Category: Bill Yelenak
Larson’s Website One of Ten Best in House
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-1) is one of 10 House members with a Web site ranked A+ by the Congress Online Project, which released its 2003 rankings this week.
Other members of the Connecticut delegation also received awards. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) got an A- and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4) an A+.
The Congress Online Project on Monday gave Gold, Silver and Bronze Mouse Awards to 75 of the 610 Web sites evaluated, which included members’ offices and committee and leadership sites.
The gold, silver and bronze awards went to sites getting ratings of A+, A and A-. Of the sites ranked in the study, fewer than three percent received an A+.
Larson, who won a Mouse Award for the first time, said in a statement that he was “very pleased.” This is the second year the group has given the awards.
“I view my Web site as an extension of my offices, available to my constituents at any time from anywhere,” Larson said.
Larson also congratulated Brian Mahar, his legislative correspondent and systems administrator, for an “outstanding job in leading the effort to make the site a resource for the people of the 1st Congressional District.”
Even though Larson won an award, he said the improvements to his site would continue.
“I anticipate even further improvements during the coming year,” Larson said.
Larson spokesman Mike Kirk said that having an appealing and informative Web site was important so that information can easily be disseminated to those who need it.
“A variety of people – whether it’s other people in Congress, whether it’s constituents, whether it’s the media – often get a lot of their information through the Web site,” Larson said. “It’s important that it’s clear and has plenty of information.”
According to Kirk, the Web site received nearly 2,800 people in December 2002 and nearly 4,000 in October 2002, which has been the highest month so far. He said the site, since January 2002, gets between 2,000 and 3,000 viewers per month on average.
The Congress Online Project, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and researched by the George Washington University and the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF), listed what made each gold and silver Web site award-worthy.
According to Nicole Folk, one of the authors of the report, Larson won the award because his site took time to explain about Congress to those who may not be as informed. Folk said that the authors met with Larson’s staff and that there was great interest in improving the Web site.
“As part of this grant we met with offices and provided them with confidential assessments of the site and where they could improve,” Folk said. “The congressman made the Web site a priority and the whole office started contributing to it and essentially made it a virtual office. It’s something that the whole staff does contribute to.”
Folk said Larson’s Web site also did a good job educating the public in the issues and terms that Congress deals with.
Folk also complimented Dodd’s Web site, saying it offered an easy way for the voting public to examine the issues and stay informed.
“The site is really organized around its audience, especially constituents,” Folk said. “For example, the “quick-answer” question takes a look at what they get contacted most regarding … and right below that they offer their monthly e-mail newsletter. which is really great.”
According to statistics from the Congressional Management Foundation, only 32 percent of all Senators have -mail newsletters.
In a statement, Dodd said the Internet acted as a “wonderful bridge” to his constituents.
“It gives [constituents] a chance to let me know how they feel about important issues of the day, while keeping them abreast of what is going on in Washington,” Dodd said.
Like Larson, Dodd said improvements would continue with the Web site, even though he received an award.
“And while I’m flattered by this honor, it shouldn’t be considered an end, but a beginning,” Dodd said. “I intend to continue to look at innovative new ways of reaching out to people back home.”
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Johnson Plans to Introduce Legislation to End Offshore Reincorporation
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON –U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson (CT-5), who voted for two measures last Thursday that would forbid companies from reincorporating abroad to avoid paying U.S. income taxes, later said she planned to introduce legislation of her own to deter American companies from moving offshore.
The House Ways and Means Committee had before it the Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act, which is designed to provide $478 million in tax relief to troops stationed abroad. Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) proposed two amendments that would have continued to tax corporations leaving the United States for tax purposes.
Although Johnson and a few other Republicans supported Neal's amendments, both failed because most Republicans voted against them and five Democrats did not vote on either amendment.
The bill, which should head next to the House floor, now includes several matters not closely related to the alleviation of military taxes, including an amendment Johnson proposed that would give a test to people who had renounced their U.S. citizenship to determine whether they had acted to avoid paying the country's taxes. Those who had would then have to pay U.S. taxes for the next 10 years.
Earlier this session, Neal introduced the Corporate Patriot Enforcement Act of 2003, which is intended to prevent companies from circumventing U.S. income taxes by moving abroad. Although Johnson signed on to Neal's proposal as a co-sponsor, she said, in an interview with the Herald, that there were several flaws in the wording that will prompt her to prepare her own bill.
"The problem, of course, is, that we need a fix that's going to really work," Johnson said. "And while his bill looked good when we first did it, the more you learn about it, the more you see it's circumventable. It could cause worse problems."
Reincorporation has been an issue for Johnson since the Stanley Works, headquartered in New Britain, announced last winter that it planned to reincorporate in Bermuda. Johnson, then-5th District Rep. James Maloney and Neal each drafted legislation aimed at preventing businesses from reincorporating abroad to avoid the income tax.
Gerry Gould, a spokesman for the Stanley Works, said he hoped Congress would fix the problems related to reincorporation and do so in a timely manner.
"We have always viewed a comprehensive tax bill as the best solution," Gould said. "We continue to view that as the best solution, and we hope that Congress takes action and soon."
At the time, it was estimated Stanley's reincorporation in Bermuda would have saved the company $30 million annually in federal taxes.
No votes were taken last year on either Johnson's bill, the Uncle Sam Wants You Act, or Maloney's bill, the Save America's Jobs Act, after they were introduced last spring and referred to the Ways and Means Committee, on which Johnson sits. Johnson's bill would have imposed a moratorium on offshore reincorporation.
Nevertheless, Johnson said, she has not been dissuaded from her view that legislation is needed to discourage companies from leaving the country by making it more attractive for them to stay in the United States.
"I'm going to do my moratorium because we need at least that much," Johnson said. "But I do hope this year that we will introduce the three or four different things that need to be done to eliminate the cause of companies moving abroad. That's really the answer."
Last year, the Treasury Department conducted a study of offshore reincorporation. Pamela Olson, the assistant Treasury secretary for tax policy, made the study's findings public in testimony before the Ways and Means Committee in June, when she cited several "actions that we believe are urgently needed to eliminate these opportunities to reduce inappropriately the U.S. tax on U.S. operations and thereby to ensure continued confidence in the U.S. tax system."
Olson said the Treasury Department believed the brunt of the tax burden on corporations could be alleviated, thereby allowing them to stay profitable in the United States and encouraging them to stay put.
Tara Bradshaw, a spokeswoman for the department, said last week that there would be no new reports on the issue any time soon.
Gould said he had not seen any action by Congress since Stanley rescinded its proposal to reincorporate on August 1, 2002.
"We have not seen the level of activity that would lead to a new comprehensive tax bill that we would like to see," Gould said. "Congress has not stepped forward on this one as quickly as we would have hoped."
Johnson said that stopping reincorporation would not be enough and that legislation was needed to stop companies from wanting to change their city of incorporation.
"If you just block their move, then you encourage them to merge with some company that's already gone," she said. "That's not a little fear, that's a big fear. That's not a pretend fear, that's real."
However, Johnson said, she believed the Stanley Works' days of wanting to reincorporate in Bermuda were most likely over.
"I think they put a lot of energy into it, a lot of time and a lot of effort, and it didn't work," Johnson said. "Clearly Congress is still concerned with it; they [Stanley] understand it takes a while."
Gould said the Stanley Works had "no such plans" for reincorporating in the future. Johnson said she hoped her legislation would allow Stanley and other American businesses to stay in the country.
"If the right government policies mean they can stay here, and everybody can stay here, that's what we need," Johnson said. "We need American jobs with American companies here in America."
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Virtual March Affects Senate Offices by Causing Busy Signals
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – Win Without War, an organization whose announced goal is to find alternatives to U.S. military action in Iraq, plans to organize a march on Washington - no trudging through snow involved.
The "virtual march," as organizers have dubbed it, is slated to take place next Wednesday, when Win Without War hopes that supporters of the anti-war movement will flood the phone lines of their U.S. senators from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., according to former U.S. Rep. Tom Andrews, D-Maine, the national director of the organization.
"We were talking about ways that we could give more people an opportunity to stand up and be counted on the war, and it generated from that," Andrews said Thursday.
Andrews could not predict how many supporters the movement would have by next Wednesday but said people have already shown tremendous support for the program.
"There's been a large spike in people visiting the site over the last 24 hours," Andrews said, referring to www.moveon.org, the web site where people can register. "I can say that we have tens of thousands of people registered on the first day."
Later Thursday, a spokesman for Win Without War said that 34,000 people had registered.
The goal, according to Andrews, is to have each member of the Senate receive a phone call or a fax every minute of the day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The organization also hopes to deluge phone lines at the White House with their message.
"Each member has many, many phone lines, and we're hoping they'll get one phone call a minute, which will give them plenty of opportunity to do their other business," Andrews said. "But we think if they could dedicate a significant part of their day to listening to their constituents on this issue, it would be a wonderful thing."
Andrews said that if, when he was in Congress, his office had received the volume of calls he hopes most politicians will receive on Wednesday, it would have made him "stand up and take notice."
"It would give me an idea of not only the numbers of people in my state who care about this, but it would also indicate to me how deeply they feel," he said. "It's one thing to have an opinion about an issue; it's another thing to do something about it."
Andrews said he hopes the diversity of those signed up to call would also make a difference in the way the virtual march was seen.
"I would notice that these calls and those who feel this way are not just coming from one demographic of the district or one political party or point of view. It's very diverse," Andrews said.
He said politicians should listen to the citizens, who are "well ahead of the politicians" on the issue of war in Iraq.
"If there was ever an issue for Washington to listen to America, it's this issue," he said.
The offices of Connecticut's two Democratic senators were not sure what impact the virtual march would have. Adam Kovacevich, a spokesman for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, said he was unsure how it would affect the office.
"Depending on how many people participate, it may affect our call volume," Kovacevich said. "We certainly respect people's right to express themselves and respect their right to voice their concerns."
Kovacevich said he didn't expect the protest to affect the other constituents who needed to reach the office for any reason.
"People call our office for any number of reasons, both to express their concern on different issues and to request assistance with casework," he said. "I would expect that we will continue to get all kinds of calls that day."
Marvin Fast, a spokesman for Sen. Christopher Dodd, said the virtual protest "was an important issue."
"We commend people who take the time to participate in our democracy," Fast said.
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Former Berlin Resident Finds Calling in the District
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – Many times when outsiders accept their first position on Capitol Hill, they describe their experiences in being thrust into a new, unfamiliar job as a "baptism by fire."
For Brian Schubert, a 23-year-old Berlin native and former New Britain Herald staff writer, learning the ropes was more of an inferno.
Schubert, who had no previous political experience, other than working with U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-5) as an intern in her district office, signed onto the Johnson campaign this past election as her press secretary.
And what training it was.
Schubert became engulfed in what was expected to be one of the most highly contested House races in the country. Connecticut lost one seat in the House in the reapportionment that followed the 2000 census, and, after new district lines were drawn, it became apparent that Johnson, then representing the 6th District, would have to run against U.S. Rep. Jim Maloney, a Democrat then representing the 5th District.
Schubert said the opportunity to work on Johnson's reelection campaign was an amazing opportunity, especially to be in a race where it was incumbent against incumbent - something that was happening in only three other races in the country, according to Schubert.
"Most people my age don't get that kind of access to senior members of Congress," Schubert said, adding that one of his most memorable times working with his boss was helping form her Congressional convention speech. "We talked it over, and at the end, she delivered one hell of a speech. It set the tone for the rest of the campaign."
While writing and assisting with speeches is something Schubert has done throughout his short political career, he said he feels more comfortable standing behind the podium than holding the pencil. Giving speeches came easily for Schubert, who was a member of Berlin Upbeat, a community-based outreach program at his high school, he said.
"I was privileged to help lead the peer leadership group at Berlin High that was teaching kids to make good decisions, act before they think and get involved in the community," he said.
While public speaking is sometimes referred to as people's greatest fear, Schubert said it has quickly become one of his best attributes.
"I've always enjoyed getting up in front of an audience," he said. "Everyone gets nervous about doing it, but it is a rush when you're able to give a speech or a talk and you're able to have the audience respond to you."
And in last year's election, the audience responded in a big way. With Schubert and Johnson handling the press and Johnson meeting and listening to constituents, she was elected to the newly formed 5th District with 54 percent of the vote.
With a more convincing victory than had been expected, many could speculate that Schubert always had it figured out and meant to arrive at a career working on Capitol Hill. However, he confessed, it took "a little luck" to arrive at his current career.
After graduating from Berlin High School and then from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in political science, Schubert said he was still unsure about his professional direction. After seeing an advertisement in his hometown paper, Schubert said he "jumped at it, and that's how I got my first job out of school."
Schubert said he was interviewed by New Britain Herald executive editor Jonathan Cooper, who told him he would be writing stories, doing research and making phone calls as a reporter. Schubert said the two got along right from the start - until Cooper wanted him to write a story.
"I was kind of floored," Schubert said of the task on his first day. "I was like, 'You're going to make me write a story?' "
Schubert took a press release and churned out 400 words on a state senator from Connecticut.
"On my first day as a journalist, I'm gabbing with a senior member of the Connecticut state Senate," Schubert recalled. "It was humbling and exhilarating at the same time, and that sent me on my way, and I worked there for over a year."
Then, Schubert said, Johnson's campaign office told him "they needed someone to come on and do press work for them for the campaign. And it was an opportunity I certainly wasn't going to turn down, so I jumped at that."
The time working as a journalist and now as a press secretary has given Schubert a unique insight into what journalists are looking for and how to make it easier for them.
"I have an understanding of what their needs are, especially in crunch time," Schubert said. "When you have journalists covering different races, their time is as precious as mine."
Schubert said there were a few things he learned from "being on both sides of the coin," but most of all it was interesting to try being in the other person's shoes.
"Being covered as opposed to covering someone else is very sobering," Schubert said. "I don't think it's a bad idea for politicians to be journalists for a while and for journalists to be politicians for a while.
"In other words, to cover before you're covered and to be covered before you cover."
And while Schubert has made a seamless transition from the reporting side to fielding journalists' questions, he said a look at the political life has not made him desire a career as a legislator - at least not yet.
"I'm happy with what I'm doing. I have no desire at the present, but who knows," Schubert said. "It's a little early right now to be thinking about that. I want to establish something for myself before I get out there."
Schubert's happiness with his current profession has persuaded him that graduate school or law school may not be the right thing for him just yet. While it's still an option for the future, he said, he wasn't ready for it right after his graduation from Boston College.
"I needed to get some real-world experience and, frankly, I don't think I'd learn as much from graduate school," he said. "I don't think I'd be able to contribute as much to whatever school I went to."
The die-hard Boston Red Sox fan knows one thing for sure - by attending law or graduate school, he wouldn't have covered a "hot" mayor's race in Newington when working at the New Britain Herald. He wouldn't have worked on a reelection campaign. And he wouldn't have had a new profession, a new calling and a job on Capitol Hill.
As he's finishing his morning coffee, Schubert hears the distinct tone of a cell phone echo through one of the House building's cafeterias.
"Is that me?" Schubert says, padding his pocket and checking his cell phone. "That's the other thing about his town. Cell phones are everywhere, and the BlackBerries, too."
And while many, including some Hill veterans, may wonder if a BlackBerry is a fruit or an electronic handheld device, Schubert has figured it out in just a short time.
His "trial by inferno" worked out pretty well after all.
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Organization Hopes to Tie Up Congressional Phone Lines With Anti-War Messages
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – Win Without War, an organization whose announced goal is to find alternatives to U.S. military action in Iraq, plans to organize a march on Washington - no trudging through snow involved.
The "virtual march," as organizers have dubbed it, is slated to take place next Wednesday, when Win Without War hopes that supporters of the anti-war movement will flood the phone lines of their U.S. senators from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., according to former U.S. Rep. Tom Andrews, D-Maine, the national director of the organization.
"We were talking about ways that we could give more people an opportunity to stand up and be counted on the war, and it generated from that," Andrews said Thursday.
Andrews could not predict how many supporters the movement would have by next Wednesday but said people have already shown tremendous support for the program.
"There's been a large spike in people visiting the site over the last 24 hours," Andrews said, referring to www.moveon.org, the web site where people can register. "I can say that we have tens of thousands of people registered on the first day."
Later Thursday, a spokesman for Win Without War said that 34,000 people had registered.
The goal, according to Andrews, is to have each member of the Senate receive a phone call or a fax every minute of the day between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The organization also hopes to deluge phone lines at the White House with their message.
"Each member has many, many phone lines, and we're hoping they'll get one phone call a minute, which will give them plenty of opportunity to do their other business," Andrews said. "But we think if they could dedicate a significant part of their day to listening to their constituents on this issue, it would be a wonderful thing."
Andrews said that if, when he was in Congress, his office had received the volume of calls he hopes most politicians will receive on Wednesday, it would have made him "stand up and take notice."
"It would give me an idea of not only the numbers of people in my state who care about this, but it would also indicate to me how deeply they feel," he said. "It's one thing to have an opinion about an issue; it's another thing to do something about it."
Andrews said he hopes the diversity of those signed up to call would also make a difference in the way the virtual march was seen.
"I would notice that these calls and those who feel this way are not just coming from one demographic of the district or one political party or point of view. It's very diverse," Andrews said.
He said politicians should listen to the citizens, who are "well ahead of the politicians" on the issue of war in Iraq.
"If there was ever an issue for Washington to listen to America, it's this issue," he said.
The offices of Connecticut's two Democratic senators were not sure what impact the virtual march would have. Adam Kovacevich, a spokesman for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, said he was unsure how it would affect the office.
"Depending on how many people participate, it may affect our call volume," Kovacevich said. "We certainly respect people's right to express themselves and respect their right to voice their concerns."
Kovacevich said he didn't expect the protest to affect the other constituents who needed to reach the office for any reason.
"People call our office for any number of reasons, both to express their concern on different issues and to request assistance with casework," he said. "I would expect that we will continue to get all kinds of calls that day."
Marvin Fast, a spokesman for Sen. Christopher Dodd, said the virtual protest "was an important issue."
"We commend people who take the time to participate in our democracy," Fast said.
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Political Websites Becoming More Prevalent in Today’s Society
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – With the Internet becoming increasingly popular in recent years, political Web sites are rising in number and disseminating more information, according to Paul R. Petterson, an associate professor and chairman of the political science department at Central Connecticut State University.
Candidate-focused Web sites have gained prominence in recent years, Petterson said.
"They've become a device to spread both dissenting opinions and, in some cases, scurrilous opinions about certain figures in politics," he said.
Many sites have already been launched, for example, to sell products or follow the campaign trail of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) as he makes a run to win the Democratic presidential nomination and battle President Bush for control of the White House. Petterson called sites such as joebeanie.com and liebermansucks.com an "up-and-coming trend," and said Matt Drudge's Web site, the Drudge Report, was among the first to whet people's interest in receiving political information over the Internet.
"That really became a political engine for a number of different controversies," Petterson said of the Drudge Report. "I think that really got people's attention, so that now anybody who sort of wants to throw something up there to critique or make a little bit of money off of some candidate or some issue is now doing that more and more."
According to Petterson, the Drudge Report, available at http://www.drudgereport.com, was instrumental in playing major roles during the Clinton impeachment trial, as many people used it as a source of information.
"I know the Clinton administration was the time when you started to see this phenomenon take off," he said, of political websites gaining prominence. "All kinds of people were going online to spread anti-Clinton material."
The Internet has drastically changed the way campaigns are run today compared with the way information was disseminated nearly 30 years ago, Petterson said.
"I think the one area where it has had the most impact is it has further increased the necessity or requirement for immediate response," he said. "It's sped up the pace of attack and response in politics, even further than the media had already sped it up."
Though Web sites could have some adverse effects, Petterson said, they are almost required today of any political candidate.
"It's pretty close to a practical requirement now that campaigns have websites of some kind," Petterson said. "And, as a sidebar on that, there's all of these other sites with people who are either favoring the candidate or have some issues with a candidate that are also springing up."
Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for Lieberman's presidential campaign, said the Internet's information was a valuable resource as long as people recognized where the information came from.
"At the end of the day, the more information people have, the better off they are," Cabrera said. "As long as they're looking at the source of the information … I'd rather have more websites out there than not."
Petterson said that all public figures and public institutions could become targets of the digital world in today's society.
"It's similar to the much older phenomenon of fan clubs," he said. "It's now websites that are either fan clubs or attack engines against politicians in this case. You can find a website for almost every movie, every entertainment figure, every sports figure."
Cabrera, who said he saw websites focusing on Democratic candidate Al Gore when he was doing campaign work for him in 2000, said people who want information usually go to the official websites.
"I think most voters who are looking for information about the candidate will go to the candidate's own website," Cabrera said. "For the most part, voters naturally question the source of information when they're on the web, preferring in most cases to make their judgment based on legitimate news websites."
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Iraq, Medicare, Environment Issues Highlight Congressional Mail
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – While the potential conflict with Iraq may be among the most pressing national issues to most Americans, the letters, phone calls and e-mails flooding the offices of U.S. Reps. John Larson (D-1) and Nancy Johnson (R-5) also focus on the future of Medicare and environmental legislation.
Mike Kirk, press secretary for Larson, said callers and letter writers have agreed, for the most part, with the congressman's views on war and the environment. Larson has come out against drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and has said another United Nations resolution should be adopted before the United States takes military action against Iraq. However, Kirk said there would always be alternative viewpoints.
"Occasionally, we'll receive a call with people who disagree," Kirk said. "But the vast majority are letters and e-mails and phone calls agreeing with what he said."
The office has received approximately 1,625 calls, letters and e-mails since Jan. 1 in the five most written about areas, according to Kirk. He said the five largest concerns among constituents are Social Security, Medicare or healthcare, military action in Iraq, environmental issues and unemployment or economic issues. While there was no count on the age groups that most often send mail, Kirk said more mail comes from the larger towns within the district and less comes from the smaller towns.
Kirk said the mail on the environment was mostly in opposition to the White House's policies on ANWR and other environmental issues. Kirk said that it was good to hear that the constituents were happy but added that if they were not happy, it would not necessarily be something that would make Larson change his mind.
"Well, I think he would go forward with what he believes because he believes it, but that is certainly good to hear," Kirk said. "It's positive to hear good remarks from your constituents."
Kirk said most of the mail had focused on preserving and strengthening Social Security, as well as concerns about Medicare funding, "particularly cuts to Medicare reimbursements."
Kirk said many people are concerned for their future well-being, which is probably why much of the mail involves Social Security and Medicare.
"I think people throughout the country are concerned about their own security, as well as Social Security, being there for future generations," Kirk said. "Preserving and strengthening Social Security is pretty much what the letters focus on."
Johnson's press secretary, Brian Schubert, said that major concerns of her constituents also include changes in Medicare. Johnson, the sponsor of last year's Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act, which would have given seniors flexibility in choosing a drug plan and protected them against high costs, continues to receive many letters about Medicare, according to Schubert.
"We have a constant stream of important letters from constituents on the need to enact a Medicare prescription drug benefit now," Schubert said. "Of course the congresswoman is leading the fight on that and is optimistic the Congress will take action this session."
According to Schubert, the office receives a nearly equal number of letters, phone calls and e-mails on Medicare, the situation in Iraq, Social Security and protection of the Arctic Refuge, an area of Alaska the White House has repeatedly said should be opened to oil drilling to reduce the country's dependence on foreign sources.
Schubert said the number of letters to Johnson's office has increased since her district expanded at the beginning of this year to include Danbury and Waterbury. Schubert said the letters come from all over the district in proportion to each city's population. He added that the volume of e-mail has also risen, and the office typically receives about 30 e-mails per day.
Schubert said that more than 99 percent of the constituent mail agreed with Johnson's stance on ANWR, even though Johnson is crossing party lines to fight for environmental protection of the refuge.
Schubert said while some who disagreed with Johnson's statements and views sent letters and made phone calls, they were in the minority. Schubert said the issue on which constituents agreed with Johnson the most was the prevention of drilling in ANWR.
On letters about Iraq, Schubert said the mail to the office has been nearly "50-50."
"Historically, it's been even," Schubert said, talking about the number of supporters for and against the war.
Schubert said while there was no way to know the ages of the constituents who write to Johnson, he said many who write to her about environmental protection are younger while those who write about strengthening Medicare and Social Security are usually older.
Both press secretaries said the mail is dealt with in similar ways. Most often, they said, aides read the mail and show it to Johnson and Larson, who then decide how they wish to respond and sign off on a final version of the return letter.
Kirk said Larson sees most letters that are sent to the office but avoids any mass mailings or if an interest group sends "the same facts 50 times." Schubert said Johnson works with her legislative aides to form responses to all constituents.
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Johnson Joins Markey and Dems to Introduce Bill to Protect ANWR
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – Rep. Nancy Johnson (CT-5) joined several Democratic congressmen Thursday in a bipartisan effort to introduce legislation that would prevent drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Johnson, the only Republican present at Thursday’s press conference, said the Morris K. Udall Arctic Wilderness Act would help prevent the destruction of “one of the most breathtaking wildlife sanctuaries in the entire world.” She not only denounced drilling in the refuge, but also said the prospect of probing the landscape for oil was just as dangerous to the area’s wildlife.
“Just mapping and moving the huge equipment required to do this would damage the ground,” Johnson said. “But after the mapping, the destruction that would result from the construction of oil-drilling capabilities would be catastrophic.”
Johnson said while her opponents raise the issue of drilling in ANWR every year, this would be the year that the argument finally stopped.
“Each year they develop new ways to try to open the refuge to destructive drilling and each year we have managed to stop them and each year more decisively,” Johnson said. “This year, we are out to engage the real debate, which is to pass this legislation we are introducing to permanently protect the refuge.”
The bill, drafted by Rep. Ed Markey (MA-7), is very similar to a bill of the same name that Markey introduced in 2001. Although the bill had 153 co-sponsors, it never came to a vote.
Markey lauded Johnson and said the only way the bill would pass was with strong support from both parties.
“This whole effort is bipartisan,” Markey said. “It always has been, going back to Theodore Roosevelt, and it is again today because it is the only way with which we can win.”
Johnson said the decision to drill was not necessarily entirely about producing more domestic oil, something most Republicans have been adamant about.
“The issue of drilling in the refuge is not about oil – it’s about our values,” Johnson said. “It’s about our ability to balance the values we place on critical environmental resources and unique ecosystems … and the values we place on a small supply of oil.”
Johnson said drilling supporters who argue that drilling must be done immediately in ANWR and that there are no alternatives were incorrect. She cited alternatives to drilling in ANWR, such as more careful consumption of gasoline, which would reduce the need for oil.
Johnson said her opponents were not seeing and accepting the alternatives to drilling, such as increasing the use of fuel-cell technology and raising fuel-efficiency standards for sport utility vehicles--especially because the coastal plain of ANWR could produce only a “180-day supply of oil.”
The proposed legislation, named after former congressman Morris K. Udall of Arizona in honor of his fight to save the refuge, would permanently protect nearly 1.6 million acres of ANWR’s coastal plain from drilling or other development, according to Johnson.
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Southington Youth Group Participates in Building Habitat Houses in Baltimore
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON--High school students from the First Congregational Church in Southington are preparing to come to the District Friday, where they will tour various landmarks and then go to Baltimore to build houses in with Habitat for Humanity.
The Rev. Rick Haverly, one of the chaperones who will be traveling with the group, said students from the church routinely go on mission trips every year to do community service. Trips in the past have sent students to work at Habitat in Baltimore, serve food at soup kitchens in New York City and help out at a church in Mazatlan, Mexico, according to Haverly.
“When I first began doing the youth groups when I started the division at the church, I wanted to get the youth involved in some mission work,” Haverly, an associate minister of the First Congregational Church, said.
Haverly said approximately 24 students will attend the mission trip to build houses near Baltimore’s old Memorial Stadium. They will be working Tuesday through Friday for Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity, according to Haverly.
“This was one that somebody had recommended to me and said it was well organized and a good program to work with,” he said.
The group will return to Connecticut on Feb. 22, Haverly said.
“We’re actually staying in some Habitat housing that last time we were down there we were actually building,” Haverly said. “Now, they use it to house groups that come down to volunteer.”
Haverly said he believes the mission trip helps the students to come together to do something positive for other people.
“It’s just a way of finding different ways to work for people in need,” Haverly said. “They can have something they can contribute to people and benefit that way.”
Students going on the mission trip said they were excited at the prospect of being able to help people. Chris Bushnell, a 14-year-old freshman at Southington High School, said his brother had gone on mission trips before and told him “how fun it was,” so he decided to go.
“And I get community service hours which I have to do in order to get confirmed this year,” said Chris, who needs 24 hours of community service, in addition to a year-long class, in order to be confirmed and become a member of the church.
His brother, Patrick, a 18-year-old Southington High senior, said he went on his first trip for similar reasons, but it turned out to be much more rewarding.
“Before I went on the trip, I was just going to do it because it was just a bunch of community service hours for conformation,” Patrick said. “But it turned out just being a really memorable experience. Basically, it just started me off on the right foot.”
Patrick will be attending his fourth church mission trip, returning to Baltimore, where he did his first mission trip during his freshman year in high school. Patrick helped build Habitat’s Visitors’ Center, where they will be staying this time, on his trip three years ago.
“It’s the same neighborhood we worked in last time, so I just want to see how it’s progressed over three years,” Patrick said.
Haverly said that over the weekend, the students plan to tour such Washington landmarks as the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Washington National Cathedral and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where he said he hoped there was something for the youths to see about the Columbia space shuttle tragedy.
Chris said he was most interested in seeing the Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“I’ve never been there and I’m looking forward to that because we read about it in school and we hear about it all the time,” Chris said. “I just want to see what it’s actually like.”
Patrick said he is making his first trip back to the Washington area since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and he said he was wondering about how the city would have changed since then, especially considering the new threats announced recently.
“Actually, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how different it’s going to be from three years ago with all the heightened security and the bomb scares and stuff,” Patrick said. “I’ve been having second thoughts about it. I’m still going to go, but it was worrying me a little.”
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Lieberman’s Ideals Spawn Several Websites
By Bill Yelenak
If Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) has trouble raising money during the campaign season, he could a start a website to sell “Lieberman for President” yarmulkes to make a few extra bucks.
Jason Erkes, creator of joebeanie.com, has shown that it works.
Erkes said he was attending a rally in 2000 at which Lieberman, then the Democratic vice presidential nominee, was speaking during Al Gore’s presidential campaign, and when he saw people holding signs and wearing yarmulkes, he said the idea came to him to combine the two.
According to Erkes, he had sold lots of the skullcaps when Lieberman was running with Gore, and now, with Lieberman getting ready to run for president, “I got the printing presses going again.”
However, not everyone has as positive a message for the senator as Erkes has. Roger Wehbe, the creator of liebermansucks.com, said Lieberman’s political views about video game laws caused him to create the site, which posts news stories about Lieberman and sells hats, t-shirts and mugs bearing the site’s logo and tagline, “A voting Record that can make a grown man cry.”
Wehbe said his major problem with Lieberman’s record was the Media Marketing Accountability Act, which states that 70 percent of advertisements for mature-rated video games were targeted to children under age 17.
The bill, introduced by Lieberman in 2001 but never approved by Congress, would have made marketing mature games to minors a deceptive and unfair practice and would have allowed the Federal Trade Commission to fine businesses who market such games to minors.
Wehbe said he was disturbed by what he called Lieberman’s “hypocrisy” because, he said, Lieberman “doesn’t want anybody to shoot at each other in video games and he’s such a war hawk he wants to go out and shoot real people.”
Wehbe, a 28-year-old Pennsylvania resident, said he’s a fan of the video game “Counterstrike”, a first-person shooter type game. He said Lieberman’s overall voting record, particularly his introduction of the act in 2001, pushed him over the edge and drove him to create his website.
Wehbe said he was confused as to why Lieberman would ban minors from playing video games, but would send them to war just a few years later.
Wehbe said that the sale of his web items has been picking up but that he’s not planning on making a lot of money from the sales. That’s not why he created the site in the first place, he said.
“It’s not really about the money,” he said. “It’s more of, I want him to at least know that he’s not my mom and he can’t tell me what games I’m allowed to play or not.”
And while liebermansucks.com and joebeanie.com are very different, the two have something in common: neither has heard back from the Lieberman campaign about their websites.
However, Wehbe said he knows that members of the Senate have visited the website and he said many continue to do so. He said he logs the domain names of visitors and that he has had several from senate.gov, the domain used by senators and their staffs when they access pages from Capitol Hill offices. The site also shows it has received hits from house.gov, nasa.gov and even eop.gov, the Executive Office of the President.
“They’re visiting it now on AOL dialups, even though I already have records of them hitting me from the Senate,” Wehbe said, talking about one way Capitol Hill staffs have avoided leaving the senate.gov footprint. “They’re calling it on a daily basis, they’re visiting it. It makes me laugh. I don’t see why they just don’t contact me.”
Erkes said he sent Lieberman’s office a letter with a couple of samples of the yarmulkes the day the website launched, but he has not heard back.
However, Jano Cabrera, a spokesman for Lieberman, said the senator hadn’t received any free samples from Erkes. Cabrera said he had seen joebeanie.com and, in a way, thought it was fitting.
“The guy’s a senator, author and now a presidential candidate,” Cabrera said. “If anyone’s not going to object to people wearing many kind of hats, it’s going to be Joe Lieberman.”
Cabrera said he was unsure whether Lieberman had seen either website.
Although Lieberman may not have visited the website, Erkes said, he didn’t need to take out any advertisements to get others interested in the site.
“We really haven’t done any marketing; it’s been pretty much all word of mouth,” he said.
In fact, the buyer list from joebeanie.com is long and diverse, according to Erkes, who said he has had buyers from “probably 35 of the 50 states and four countries,” including England and Canada.
However, unlike Wehbe, Erkes said his site was not spawned by his political views but is simply “a very unique way for people to show their support for Sen. Lieberman and the cultural significance of his candidacy.”
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
