Category: Allison Frank
Congress Approves Money for Merrimack Valley Project
WASHINGTON — More money for technology improvements may be headed toward Northern Essex Community College if President Bush approves the final budget bill for fiscal year 2003 that Congress passed Thursday.
Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, and Democratic senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F. Kerry helped secure $200,000 for the college’s technology project. The school is spending $12.5 million to renovate the Technology Training Center at its Lawrence campus, and to build a new technology center for its Haverhill branch. The lawmakers helped get $600,000 for the school last year; Meehan said Thursday that he will keep fighting for more money to fund the program because “it allows students to be better prepared for 21st Century learning.”
In addition to the NECC project, the bill also includes $1 million for the Lowell-Gallagher Intermodal Transportation Center. The money would be used to help complete a new $1.5 million bus transfer hub, and to buy shuttle buses that run on clean fuel.
Meehan, Kennedy and Kerry were also able to get $1 million for the Essex National Heritage Area, a nonprofit organization that covers 500 square miles and encompasses hundreds of historic, cultural and natural resources. Meehan said he worked closely with Congressman John Tierney, D-Mass., to secure the money for the center’s museums, natural resources, after-school programs, and to preserve open space and trails.
Money for cleaning up the Merrimack River and studying its basin is also included in the bill, which the president is expected to vote on today. Approximately $135,000 would go to Lawrence to clean up the part of the river that is being polluted by discharge from the city’s overworked sewer system, and to prevent more raw sewage from seeping into the river. And $400,000 would go to the Army Corps of Engineers to study the Massachusetts and New Hampshire river basins.
Kennedy said he was “gratified that we’ll be able to make these critical investments to help strengthen communities in the region and improve the quality of life for thousands of Massachusetts families.”
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Congressman Meehan Wants More Money for First Responders
WASHINGTON-- Congressman Martin T. Meehan wants more money for local police and fire departments. That's why the Lowell Democrat has signed on to support a bill that would triple the money that President Bush set aside for first responders in his budget proposal for next year.
The bill, called the First Responders Expedited Assistance Act, asks Congress to increase spending on local police and fire departments to beef up homeland security. The departments were slated to receive $3.5 billion in fiscal year 2003, and Bush had proposed retaining it at the same level for fiscal year 2004.
Meehan said that $3.5 billion is not enough for local police and fire departments to be able to cope with the threat of terrorism in their own backyards. Under the new legislation, the grants would increase to $7.1 billion this year and $10.6 billion in 2004, and municipalities that received grants would get at least 60 percent of the money within 120 days.
Meehan said with war in Iraq on the horizon, it is critical to provide support and money to the state and local people who respond to emergencies.
"We would never send our military forces into Iraq without the necessary protection and training," Meehan said. "Why would we not show our local police and fire personnel the same support?"
Because of state and local budget cuts, police departments don't have enough money to cover their regular programs and increase homeland security measures too, Andover Police Chief Brian Pattullo said. He added that while his department's budget is getting smaller, his officers need gas masks and protective suits designed to withstand biological or chemical agents.
"We have to assist the public, but if we can't get to the situation safely, we'll be of no use," said Pattullo, who heads Andover's 54-member force.
Pattullo, who is president of the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, also said local police need a radio system that would allow different departments to communicate with one another. Currently, officers are able to talk from town to town over the radio, but Pattullo said the system wouldn't hold up during an attack of the magnitude of Sept. 11.
"The ability for local law enforcement agencies to communicate effectively has been underfunded," he said.
Lawrence Police Chief John Romero said his department relies heavily on state and federal grants and that money is "certainly needed" to prepare and train officers to combat terrorism.
"Everything changed after Sept. 11," said Romero, a former New York City cop, adding that even smaller communities could be targets the next time. "Who's to say a target could be a big city next time?"
The new first responder bill, introduced by Reps. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and Ike Skelton, D-Mo., awaits House action. On the Senate side, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., introduced a similar bill in January that, if passed, would fully fund all traditional first responder grants, such as money for community policing, while providing additional money specifically for homeland security. Clinton's bill is under review by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Emergency Release for Fuel Aid Will Benefit Local Residents
WASHINGTON — Earlier this winter, Wayne D. Strickland had to make a tough choice. In order to have heat and hot water, he had to forgo paying other bills.
That was before Strickland, 47, received his winter fuel aid through the federally funded Low Income Heating Assistance Program, which helps residents who use oil, propane or kerosene. And even though the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc. gave him $500 in LIHEAP money to help pay his fuel bills from November to April, with frigid temperatures and increasing oil prices, the money is running out fast.
"I don't have the thermostat up to 80 degrees or anything," said Strickland, a North Redding resident who is unemployed because of a disability. "I'm very frugal."
But Strickland probably won't have to make that tough choice again this winter. President Bush announced the release of $200 million in emergency LIHEAP funds last week. Massachusetts received $12.3 million Wednesday, and the money is now being distributed by local agencies across the state.
"These badly needed emergency funds will directly assist low-income families, the elderly and disabled to cope with this very cold winter and increased home heating costs," Gov. Mitt Romney said in a statement Wednesday.
Romney said the release of the emergency funds coupled with the regular, quarterly LIHEAP payment, which he expects to be about $70 million, should help 130,000 residents pay their heating bills.
Judy Brady, fuel assistance director for the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council Inc., said she hopes to start distributing the funds Friday for clients in Lawrence, North Andover, Andover, Redding, North Redding and Methun. The amount of money each client receives is determined by a number of factors, including income level, number of people in the household, age or disability. People like Strickland could get up to $130 more because of the emergency aid.
"One thing I don't have to worry about is that I have heat, even though it's cold," said Strickland, who covered his windows and doors with plastic sheets to keep the draft out of his small cottage. "If it wasn't for fuel assistance, I'd probably be homeless."
Brady has roughly 1,000 clients who use oil heat, and one or two who use propane or kerosene. The rest of her 6,000 clients are natural gas users, she said. Residents who heat their homes with natural gas or electricity are protected by a state moratorium; even if they can't pay their utility bill, their heat will not be shut off. It's the people who rely on propane, oil and kerosene who have to worry if they come up short on their fuel payment.
"It's a crisis," Brady said. "These people need the money. We don't need anyone to freeze."
Some of her clients have exhausted their LIHEAP funds; they have either had their heat shut off, or are close to it. Brady said she has also received a record number of new applications for LIHEAP; 1,015 people have applied so far, compared to the 1,800 applications she received for the entire season last year.
"We've been very busy here," said Brady, who attributed the rise in applicants to the harsh winter weather and the shaky economy.
Brady has also seen an increase in the number of applicants who are employed. Of the 6,627 households served last year, almost half of the clients had jobs.
"We're serving more of the working poor," she said.
With the number of people requesting aid on the rise, Congressman Martin T. Meehan, a Lowell Democrat, is pushing for the federal government to fund LIHEAP at the same amount, if not more, next year. For fiscal year 2002, the federal government set aside $1.7 billion in regular funding for the program, and $300 million in emergency aid. Meehan said the Bush administration wants to cut the regular fund by $300,000, but maintain the emergency fund at its current level.
The Senate has already passed an appropriations bill to fund LIHEAP at $1.95 billion, without a separate reserve of emergency funds. Now, the House has to vote on an appropriation for the program, which it should do in the first few weeks of February.
"In these difficult economic times, when family budgets are stretched to the nines paying for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, and medication, we must not forget that heat is not a luxury, it is a necessity," Meehan said.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Kennedy Wants Vote Before War
Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy will introduce a resolution requiring President Bush to come back to Congress and "present convincing evidence of an imminent threat" before the United States sends its troops to war against Iraq.
Kennedy issued the challenge moments after Bush vowed in his State of the Union address to use "full force and might of the U.S. military" if necessary to disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
"Instead of rushing down the path to war with Iraq, the American people deserve a full debate," Kennedy said.
Congress voted last fall to authorize military action, but Kennedy said a new vote is needed. "Putting American lives at risk is the most solemn responsibility of our government."
Other Democrats also voiced doubts about Bush's Iraq strategy as Republicans closed ranks behind the president.
Congressman Martin T. Meehan, said the president failed to make his case to use force or reveal new evidence connecting Saddam to chemical weapons or the Sept. 11 attacks, has Meehan had hoped.
"He took a pass on that," said the Lowell Democrat.
Democrats were particularly critical of Bush for vowing that the United States would act alone against Iraq if necessary.
Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, who has opened a presidential exploratory committee, called Bush's handling of Iraq "unilateral, overbearing, high-handed."
"He talks about keeping Americans safe, but has too often practiced a blustering unilateralism that is wrong, and even dangerous, for our country," Kerry said in a statement.
Republicans agreed with Bush that "the course of this nation does not depend on others."
"We can never turn over our own national security and our need to protect ourselves to somebody else," Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said in a statement.
"We can't wait for other nations. We have to lead," said Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., in a statement. "That's our role now."
"Hopefully, we'll be able to resolve this through the U.N., but at the end of the day, Saddam Hussein is a threat to Americans," said Congressman. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H. "We have to be prepared."
Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., said Bush's statements on Iraq had resonance.
"One of the most impressive parts of the speech was the 10 or 15 minutes where there was silence in the chamber, an erect audience listening to violations and evidence and failures of Iraq to comply," Sununu said in a statement.
"I thought he was very firm on the war," said Sally Cerasuolo, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, who attended the speech as Meehan's guest. "Certainly, if you were sitting there, you knew it's on the horizon."
Overall, Meehan said Bush's speech was "good on rhetoric, but bad on the economy."
The president said the state of the union is strong, but Meehan said it's clear that the economy is in bad shape. With increasing unemployment and a lack of economic growth, Meehan said, "we need to turn the economy around."
American citizens and Congress have been patient with the president's economic plan, Meehan said, but "clearly, it's not working." Meehan also said he wants more federal money going to assist states and a payroll tax cut to help working families. Meehan also said he is concerned about the federal deficit.
Meehan said he hopes Bush will work with Republicans and Democrats to craft an economic stimulus plan that will result in growth.
Kennedy said in addition to being concerned with what he called Bush's "go-it-alone foreign policy," he is also worried about a "you're-on-your-own policy at home."
"The President had an opportunity tonight to change the direction of this nation, and he failed," Kennedy said.
On Bush's economic plan, Kerry said "the issue of fundamental fairness is on the table as it hasn't been for years in this country."
"We need to put that choice of how we're going to deliver that fairness to average folks in America, to the average person who works hard, plays by the rules, who expects the government to repay that with fairness, and what they're doing now is reverse Robin Hood," Kerry told a group of reporters Tuesday afternoon.
"They're taking from the middle class and giving to the wealthiest Americans. I think that most Americans know there's a better set of choices."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
Kennedy Takes Stand on Iraq, Civil Rights in Speech to National Press Club
WASHINGTON - Sen. Edward Kennedy echoed the sentiments of many foreign leaders Tuesday, saying the Bush administration should let United Nations weapons inspectors do their jobs before the United States wages war on Iraq.
Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, told a National Press Club audience of about 200 that war against Iraq would distract America from the "clear and present danger" of terrorism and the crisis in North Korea, which he labeled as more-immediate threats.
"As we meet, 150,000 members of our armed forces will be in the Gulf by the end of the month, ready to go if the president gives the order," he said. "I continue to be convinced that this is the wrong war at the wrong time."
Kennedy delivered his remarks as President Bush expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who are hesitant to support a U.S.-led war against Iraq and its president, Saddam Hussein, who, Bush said, has been given "ample time" to disarm. France and Germany have both said they would try to dissuade the U.N. Security Council from adopting a war resolution against Iraq. Bush's aides said he would lead a coalition to disarm Iraq without the support of the United Nations, if necessary.
But Kennedy said an assault on Iraq - especially without widespread international support - would undermine the attempt to defeat Al Qaeda and feed anti-American sentiment overseas. It would also strain U.S. diplomatic, military and intelligence resources and hinder the ability to "root out terrorism at home and abroad," he said.
"President Bush has said that war with Iraq is a last resort, and we must hope he still means it," Kennedy said. "As long as the United Nations inspectors are on the ground and have access to suspected weapons sites, there is no sound reason to rush to pull the trigger of war."
Kennedy, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he hasn't seen any intelligence that would justify a war with Iraq. The recent discovery of empty chemical warheads, unearthed by inspectors in the Iraqi desert, is an indication that the inspections are working and a reason to give inspectors more time, he said. The United States should focus more attention on North Korea, which has sold missiles to nations like Libya and Syria that provide refuge and resources to terrorists, he said, adding that such missiles could easily be fitted with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
So far, the Bush administration has taken a diplomatic approach toward North Korea, working with allies in that region in an attempt to improve relations between North and South Korea and between North Korea and the United States. Kennedy said he supports the administration's current approach with North Korea, but criticized what he called Bush's "my-way-or-the-highway" foreign policy.
Kennedy also questioned the administration's commitment to equality in what he called a "frontal attack on affirmative action," citing Bush's stated opposition last week to the University of Michigan's admissions policy, in which some minorities are awarded points toward admission based on their race. Bush criticized the policy, calling it a quota system.
The Supreme Court will rule on the university's policy in the coming months. Kennedy called on the Senate to reverse the administration's "retreat from equality" and refuse to confirm judicial nominees who are "hostile to the core values of a diverse, democratic society."
"Our institutions of higher education today are on the front lines in the battle to enable minority and low-income students to take their seats at the table of opportunity, and we must not let them down," he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published in The Lawrence Eagle Tribune, in Massachusetts.
