Category: Spring 2002 Newswire
Smith Votes For, Gregg Votes Against Less-Stringent of Two Fuel Economy Standards Amendments That Passed Senate
WASHINGTON, March 14–Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) voted against an amendment to the energy bill on Wednesday that Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) and the majority of his party helped pass, one that allows the Transportation Department – not lawmakers – to establish new fuel-economy standards over the next two years.
Smith was one of 43 Republicans who voted for the amendment sponsored by Carl Levin (D-MI) and Christopher Bond (R-MO) that the Senate adopted, 62-38.
After the amendment was adopted, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) withdrew a more stringent corporate average fuel-economy (CAFE) standards proposal that he had co-sponsored.
Kerry’s amendment received attention in the press and on the Senate floor because it would have increase by 50 percent the fuel-efficiency standards automakers must comply with for their fleets of cars and trucks. In the Senate on Wednesday, members opposed to the stricter amendment said it would curtail the availability of large, gas-guzzling cars and harm the automobile industry.
Proponents of Kerry’s amendment touted the environmental benefits the tougher CAFE standards would bring.
The stricter plan would have required automakers to produce vehicles that achieve a fleetwide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2015. Automakers now are required to build sedans that achieve an average of 27.5 miles per gallon and pickups, SUVs and minivans that average 20.7 miles.
Smith said that leaving discretion with the Transportation Department would “increase fuel-efficiency standards as well as help reduce our dependence on foreign oil without costing jobs, without putting safety at risk and without effectively eliminating SUVs and minivans as a consumer choice.”
Gregg did not return phone calls asking for comment on his vote against the Levin-Bond amendment. It is not clear if he would have voted for Kerry’s proposal had it come to a vote.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Kerry’s CAFE Standards Killed in Senate
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON, March 13--Senator John F. Kerry's pet project died in the Senate yesterday, after the Massachusetts Democrat's colleagues rejected his tough vehicle fuel-economy standards in favor of a more auto industry-friendly proposal.
Kerry, who chose to drop his amendment to the energy bill after a less stringent alternative passed by a 62-38 vote, credited "shrewd and well-crafted" advertising with killing the plan. Opposition ads had warned "soccer moms" and farmers that the new regulations would mean the end of their minivans, truck, and SUVs.
"It was the most extraordinary spending on phony advertising I've seen since the tobacco debate," Kerry said.
If the plan Kerry had co-sponsored with Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., had passed, it would have required automobile manufacturers to increase their fleet-wide fuel economy to 35 miles per gallon by 2015, an increase of about 50 percent. Instead, the Senate passed a plan that would direct the Transportation Department to develop new fuel-economy rules but set no specific increase for the automakers to meet.
Senators Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., voted against the alternative, while Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H. voted for it.
In defending his proposal, Kerry argued that it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize America's dependence on foreign oil, "sending OPEC the message that we won't stand for anti-competitive, manipulative price increases." Senators Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo., sponsors of the alternative, replied that it would eliminate auto industry jobs, jeopardize safety and compromise consumer choice.
In comments before the vote, Bond appealed directly to "soccer moms," evoking the image of a "string of subcompacts and golf carts towing kids to soccer practice." During debate, he and other Senators referred repeatedly to a poster of a two-seater, bubble-like European subcompact they called the "purple people eater," warning that Kerry's plan would convert all cars into "plastic coffins."
A Virginia mother who challenged Kerry to "come drive a mile in my minivan" said his proposal would be "very bad for the mom business."
"I can't fit all six kids in a Yugo; it would look like a clown car," said Martha Gaudet in a press conference before the debate.
Kerry dismissed these assertions as "extraordinary, ridiculous scare tactics," promising that "no American will be forced to drive any different vehicle." Calling the ads "insulting to the intelligence of Americans," he cited a National Academy of Sciences study last year concluding that significant fuel-efficiency improvements are possible without reductions in car size and weight.
Though Kerry called the Bond-Levin amendment "an artful dodge, a great escape" from true action on CAFE standards, he said yesterday that he still believes the energy bill is "worthwhile" even without his amendment. The bill also contains tax incentives for the purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles, and other environment-enhancing initiatives. Kerry expressed guarded optimism that the Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration would choose to tighten fuel-economy standards after its mandated 15-month review of the current rules.
Published in The Eagle-Tribune, in Lawrence, Mass.
Martha Fuller Clark Visits Washington for Two Day Congressional Training
WASHINGTON, March 13--In town for two days of intensive training with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Martha Fuller Clark on Wednesday spoke out against the President Bush's Social Security plan and said she would "absolutely" feel comfortable taking up residence in the Capital as a member of Congress.
The state representative from Portsmouth who hopes to succeed U.S. Rep. John Sununu (R-NH) in New Hampshire's 1st District is among six candidates touted as vital to Democratic efforts to take over the House after the November elections. Sununu is giving up his House seat to challenge Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) in the Republican primary this spring.
Clark met with 40 other Democratic congressional candidates and was picked by House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO) as one of four candidates to speak to the press Wednesday about one of the key topics she was briefed on by policy experts - Social Security.
"I've spoken to many people who see my race as a real opportunity to see Leader Gephardt as Speaker of the House," she said. "I'm honored to be chosen to be one of the four to participate in the social security press conference today. I've spoken out on Social Security quite a bit in the last race and this race."
The President's plan calls for privatizing a share of social security receipts, an idea Clark rejects. "In New Hampshire we have a high percent of residents who are seniors," she said. "It will put them at risk if it is privatized. [This warning is] a message for the first district of New Hampshire, it's a message for the second district of New Hampshire, it's a message for all American communities."
The DCCC training session covered the political landscape, including campaigning tips. Candidates attended sessions with a handful of policy experts, according to Kim Ruby, a spokeswoman for the DCCC, who called the two days "immensely successful."
"We looked at the importance of strengthening homeland security in each of our states, " Clark said. "We talked about the importance of health care prescription drugs, what is a workable program, and had some very interesting ideas coming forward. Basically we all know that in the long run we have to work to include a prescription drug benefit under Medicare."
Spokeswoman Ruby said the eclectic group of candidates "had opportunity to share ideas and strategy for the campaign. There was a great deal of enthusiasm."
Clark, who said she couldn't wait to return home after a week of party events that brought her to Boston and New York as well as Washington, said she'd enjoy living in Washington during the week if elected. "I've lived all over the world," she said.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
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.
Shays Takes Aim at Bush’s Proposed Missile Defense System
By Justin Hill
WASHINGTON, March 12--Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th, took aim at fellow Republican President George W. Bush's proposed missile defense system yesterday during a hearing on combating terrorism and protecting the United States from attack.
"Why would someone send a missile when they can just put it in a suitcase?" Shays-chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations-asked a panel of terrorism experts. "It's inexcusable for this administration not to recognize that possibility and act on it."
Shays said that an attack by a weapon of mass destruction is more likely to be launched from a suitcase or a boat than from the air, and the administration needs to take that into account when drafting a homeland defense policy.
Other lawmakers joined in criticizing Bush's proposed missile defense system, but some experts defended the administration's proposal.
Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, who now is co-chairman of the Homeland Security Task Force at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, called missile defense a top priority. He cited a 1998 study led by Donald H. Rumsfeld before he became Defense Secretary showing that many countries have ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
However, Joseph Cirincione, director of the Nonproliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that only China and Russia have the ability today to attack the United States with intercontinental ballistic missiles. Cirincione also said such an attack was highly unlikely.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, the subcommittee's ranking Democrat, said: "We can't afford to waste billions of dollars [on a missile defense]á. No threat assessment exists to justify the spending."
According to intelligence agencies, it is far likelier that a bomb would be delivered by a truck or a boat than by a ballistic missile.
Meanwhile at the Capitol, a delegation from the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities met with Connecticut's Democratic Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph I. Lieberman to discuss homeland security issues.
The director of the Connecticut Office of Emergency Management, John Wiltse, said the Constitution State is ready for an attack.
"Connecticut is as prepared, if not more prepared, than any other state," Wiltse said. "The state of Connecticut is working very hard and very diligently."
The state, he added, is "very engaged in the process" of getting its share of the $40 billion additional appropriation for homeland defense approved for fiscal year 2002.
Also yesterday, the head of the Office of Homeland Security Tom Ridge said the United States faces "significant risk" of danger, according to a new five-level system to evaluate threats.
Under the new system, the lowest warning status is green, followed by:
- Blue, which signals a general risk, with agencies asked to update procedures for emergency response.
- Yellow, which means there is a significant risk of attack. Surveillance of critical places should be stepped up and some emergency response plans should be implemented.
- Orange, which signifies that the risk of attack is high. The government should coordinate necessary security efforts with armed forces and law enforcement and take more precautions at public events.
- Red, which signals severe risk of an attack. Trained teams may need to be the pre-positioned, and government and public facilities may have to be closed.
The nation, Ridge said, is currently under a yellow alert.
Published in The Hour, in Norwalk, Conn.
Meehan Proposes Graphic Warning Labels to Reduce Teen Smoking
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON, March 12--In an effort to reduce teen smoking in the Merrimac Valley and beyond, Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, has introduced legislation that would require tobacco companies to put large, graphic, warning labels on their packaging and advertising.
The labels, which will be modeled after prototypes created by local teenagers, could include pictures of diseased mouths, damaged hearts, cancer-ridden lungs or, to suggest impotence, limp cigarettes. Meehan called the labels "part of the answer to Big Tobacco's spin machine."
"Big tobacco is the master of marketing," said Meehan, co-chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Tobacco and Health. "Health advocates need to match fire with fire."
The warning labels, he said, are more candid and honest than current labels and would "truly hammer home what smoking does to your health and your children's health."
Johanna Ortolaza, a member of the Lawrence Teen Coalition, an anti-tobacco youth advocacy group, said that better warning labels would help combat teen smoking by "showing what people go through." Ortolaza's package design-a diseased lung superimposed over a photograph of a beautiful model-was one of only 6 chosen out of 150 submitted to the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program for portrayal on three-foot tall mock cigarette packages that will be displayed throughout the northeast this spring. The text reads: "Smoking hurts you in ways you cannot see."
"Pictures would be more effective at motivating people to quit smoking," said Ortolaza, a junior at Greater Lawrence Technical High School. She said teens today smoke because of "stress from September 11," and family problems.
"They just want to get away," she said. "It calms them down."
According to the North Shore Tobacco Control Program, 34 percent of Massachusetts high school students smoke, and 24,000 area residents under 18 become daily smokers each year.
Adult smoking rates in Lawrence and Lowell are at 25 per cent, or 3 percentage points higher than in the rest of Massachusetts, according to the most recent Department of Public Health Behavior Risk Factor Survey. From 1994 to 1998, 183 Lawrence residents and 366 Lowell residents were diagnosed with lung cancer, according to the department's newest cancer registry.
Current warning labels on cigarette packages in the United States are weaker and less conspicuous than those in other countries, according to a report on reducing tobacco use issued by the surgeon general of the United States in 2000. The new labels would include pictures and occupy 50 percent of the front and rear panels of a cigarette or smokeless tobacco package or advertisement. The text might read "Children see, Children do," "Cigarettes are a heart breaker," "You're not the only one smoking this cigarette" or "Each year the equivalent of a small city dies from tobacco use."
"The current warning labels are so small, they're easy to overlook," said Ralph Hingson, a professor of public health at Boston University who teaches a course called "Strategies to Reduce Tobacco Use."
"Smokers don't pay attention to [current] warning labels," said Dr. Michael Siegel, a former tobacco control officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and author of the book Marketing Public Health. "There is strong empirical evidence that it has no effect on smoking rates."
There is, however, some empirical evidence that the larger, more graphic ads do. Since Canada replaced its black and white text warnings with larger picture-based warnings a year ago, more adults have quit or tried to quit smoking, a study by the Canadian Cancer Society found. According to the study, 43 percent of smokers said the ads made them more concerned about the health effects of smoking and 38 percent said the warnings were a factor in their decision to try to quit. The study also found that 17 percent of smokers had asked for a different package of cigarettes because they did not like the warning label on the first one.
"We are very encouraged by the findings," said Ken Kyle, director of public issues for the Canadian Cancer Society. "The warnings are having an impact on a significant segment of the smoking population."
The Canadian regulations have already inspired international action. Brazil recently implemented a law requiring picture-based warnings to cover 100 percent of the front or back of the package, and the European Union has adopted a directive giving its 15 member countries the option of using pictures. And next week in Geneva, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control of the World Health Organization will continue examining the possibility of making picture-based warnings a worldwide minimum requirement.
Each year, 10,000 Massachusetts residents die from smoking, according to the National Center for Tobacco-Free Kids. Annual statewide health care expenditures related to tobacco use are $2.4 billion.
Published in The Eagle-Tribune, in Lawrence, Mass.
NH Legion Touts Amendment to Protect Old Glory
WASHINGTON, March 12--Rollinsford-based Joe Caouette, who had been in the best of moods all day yesterday at the American Legion conference here, hit a slump at around 3:45 p.m. Hunched over a railing inside the Hyatt Regency Hotel close to the Capitol, the 72-year-old legionnaire thought his old buddy Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) had blown him off.
And Caouette (who said his name is pronounced "cow wet") had a lot to show Smith at their planned 4:00 meeting: a box filled with more than 5,000 signed petitions from Granite Staters who want to see the Constitution amended so that no one can harm the American flag without being punished.
Then, within minutes, Smith's office called, apologized for the scheduling mix-up and said the senior senator from New Hampshire could indeed meet with Caouette and his fellow New Hampshire legionnaires. "I knew he wouldn't let us down," said Caouette, a champion of the Flag Protection Constitutional Amendment, as he ran outside in the rain to Smith's office. "He's a veteran. His dad was a veteran. He understands."
Caouette and the Americanism Commission of the American Legion, which he chairs, have visited the New Hampshire delegation every year sine 1989 to drum up support in the Senate for the Flag Protection Amendment. The 20 Granite State legionnaires at the annual Washington conference split into small groups so they could visit the offices of Senators Smith and Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Representatives John Sununu (R-NH) and Charles Bass (R-NH) in one day. They wanted to remind the New Hampshire legislators - all supporters of the amendment - to put heat on those senators who don't support it.
The amendment's 20-odd words were written in 1989. They would allow states - not the federal government - to decide if laws will be put on their books to punish people who burn or defame the American flag.
U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1989 and 1990 held that flags can be burned under First Amendment free speech protections. New Hampshire, like all states, has criminal statutes that prohibit flag desecration, but they cannot enforce them because of the Supreme Court rulings. Under the New Hampshire statute, anyone who burns a flag would be punished with a one-year prison term.
Resolutions that would submit the amendment for ratification by three-fourths of the states have always passed the House but have consistently failed to garner the 67 votes they need in the Senate. Last July the House passed the proposed amendment, 298 to 125. And though it is not scheduled for Senate consideration, Caouette said he thinks this might be the year that the wavering senators will support it.
"It's amazing to see the number of flags being proudly displayed across America," Caouette said. "And people are getting it right - hanging them the right way and keeping the blue fields on the left. 9-11 has really changed how people regard Old Glory."
"We're trying to actually return the free speech aspect of the First Amendment to its original intent," said Caouette, a veteran of the Korean War and a former postmaster in Rollinsford. "It's not the first time someone has enacted an amendment. We have 27 of these."
A newly released national poll conducted by Market Strategies in Alexandria, Va., indicates that 90 percent of people from 18 - 39 say the flag "is worthy of protection." This is much higher than in the past, said Lee Harris, the Legion's deputy director of public relations. "The national average was always around 75 percent," he said. "So to see an increase like that, from such a young group, show the impact 9-11 had." People 65 and older are the demographic group most in favor of protecting the flag.
George West, a national executive committeeman from Manchester, said the legionnaires are "awakening the American public because of the decision 13 years ago. I cannot go to your house and destroy your mail box. It's a crime. But I can destroy your flag. We have to change that."
So at the Tuesday morning convention, the American Legion chairman Paul Morin told the hundreds of cap-topped veterans how to tackle the senators they would visit: "When you visit the Hill, stick to our legislative priorities. Do not talk about non-legislative issues. Remain professional, consistent and focused. Remember your mission."
Morin reminded the legionnaires that their ultimate foes are Senators Thomas A. Daschle (D-SD), the Majority Leader, and Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, who, he said, "are holding the flag hostage in the Senate."
"All we're saying is to send the decision back to the states," West said. "We're organizing a grassroots campaign. The president is behind us. He talked to us in Milwaukee when he was campaigning and later when he was president in San Antonio. Now we just have to work on Senators Daschle and Leahy."
When Caouette, West and nine other Granite State legionnaires visited Smith's office, the quick-tongued Caouette got right to business.
"Those who are against the amendment, like Ted Kennedy, I just don't get it," Caouette told Smith. "There was a flag draped over his brother's casket. All the amendment does is let the issue go back to the state ballot. That's all it does. Some say it's up to the people to decide. Well, who do the people elect?"
Jabbing Smith in the arm, Caouette said, "We usually don't have to haggle everything out with you."
Smith replied: "Yeah, it gets pretty boring when you agree on everything," adding, "A flag covered my father's casket, too. That's why I support that amendment. You got me."
Smith, a Vietnam veteran whose father died in a service-related accident during World War II, expressed doubt about the proposed amendment's Senate prospects. "They should let the people decide. I agree, but you pretty much know the lay of the land," he said. "It's hard because these guys get dug in and won't change their vote." Smith said he will not be sending 'Dear Colleague' letters to his fellow senators who do not support the amendment but will talk to them "face to face, one-on-one. That's how I'll have the most effect."
Gregg, in declaring his support for the amendment, said in a statement, "The Stars and Stripes is recognized across the world as a symbol of freedom and democracy and serves as a reminder of the men and women who have given their lives to protect that freedom."
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
Shipbuilders Lobby for More Federal Funding
WASHINGTON, March 12--Layoffs and an ill-equipped Navy are the major weapons the U.S. shipbuilding industry and its unions are brandishing to get their point across: More money from the 2003 fiscal budget needs to be allocated to the industry -- or else.
President Bush's budget requests $8.6 billion to build five ships for the Navy, one of which Maine's Bath Iron Works would build. Those who argue that five ships are not enough point to a potential loss of skilled jobs and a weak Navy.
"We could lose skilled resources in our industry," said Daniel Duncan, executive director of the AFL-CIO's Marine Trades Department. What the President has recommended is not enough to maintain "a viable pool" of specially trained workers in the shipbuilding industry.
The Marines Trade Department, which oversees 30 unions, advocates a $50 million loan guarantee for the 2003. Duncan said his department "is working hard" to persuade lawmakers to implement the program, which he said "keeps the domestic shipyards going."
Coupled with the Marines Trade Department, the American Shipbuilding Association (ASA) has also been lobbying for additional federal funding.
"Bath Iron Works is Maine's largest private builderáand, like every shipbuilder in the country, it is under tremendous stress," said Cynthia Brown, president of the ASA. Lack of money "hurts" Maine's "highly skilled workforce and vendor base."
Brown, whose office is in Washington, said the ASA has been urging every shipbuilder to contact its congressional delegation "to address the shortfall."
Brown praised Maine's lawmakers for pushing for further federal spending on shipbuilding. So did Kendell Pease, spokesman for General Dynamics Corp., which bought Bath Iron Works in 1995.
Speaking of Senator Susan Collins, Pease said: "She has been unrelenting. "She has been tenaciousáand she is not just concerned with the industry, but also concerned about the Navy maintaining its mission."
Pease said his concern is that the proposed money for shipbuilding will lead to an "up and down" industrial base. The Navy, he said, recommended last month that Congress provide enough funds to build 10 ships. Because the number of new ships proposed remains at five, and because the need for the additional ships persists, Pease said, the shipbuilding industry would have to make up for the lack of ships later.
Pease also said there will not be enough money to "build our Navy and protect our country."
An advocacy group for the Navy has also been lobbying for more ships. According to Mark Rosen, counsel to the Navy League of the United States, the league has arranged forums for members of Congress to hear the military benefits of additional spending, reported Congressional Quarterly, a federal policy watchdog weekly publication in Washington.
An obstacle to further federal spending is the lack of consensus on where the money would come from, especially when the Bush administration is proposing spending a large amount of money on homeland security while keeping a tight rein on an escalating federal budget deficit.
Congressman Tom Allen told the Bangor Daily News a month ago that the money should be transferred from the missile defense program.
"The Navy places a high priority on personal readiness, munitions, which is fine," Allen said. "They need to do that, but they also need to deal with the shipbuilding. I would prefer to take at least a third from this national defense account, but this will all shake out in the months to come."
Published in The Bangor Daily News, in Maine.
Final Rule of Victim Compensation Fund Means “Substantial” Increase in Awards
By Justin Hill
WASHINGTON, March 07--Family members of the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks will receive a "substantial" increase in the financial awards they can receive from a federally administered fund as a result of a final rule announced yesterday for the administration of the Victim Compensation Fund.
"The net check coming from the United States Treasury to each of these individuals, each claimant, we believe, will be substantially more," special master Kenneth Feinberg said. "I personally urge every eligible claimant to file under this program. The programáis vastly preferable to any litigation."
The average award will be about $1.85 million, nearly $200,000 more than what was allotted under the temporary guidelines announced in December, according to Feinberg.
But the new rules drew mixed reaction from Connecticut lawmakers.
"The rule, in my opinion, does not reflect the intent of the Congress" when it passed the bill establishing the Victim Compensation Fund, said Rep. Jim Maloney (D-5th).
But Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4th) said the new rule is "probably the best that could be expected under the law. The average award is going to go upá, and people will get the full amount of lost income," he said.
Under the new rule, announced four days before the six-month anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the pain and suffering award would be doubled to $100,000 per dependent in addition to the base $250,000 each family would receive. "Speculative" income sources such as Social Security benefits for surviving family members and workers' compensation would not be used to reduce the government awards based on victims' income. Moreover, income sources funded by the victim-such as 401(k) plans, pension plans and life insurance-would not be deducted from so-called economic awards.
However, Feinberg said, "we will offset life insurance. We will offset other death benefits. Why? Because the statute requires it."
Maloney, expressing dissatisfaction with the final rules, said, "It appears that the final rule does not remove the [$250,000] capá. The Congress did not have a cap."
Feinberg defended the $250,000 cap on the base reward for pain and suffering, saying that it is the same sum awarded in other federal death benefit programs.
The new rules would also extend eligibility to injured civilians who sought medical treatment within 72 hours instead of the original 24 hours and would remove the time limit for rescue workers who responded to the Sept. 11 emergency.
The new rules for the fund also allow people interested in the fund to consult with Feinberg's office to decide if they want to enter the program without making a binding agreement to join.
"We will let them come in and sit down with one of our people and get a good ballpark estimate of how the collateral offsets will be treated," Feinberg said. "We are trying to help them make an educated choice on whether to come into the program or not."
Donald Vadas of Westport, whose 37-year-old son, Bradley H. Vadas, was killed in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, said he is going to speak to someone associated with the fund to see how much he would receive before deciding if he is going to sign on.
"This is a no-brainerá. You can talk to them without making a commitment," Vedas said. "That's something they needed to doá. [Under the old rule] it's like getting married to someone I don't know."
The Victim Compensation Fund was created by Congress and is part of the Air Transportation Safety System Stabilization Act, which President George W. Bush signed on Sept. 22.
A number of relatives of victims are concerned that by taking part in the government compensation program they must waive their right to sue. But Feinberg said "the litigation option isn't real in this case." He cited as reasons the length of any litigation against the airlines, the fact that suits must be filed in federal court in New York City and the congressional decision to cap the airlines' total liability at $6 billion, equal to the amount he estimates the federal program will ultimately award the victims.
Victims' families must file claims before the end of 2003. Awards will be distributed 120 days after the claim has been deemed complete.
The announcement of the final rule comes after months of comments by both victims' families and elected officials.
Feinberg said, "The suggestions have not fallen on deaf ears."
According to the Justice Department, about 350 people have filed for an award from the fund so far. The new rules will apply to them.
Published in The Hour, in Norwalk, Conn.
Kerry and McCain Reach Compromise on CAFE Standards
By Kelly Field
WASHINGTON, March 07--In a last-ditch effort to bolster Republican support for his fuel- efficiency proposals, Senator John F. Kerry yesterday introduced what he called a "bipartisan compromise" on measures to reduce dependence on foreign oil and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
The compromise, which came as debate over the omnibus energy bill continued in the Senate, keeps most of Kerry's initial proposal intact, but incorporates a Republican-backed plan to allow automakers to trade up to 10 percent of the credits they earn for exceeding fuel efficiency standards to companies that fall short of the standards. The addition was designed to meld Kerry's proposal with a competing proposal being offered by Republican Senator John McCain, R-AZ.
"This marries the two proposals and increases the chances for passage," said David Wade, Kerry's communications director. "It makes the new approach on CAF° [corporate average fuel economy standards] bipartisan."
Wade said the compromise would be offered in place of the competing proposals as the energy bill is debated in the coming weeks.
Both Senators had proposed substantial increases over the current fuel-efficiency standards of 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 20.7 for light trucks. The compromise bill would give automakers until 2015 to reach 36 miles per gallon for their combined fleets.
"The provision will provide for large oil savings and greenhouse gas savings," Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, said. "We should save more than 1 million barrels of oil per day by 2015."
But the proposal could still face opposition from colleagues representing states with auto, oil and natural gas and agriculture interests, who fear that the tightened standards could hurt industries in their districts. A coalition of senators from Michigan and Delaware are working behind the scenes on an alternative amendment that would replace fuel-efficiency requirements with incentives for manufacturers, according to Tara Andringa, press secretary to Sen. Carl Levin, D-MI.
Senator Bob Smith, R-N.H, is among those who believe that "incentives would be more effective than mandates," according to Genevieve Erny, a spokeswoman for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The House-passed energy bill includes no change in CAF° standards.
Published in The Eagle-Tribune, in Lawrence, Mass.
