, things are much more [seamless] since Sept. 11."
Citing a need for improved training and education, Hodgson said poor communication and little knowledge of available resources were serious problems for response teams Sept. 11. "The National Guard has· tremendous resources, but [the first responders at Ground Zero] had no idea they had T1 lines available at the armories," he said. "Those would have been very critical at the time that they were needed, but nobody knew about them. They had [responders] coming in from Hoboken to respond as soon as the incident happened at the World Trade Center, and they couldn't get in to Ground Zero; they couldn't come close to the door because the roads were all jammed. There was a mass exodus to get out [of Manhattan]."
Is Massachusetts prepared for a terrorist attack? "If it's an atomic bomb, probably no," said Swensen, whose role on the state level is analogous to that of Tom Ridge, the director of the Office of Homeland Security, on the national level. Great improvement has been made since Sept. 11 in terms of communication and training, he said, but "no matter what anyone has done, you can probably do more."
Col. David W. Gavigan, commander of special operations for the Bristol County Sheriff's office, said at the conference that the New Bedford federal building and the Tweeter Center were possible targets in Southeast Massachusetts.
In a terrorist attack in Massachusetts, the first responders are almost always local fire, police and emergency medical units, Swensen said. Secondary responders include Massachusetts State Police and the FBI. The federal government and the state Office of Commonwealth Security would then set up command posts. Improved training, Swensen said, guarantees better communication in the event of an attack. An improved state apparatus, the Saturn Program, is likely to be implemented in mid-March. In this system, town political leaders coordinating efforts of fire, EMS and police teams, will work in conjunction with leaders on the state level to improve communication.
Gavigan said most municipal and county systems are currently overwhelmed and thus unprepared for an attack. Bristol County recently set up five detection teams near area malls. Additionally, biological and chemical detection teams have been implemented. Gavigan credited Hodgson with foresight in ordering an incident command center, an all-weather, self-confined vehicle, six months before Sept. 11. The vehicle has several technological innovations necessary in a terrorist attack, including protective suits, radios, cell phones (including a satellite phone), computers, a fax machine and a 42-foot telescoping camera with a visibility of five miles.
He added that despite training and improved communication, combating terrorism is complex because terrorists can strike simultaneously on many fronts. "This is the way terrorism works," he said. "Watch my hand here, while I hit you here," he said, motioning to another point in the room.
Terrorists, Gavigan said, have evolved their philosophy from targeting buildings and structures to targeting people; he described them as "ruthless" in their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to accomplish their goal. "These people are not stupid," he said. "They [assimilate] into this country. Their kids are playing soccer with [our] kids."
Terrorists posing the largest threat to the United States often live here for months or years before to a planned attack. Gavigan described them as fundamentalists with average or above average IQ's, possessing several aliases. The terrorists are holy warriors, believing the world is separated by good and evil. Many perform pedestrian roles in society, including working as cab drivers, to gather intelligence from citizens and observe tendencies at the planned site of an attack. "These people are not stupid," he said.
Written for the New Bedford Standard-Times in New Bedford, Mass.
