Category: Kate Davidson
Coalition Still Faces Much Work, NH Delegation says
WASHINGTON, D.C.—After the Pentagon announced Wednesday that U.S.-led forces had taken control of Baghdad, New Hampshire’s Congress members praised coalition troops and said they were buoyed by Iraqi citizens’ celebrations.
“We all have to be very impressed with the incredible success of our military effort in Iraq, especially the professionalism and expertise of our soldiers,” Sen. Judd Gregg said in a statement Wednesday. “In about 20 days, they moved about 500 miles and have taken over Baghdad.”
Gregg, Sen. John Sununu and Reps. Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley-all Republicans-said they were happy for the people of Iraq, whose dancing and cheering emanated from Capitol Hill television sets.
“Today marks a great deal of sense of hope and opportunity in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq,” Sununu said in a statement. “The scenes we have seen of the celebration are an indication that the impression of Saddam Hussein’s regime is recognized not just by people in the United States but by the Iraqi people themselves.”
Bass said the celebrations in Baghdad should remove any doubts that Iraqis did not want to be liberated from Saddam’s rule. Bass also said he hoped ousting Saddam would bring “a whole new era of fortune” for Iraq.
“I just think it’s a huge day for Iraq, obviously, and a great day for freedom around the world,” Bass said, “and a bad day for not only the old regime, which is now gone, but also those other countries that think that America will ignore or look the other way when states sponsor international terrorist efforts.”
Gregg, Sununu. Bass and Bradley agreed the coalition forces still face many hurdles.
“There are many pockets of resistance,” Gregg said. “But as we move forward, towards (Saddam’s home of) Tikrit and other parts of Iraq, I would expect they will start to collapse.”
Bass and Bradley said the coalition still must pay to rebuild Iraq, and Bass predicted President Bush would be forced to submit another emergency spending request to Congress.
Congress still is debating Bush’s earlier request for $75 billion – increased by the Senate to about $80 billion — to fund the war and homeland security. The House and the Senate have passed different versions of the bill and are arguing over several provisions, including a $3.5 billion aid package for airlines that the White House strongly opposes.
“We can’t underestimate the fact that this is not cheap,” Bradley said. “But there’s not a price to be paid for security for Americans, and I think that we have to accept that price and we also have the responsibility of helping to rebuild Iraq with the support of coalition partners.”
Bradley said that while he expects the U.S.- and British-led coalition to play the major role in post-war Iraq, he hopes that other countries will participate in the rebuilding effort and that the United Nations will provide humanitarian aid. Bradley said he also expects Iraqi oil money to help pay for reconstruction.
“Now, we begin the process of establishing a stable and representational government structure in Iraq, returning the resources of that country back to the people, and getting supplies to the people in Iraq that need them,” Sununu said.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Congress Hears Testimony on SARS; Gregg says U.S. Needs More Vaccine Development
WASHINGTON, D.C.—A day after the Senate heard testimony from health experts on the growing threat of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg joined Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., at a press conference Tuesday where immunization advocates supported a bill that would encourage manufacturers to develop vaccines for 21st century health threats.
Both the House and Senate earmarked $16 million in the emergency supplemental spending bill for SARS research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee-which Gregg chairs-assured the experts Monday that Congress would do all they could to help public health agencies fight the spread of the virus in the United States.
Dr. Julie Gerberding, executive director of the CDC, told the committee that health officials worldwide are trying to contain the virus as it continues to spread throughout Asia, Canada and the United States.
"Cases of SARS continue to be reported from around the world," Gerberding said. "The disease is still primarily limited to travelers to Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China, to health care personnel who have taken care of SARS patients and to close contacts of SARS patients."
Gerberding told the committee that officials believe the virus is primarily being transmitted through droplet spread from infected people coughing and sneezing, but they also are concerned about airborne transmission and the possibility that objects that become contaminated in the environment could serve as modes of spread.
The committee also heard from World Health Organization executive director Dr. David Heymann, who testified live via satellite from Geneva about efforts around the world to prevent the spread of the disease. Heymann said the United States is the only country doing work to develop a vaccine for SARS, which has no known treatment.
There have been no known SARS related deaths in the United States, but 89 have died worldwide including seven in Canada.
Gregg said the American people are growing increasingly alarmed about the highly contagious virus, and expressed concern at the hearing Monday and at the press conference Tuesday that there is not enough incentive for researchers to develop and manufacture vaccines for new diseases, such as SARS.
Gregg said Tuesday that vaccine developers face a huge liability if people are injured by the immunizations because of a loophole in the current Vaccine Injury Compensation Program that allows families to sue vaccine manufacturers for billions of dollars.
"If the vaccine industry was half as lucrative as being a trial lawyer, we'd have vaccines for the common cold by now," Gregg said.
The Improved Vaccine Affordability and Availability Act, introduced last week by Frist, would expand the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program of 1986 by extending the statute of limitations under which individuals can apply for compensation if they believe they were injured by a vaccine. The law would also close the loophole for major lawsuits and encourage researchers to develop more vaccines.
"We're in desperate shape relative to producing vaccines in this country and we have to put in a regime that's going to allow us to produce vaccines and still be fair to those who feel they've been injured," Gregg said. "That's why we have the vaccine injury compensation fund that's been set up. It's effective, and unfortunately it's being skirted by various procedures."
The bill is facing opposition, however, from several senators, including Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., the HELP Committee's senior democratic member. Kennedy's press secretary Jim Manley said Tuesday, however, that Frist was working with fellow HELP committee member Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., "try to make some improvements to the bill," with the help of Kennedy, before the bill is discussed in committee Wednesday.
"There is a genuine desire to try to reach an agreement tonight (Tuesday) to make it a more bipartisan" so the committee hearing will run smoothly Wednesday Manley said.
In a statement released last week that Kennedy never actually delivered, the senator said the bill, as it was introduced, would deny parents and children their day in court, grant special protection to manufacturers and would nullify the pending claims of millions of families. While Gregg and Frist presented the names of dozens of health organizations Tuesday that support the bill, Kennedy said in the statement that there are many national parent groups who oppose the legislation.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Democrats Lambaste Gregg Smallpox Compensation Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and several other Democrats lambasted a bill Wednesday introduced by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., that would compensate health-care workers and other first responders who were injured by smallpox vaccines.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which Gregg chairs, voted 11-10 to send the bill to the Senate floor and rejected amendments offered by Kennedy, the committee's senior Democrat, who called the bill "completely, totally inadequate." Kennedy said Gregg's bill would not provide guaranteed funding for compensation, "coerces" workers to get vaccinated by putting a time limit on the availability of compensation and would cover only limited health care needs.
The bill is an attempt to encourage health care workers and first responders, such as police officers and firefighters, to get smallpox vaccines by ensuring they or their families will be compensated for illness or death. As Kennedy noted, many states have ended their vaccination programs, which he called a "disaster," because so few workers were volunteering for inoculation.
"This program is not going to be successful unless the people, workers, sign up for it. That's the bottom line," Kennedy said. "You've got to treat the people fairly on this, and this legislation does not do it. It's a 'tin cup' response to a major health threat, and I think it insults the first responders in this country."
Gregg said he disagreed with Kennedy's characterization of the bill, adding, "It's not an insult, it's a genuine attempt to address the issue." Gregg also said charts and graphs Kennedy presented were "wrong and misleading, and hopefully not intentionally so.
Today anybody who gets vaccinated (against) smallpox . . . gets no compensation at all. Nothing. And that's the way it's going to be until we pass this bill."
Gregg said that under his proposed compensation plan, a health-care worker would get more compensation than a soldier wounded in battle. Kennedy criticized the bill, however, for capping payments for medical expenses and lost wages and for failing to compensate people with minor injuries.
The House defeated a similar bill Monday when 21 Republicans joined Democrats to vote against it. New Hampshire Republican Reps. Charlie Bass and Jeb Bradley voted for the bill.
However, the House Appropriations Committee set aside $35 million for the smallpox compensation fund Tuesday as part of President Bush's emergency spending bill. New Hampshire Congress members said they will vote for the supplemental bill, which the Senate began debating Wednesday.
White House spokesman Ken Lisaius said the administration supports Gregg's bill.
"The administration continues to work closely with members of the Senate and supports efforts to pass legislation that will provide compensation to those health-care workers and medical response team members who volunteer to make sure America is protected," Lisaius said. "They need to have similar compensation available to them such as that received by other first responders."
Smallpox vaccination programs have come under scrutiny recently and two states-New York and Illinois-halted immunizations after three people died last week from heart attacks just days after being vaccinated. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon also suspended vaccinations.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Business as Usual in Capitol Hill, NH Delegation says
WASHINGTON—The New Hampshire Republican delegation said Thursday that Congress would continue with scheduled business-including a vote on President Bush's proposed budget-even as the United States launched initial ground attacks against Iraqi forces on the Kuwaiti border and bombed government buildings throughout Baghdad.
Sen. Judd Gregg said in an interview that he expected the president to submit a supplemental budget request for defense and homeland security funds, which every delegation member said they would vote for. Bush could submit the supplemental as early as tomorrow, Gregg said, but most likely by the beginning of next week.
"We will do what is necessary to support the troops," Gregg said. "Whatever funding is required in order to give them every resource they need to be successful and to protect themselves is what we will do."
Lawmakers do not know how much the president will request for the war and the inevitable cost of rebuilding Iraq, but Rep. Jeb Bradley said the figure could be anywhere from $40 billion to $70 billion.
Congress continued to debate the president's budget Thursday and a vote was expected Friday morning.
Gregg said he was disappointed by the Senate vote Wednesday to exclude language in the budget that would have allowed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Gregg said Congress should be focusing on the "huge issue" of energy in three ways-conserving, renewing and increasing domestic production of oil.
"The ANWR issue has become unfortunately more of a political debate than a substantive debate," Gregg said. "We can drill for energy in ANWR in a very substantive way . . . and have virtually no impact on the environment up there but have an extremely positive impact on the national reserve of oil and gas. It's a resource which we really need to use; otherwise we put ourselves at the mercy of sheikdoms in the Middle East and unstable governments in Latin America."
While these budget-related issues were the first orders of business, the delegation agreed that the war was on many minds on Capitol Hill.
"[The war with Iraq] was a topic of conversation here at the Capitol, as I'm sure it is all across the country," Sen. John Sununu said in an interview. The current military action was discussed yesterday afternoon at a meeting of the Republican Conference, Sununu said, and would probably come up again at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. Embassy security later in the day.
"People understand that this is action to protect our national security interests," Sununu said. "[Congress is] thinking about and concerned for the families and the men and women that are overseas taking risks and making sacrifices for our national security and we're all hoping that this military action is successful and that the loss of life, both in terms of military personnel and civilians, is absolutely kept to a minimum."
Rep. Charlie Bass said his office was "amazingly unruffled" by the start of war late Wednesday night.
"The world is going on, and obviously we have a lot of different issues that we're working on," he said in an interview. "The budget is on the floor this afternoon and that debate is ongoing. I have a regular schedule, and people have been coming in to visit me, students and constituents and so forth."
Rep. Jeb Bradley said there is concern about terrorist attacks against Americans, particularly after the terror alert level was raised Tuesday, but he is confident that heightened security around the Capitol will protect staff members and enable Congress to continue with its business.
"I think we're prepared for the possibility of a terrorist attack and I think it's important to continue to do our jobs," Bradley said in an interview. "Yes, be prepared, but we've got jobs to do, and it's important that we maintain that function, not just members of Congress but all Americans."
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Gregg Introduces Bill Requiring Stricter Testing of Pediatric Drugs
WASHINGTON—Senate colleagues and child health advocates praised New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg yesterday at a press conference called to announce the introduction of the Pediatric Drugs Research Authority bill. The legislation would allow the Food and Drug Administration to require pharmaceutical companies to conduct adequate clinical tests on how drugs can be used safely and affectively by children.
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced the bipartisan legislation with Gregg, along with Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) who did not attend the news conference.
"What this bill does is pull together language and gives authority to the FDA which will allow us to aggressively pursue procedures to improve the care of our children in America," Gregg said.
The message stressed by each senator was that children are not just "small adults" and that smaller medication dosages are not always the most effective treatment. Only 25 percent of all drugs on the market have been tested for their effects on children, DeWine said, adding that pediatricians are forced to play "Russian roulette" when writing prescriptions.
Gregg, who is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, received his biggest thanks from Bill and Susan Belfiore, who adopted four HIV-positive children from Romania in 1990. Ramona, 15, Ionel, 14, and Loredana and Mihaela, 13, all received tainted blood transfusions as babies.
Loredana and Mihaela are currently taking life-saving drug "cocktails," which combine several drugs to combat the virus. If the girls receive too small a dosage of any one of the drugs, they will build up a resistance and the entire cocktail will be ineffective. Currently, there are only a few drug cocktails offered to treat the virus.
"As a parent, there is nothing more difficult than knowing your child is sick," Belfiore said. "You feel scared, frustrated, terrified, helpless . . .. I can tell you that our family believes in miracles. But miracles won't happen without the correct medication and the correct dosing, which can only be established through pediatric testing."
The bill would give new life to a 1998 FDA rule that required pharmaceutical companies to conduct adequate research on drugs' effects on children. Under the 1997 Better Pharmaceuticals for Children Act, the rule gave drug companies an extra six months of market exclusivity on every drug that they adequately test on children.
A federal judge struck down the rule last October, saying that Congress didn't give the FDA the authority to issue such a mandate. A representative of one of the companies that brought the lawsuit questioned whether the proposed new mandate could slow the lengthy approval process for drugs for adults.
DeWine said the process would not be substantially slowed and reminded the representative that drug companies "are going to be well compensated for doing this."
"I think it's immoral to say that a drug company can test for adults and does not have to test for children," DeWine said, as the Belfiores nodded in agreement. "What we're saying in this bill is we're no longer going to tolerate this."
Spokespersons for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the American Academy of Pediatrics also spoke at the press conference. They praised Gregg's strong leadership as committee chairman and said they hoped for full support from the House and Senate and expected President Bush to sign the legislation.
The committee is scheduled to consider the bill on Wednesday.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Business Investment Essential to Stimulating Economic Growth, Sununu says
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sen. John Sununu, addressing a meeting of the New England Council Thursday, said Congress must increase incentives for small business investment, eliminate the double taxation of dividends and encourage better corporate behavior to reverse the business investment slowdown, which he blamed for the current economic situation.
"This is not an economic slowdown that's driven by a lack of consumer spending, it's not driven by high interest rates, it's not driven by inflation," Sununu said. "It's driven by a slowdown in business investment, and if you want to pretend otherwise then you're going to end up making bad policy decisions."
Sununu said President Bush's economic stimulus package is a comprehensive attempt to encourage corporate, medium and small businesses-which he said account for 60 percent of all New Hampshire jobs-to invest.
The first step to encouraging small businesses to take investment risks is by extending depreciation schedules for the technology upon which companies are increasingly dependent, Sununu said.
QUOTE/EXPLANATION
The second step to encouraging economic growth through business investment is by eliminating the double taxation of dividends, Sununu said, an issue on which the junior senator has been outspoken in recent weeks.
Sununu joined congressional leaders and senior citizens at a press conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill to lend further support to the president's proposal to end the tax.
Sununu told council members-many of whom are representatives of large New England businesses- that several major companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Dell and Intel currently hold billions of dollars in cash because it is a bad investment for the companies to return the cash to shareholders as dividends.
Therefore, Sununu said eliminating the double taxation would encourage companies to pay dividends.
"That means the value of the stock market is going to go up, period," Sununu said. "That's not hypothesis or conjecture or hope, that's a fact. If the cash flows coming from a given stock are higher or from the market are higher because dividends are more attractive, then the underlying value of stocks will go up."
Sununu assured the proposal would not only benefit big corporations or wealthy stockholders, but would affect millions of retirees, half of whom receive dividends.
"Don't think for a minute that this doesn't have a broad and significant impact on consumers, on investors and on people across all incomes," Sununu said.
The third step to increasing business investment is encouraging better corporate behavior, Sununu said, which can also be improved by eliminating the dividend tax. It would force companies to make responsible investment decisions to benefit shareholders and instead of following policies based on tax incentives.
"I'm all for making the jobs of CEO's tougher where making good investment decisions are concerned," Sununu said.
Richard Ashooh, vice president of legislative affairs for BAE Systems North America, was one of many representatives from the company, which has a major facility in Hudson and has been a council member for at least two decades.
Ashooh said that he recognized Sununu's proposals are controversial as the country prepares for a possible war with Iraq, but said he believes they are essential to stimulating economic growth.
"It's often said that you should fix your roof when the sun is shining, but I don't think we can wait anymore at this point," Ashooh said.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Bush Speech Clearly Outlined Plans for Post-War Iraq, NH Delegation says
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War Protesters to Flood Senate, White House With Calls
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu said their offices are prepared to handle the hundreds of calls expected Wednesday from constituents participating in the Virtual March, an anti-war effort to flood Senate and White House offices with phone calls, e-mail messages and faxes protesting an attack on Iraq.
Sponsored by Win Without War-a coalition of 32 national organizations-the Virtual March aims to contact the offices every minute throughout the day. Coalition member MoveOn.org is the main organizer of the march, hosting registration on its website and assigning voters exact minutes to contact their own senators and President Bush.
"I always encourage New Hampshire residents to contact my office with their opinion on issues that concern them. Tomorrow is no exception," Gregg said in a statement Tuesday. "My office is prepared for the possibility of a high volume of calls, e-mails and faxes, and I value the opinion of every Granite Stater who expresses their point of view regarding the possibility of armed conflict in Iraq and all other issues."
Barbara Riley, communications director for Sununu, said that the office is prepared to handle the possible high volume of calls and that Sununu welcomes input from his constituents.
"On this issue and others, Sen. Sununu strongly encourages New Hampshire residents to let him know their questions, concerns and comments," Riley said in a statement Tuesday. "This input is forwarded directly to him."
Gregg and Sununu have both voiced their support of the president's position to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who Bush says has repeatedly violated United Nations resolutions and continues to develop weapons of mass destruction.
MoveOn.org executive director Peter Schurman said callers are encouraged to express their own opinions but that the unifying message of the campaign is to support continuing weapons inspections in Iraq. He added that 120,000 people were registered to make calls as of Tuesday afternoon.
"It's a simple fact that letting the inspections work is the best way to keep Americans safe and it's the best way to ensure that Saddam Hussein is disarmed," Schurman said.
The goal of the campaign is not to "shut down" the offices by jamming the lines of communication, Schurman said, but rather to ensure that all constituents are able to voice their concerns. Win Without War will be sending gift baskets to each Senate office to "emphasize that we value the work that they do to support our democracy," Schurman added.
Senators who have opposed the war also will be called, Schurman said.
"We're very confident that every senator is going to hear from their constituents constantly throughout the day and we're hopeful that that will give the senators the courage to stand up and properly assert that war-making authority belongs to Congress and Congress alone," Schurman said. "Congress did authorize the use of force against Iraq, but only as a last resort, and clearly a majority of the American public believes we're not at that point."
Sean Donahue, co-director of the New Hampshire chapter of Peace Action, a coalition member, said the group has been encouraging its more than 700 members to register for the march and spread the word throughout the state.
"This will show the strength of anti-war sentiment in New Hampshire," Donahue said. "If our senators and representatives take their responsibility to represent the people in New Hampshire seriously then this will influence them to speak out against the war."
Donahue said the chapter has experienced a "huge surge" in membership since last fall and has organized rallies throughout the state and sent buses to larger war protests around the country. While Donahue said he is not sure the calls will change Gregg's and Sununu's position on the war, he hopes they will relay voters' concerns to the president.
"Even if it doesn't sway the position of our delegation, we know the delegation are in touch with the White House and hopefully they'll be reporting to the White House what they're hearing from their constituents and it will make clear to the president that he doesn't have a mandate from the American people to go to war," Donahue said.
Schurman said New Hampshire constituents who wish to participate can still register online at www.moveon.org or can call, fax or e-mail the Senate offices on their own. Contact information for the offices can be found online at www.senate.gov and www.whitehouse.gov.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire Federal Nutrition Programs Lagging
WASHINGTON—The number of families helped by New Hampshire federal nutrition programs since 2000 falls behind the national average, according to a report released Thursday by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) that profiles each state's progress in providing assistance to low-income families.
The report stressed the need for improvements in the food stamp program-New Hampshire was listed as having had one of the worst-and other programs including the School Breakfast Program and the National School Lunch Program.
While improvements have been made over the past two years to recover from a sharp decline in program participation during the late 1990s, the number of people living in poverty-stricken households nationally rose to 33 million in 2001 from 31 million in 2000, according to the report.
Using data from agencies including the Census Bureau and the Department of Agriculture, the report showed New Hampshire reached only 39 to 53 percent of people eligible for food stamps in 2000, the fifth lowest state after Nevada, Kansas, Massachusetts and Idaho.
FRAC President Jim Weill said Congress and state governments need to "start aggressively implementing new choices in the food stamp program," including making nutrition programs "administratively easier for sponsors to operate and for parents to access." The Bush administration made federal improvements to the nutrition programs last year, Weil said, but has not shown the same commitment in this year's budget.
"The president's budget has not a single penny for new money for any of the child nutrition programs," Weill said. "We think that's unacceptable."
"No mother should have to cut her milk with water in order to feed her baby's stomach," he added.
States must also strive to provide the same accessibility to School Breakfast Programs and Summer Nutrition Programs as it does to School Lunch Programs, Weill said. New Hampshire provides breakfast to only 36 percent of students who participate in the lunch program, ranking 37 among the 50 states and District of Columbia. It provides summer lunch to only 12 percent of students who participate in the lunch program during the school year, ranking 38.
The child nutrition programs are scheduled to go before Congress this year for reauthorization, the first time the programs will be reevaluated since 1998. FRAC, joined by other anti-hunger interest groups, sent a letter to Congress last November urging them to appropriate approximately $1 billion annually for child nutrition programs.
FRAC officials also said they hope the report will draw attention at this weekend's winter meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington.
Terry Smith, the food stamp program manager at the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said many of the statistics in the report are from 2000 and are therefore out of date. Smith also said that it is important to look at improvement statistics, adding that New Hampshire has improved its food stamps program considerably over the last five years.
The report said participation in the food stamp program in New Hampshire increased 5.2 percent from 1997 to 2002, more than double the national average of 2.3 percent since 1997.
"We submitted [an outreach plan] for approval in the fall of 1998, when we were one of nine states with outreach plans," Smith said. "After one year we showed improvement. The food stamp program has a very articulated outreach plan."
Smith said the department's outreach plan includes improving customer service, eliminating barriers to participation, notifying potential participants of the resources available to them and reaching out to the community by going to places where people in need congregate.
"We're working on it," Smith said. "We're working very hard."
New Hampshire Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., said that the state should continue working to improve its outreach program, adding that the House's passage of a welfare reform bill last week also could help state programs providing assistance to needy families.
"If the Senate joins the House in passing the reauthorization of the welfare reform bill, it's going to give new authority, new flexibility to the states to better . . . develop programs that work for states in a whole range of assistance issues," Bradley said. "So, I think that if welfare reform goes forward that should help the situation too, giving states more flexibility to deal with this issue and I think that would benefit the poor people of New Hampshire."
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
Gregg Secures Additional $2 Billion for Education Funding
WASHINGTON—New Hampshire Sen. Judd Gregg secured more than $2 billion in additional federal education funding Thursday as part of the fiscal year 2003 omnibus appropriations bill, which he said “translates into significant dollars for New Hampshire.”
Expected to pass the House late Thursday evening and the Senate Friday, the bill provides “unprecedented” education funding for the No Child Left Behind Act, Title I and special education, Gregg said.
Passed in 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act requires local school districts to establish their own educational standards and track individual student progress using testing aligned with those standards.
“These dollars flow back to states with very few strings attached to Title I dollars,” Gregg said, referring to the longstanding program of federal assistance to improve education in high-poverty schools. “They can be used basically to do whatever the local towns think they need to do in order to improve their educational system, and it pre-funds any obligations which the towns might have under the No Child Left Behind Act.”
Calling the funding a “win-win” situation, Gregg said towns will begin receiving federal dollars for the No Child Left Behind Act even though they are not required to fully implement the act for another 12 years.
Funding for the Education Department totals $53.1 billion, a $3.1 billion increase over fiscal year 2002 funding. New Hampshire will see a 14 percent increase in Title I funding and an increase of almost 17 percent in special-education funding over 2002, Gregg said.
Gregg dismissed the validity of a study released by the New Hampshire School Administrators Association that the No Child Left Behind Act is an unfunded mandate and would actually cost the state $575 per child to meet federal requirements. Calling the study results “bogus, inaccurate, dishonest and misleading,” Gregg said he thinks there has been “significant misrepresentation, led by [education] administrators, intentionally put out for the purposes of misleading school boards.”
“I have a problem with misleading information put out by the professional education community,” Gregg said. “They do not want to be held accountable, and they’re using this bill as an excuse for not being held accountable, and they’re using this claim that it’s unfunded as an excuse, when in fact it’s not only not unfunded, it is funded.”
Tom Loveless, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said nobody actually knows what the No Child Left Behind Act will cost, which is both a strength and a weakness of the law.
“I think local districts are right in being concerned that there’s not enough money being provided to help them get every single kid up to the standards that No Child Left Behind mandates,” Loveless said.
He added, however, that some money and resources for the new law should be provided locally, since local school districts are being allowed to set their own requirements for educational standards.
“If the federal government were to provide all the resources, it would then almost certainly dictate a lot more about education than it does today,” Loveless said.
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
