Category: Brian Dolan
Shays Faults Colleges for Federal Grants’ Ineffectiveness
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON— Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4) Wednesday defended President Bush’s decision not to increase the size offederal grants for college students, saying that boosting federal aid would only spur universities to raise tuition and reduce other scholarships and loans.
“I am interested in grants for students—I have a daughter that’s going to be applying to school soon—but isn’t it a fact that just as we increase the Pell Grants and other grants, the administrations just raise their tuitions?” Shays said at a House Budget Committee hearing. “So who is getting these grants, the students or the university?”
Bush has proposed holding the line on Pell Grants, the federal government’s scholarship program for students primarily from low-income families. The president’s budget proposal for fiscal 2005, which could be changed by Congress, would maintain the current maximum of $4,050 per grant, but increase the number of grants issued by as many as 400,000.
Under Bush’s proposal, Pell Grants would be awarded to about 5.3 million undergraduates in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. Unlike student loans, Pell Grants do not have to be repaid.
Following Shays’ comments, university officials and their representatives sought to demonstrate they have not raised tuition in response to increased federal support for students.
“The facts would show that Mr. Shays is completely wrong,” said Terry Hartle, the senior vice president of the American Council on Education, an organization that represents universities nationwide. “The Department of Education has investigated the relationship between federal student aid and college tuition increases and found no relationship whatsoever.
“Indeed, the only factor they could associate with college tuition increases is state support,” Hartle said in an interview. “In other words, as state support goes down—tuition goes up. Ironically, periods of increasing Pell Grant support areassociated, on the face of things, with a slower increase of tuition. Mr. Shays would like to posit just the opposite.”
But Education Secretary Roderick Paige agreed with Shays that increasing federal aid would help universities rather than students.
“Our role at the U.S. Department of Education is to supplement state and local efforts, not to supplant them,” Paige said.
Despite his criticism of universities, Shays, the Budget Committee’s vice chairman, said he believes Pell Grants are an important asset to students who receive them.
“Pell Grants help students help themselves,” Shays said in a statement issued following the hearing. “They allow millions of American students to pursue an undergraduate degree they otherwise would not be able to afford. Pell Grants have a proven record of success, and I support the president’s commitment to this program.”
Paige said at the hearing that Bush had proposed increasing spending on the Pell Grant program by $856 million, for a total of $12.9 billion in fiscal 2005.He said the increase would mean more than 1 million additional students would receive Pell Grants next year than when the president took office.
Paige said the proposed increase included $33 million for a program called Enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars, which provides $1,000 each for low-income freshmen who took challenging courses in high school.
Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee, countered that the proposed spending increase was simply “rhetoric” because the administration had failed to compensate for inflation and tuition increases.
“The Bush administration has thrown around rhetoric that they have increased funding in this program by billions. It’s just that—rhetoric,” Miller said. He said the grant is worth $500 less than the maximum grant in 1975-76 when adjusted for inflation.
Bush’s proposal, Miller said, “fails to make college more affordable because if fails to address rising college costs, the declining buying power of college grants or the rising debt carried by college students.”
Miller’s spokesman, Tom Kiley, said Pell Grants originally were intended to cover three-fourths the cost of tuition but now cover less than half.
“The idea that taking away the Pell Grant would not be detrimental to the students who depend on it is, frankly, a ridiculous one,” Kiley said.
Yearly tuition for state residents averages $4,694 a year at four-year public colleges and universities and $19,710 at four-year private institutions, according to the College Board, a not-for-profit organization that provides students with information on postsecondary schools and creates standardized tests.
Annual tuition for the University of Connecticut is $4,730 for state residents and $14,425 for out-of-state students.
Is Organized Crime an Indian Gaming Problem
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON --Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4) is sponsoring legislation that calls for an investigation into the influence of non-Native American investors and organized crime on Indian gaming.
He introduced the bill last week, one day before the federal government formally recognized the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, a move that could clear the way for the Connecticut-based tribe to open a casino in the state.
"With so much at stake, casino development interests are often willing to spend huge sums of money on the chance that they can influence the process," Shays said in a statement Wednesday. "To make sure the federal recognition process is accountable and transparent, it is important to know all the interests in play, including who is financing the petitioners and any possible connections to organized crime."
Chief Richard Velky of the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation would not disclose where his tribe gets its financial backing.
Fred DeLuca, the founder and chief executive officer of Subway Restaurants, financed the Schaghticokes for an undisclosed period of time, according to his spokespeople. They said the investment was personal and not related to the restaurant.
DeLuca invested in the Tribal Nation under an agreement that he would be repaid with a profit, a source close to the Indian gaming industry said. DeLuca also wished to help develop the Bridgeport area, which is where he founded Subway Restaurants, and thought bringing Indian gaming to the area would provide an economic boom, the source said.
DeLuca did not return several calls requesting comment.
Other key financial backers of the Schaghticokes include John C. Ellis, formerly a catcher for the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians, and former state Rep. Dean P. Markham of Markham Associates. The two established the Native American Gaming Fund to raise money for a Schaghticoke casino, according to the Hartford Courant. In a telephone interview Thursday, Ellis confirmed his membership in the fund, but referred further questions to the fund's attorney, Stephen A. Zrenda. He declined comment.
Velky said his tribe solicits funds only from potential backers who have the best interests of the tribe in mind. He said non-Native American investors do not exert undue influence over the Schaghticokes. "The only pressure on the tribe was relieved last week once the Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized us," Velky said. "We would never ask any person who would use financial pressure to help us out." Following last year's murder of prominent Middletown businessman Joseph Mazotta, whose father had ties to the Genovese crime family, local police began investigating the Mazotta family's investments in the Schaghticoke Indian tribe, the Hartford Courant reported. The Middletown police department declined comment.
"They are not my investors," Velky said of the Mazzota family. He said the tribe had to steer clear of any potentially troublesome backers in order to gain federal recognition.
"You think it's tough to get federal recognition? Velky asked. "Well, the [National Indian Gaming] Commission has a tougher screening process for financial backers. If an Indian tribe ever tried anything like [working with organized crime], I don't think they'd cut the mustard for the federal authorities." Traditionally, the gambling industry has attracted criminal interests because it involves many undocumented financial transactions, said Philip N. Hogen, the commission's chairman. "The good news for tribal gaming is the whole industry of gaming has evolved since its beginnings, when mobs and organized crime influences were the rule and not the exception," Hogen said. "These days firms on Wall Street can and do invest in gaming."
Guy Michael Brown, the former head of Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard , Conn. , and former consultant to the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation, said organized crime factions did attempt to do business with that casino.
"There were two or three attempts to do business with us," Brown said. "The Connecticut state police and the FBI took care of it, though-one was a credit card scheme that resulted in many arrests."
But Velky said the Schaghticokes are looking forward not to casinos but to improved health care and a new 10-unit housing facility for their elders -- just a few of the perks, he said, that will flow from federal recognition.
"We have always felt the social programs are more important than any financial ones," Velky said.
Senators Express Concern for Poisons Found in Capitol and Wallingford
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON -- A poisonous white powder found in a Senate office building Monday forced Connecticut's senators and their colleagues to relocate Tuesday as they recalled the chilling anthrax poisonings that followed the September 11 t terrorist attacks.
Authorities found the powder, which tests confirmed was ricin, in a mail-sorting area next to a stack of opened letters. Officials were investigating whether the substance went through the mail system or entered the building another way.
No one exposed to the substance showed any signs of illness Tuesday, officials said. Symptoms, including fevers, vomiting, diarrhea and respiratory problems, generally occur within eight hours, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a surgeon, said at a press conference.
Ricin, which prohibits cells from making proteins and eventually leads to death, is most powerful when injected, said Dr. Charles McKay, associate medical director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center .
Unlike anthrax, an infectious agent that multiplies and becomes active within the body, ricin cannot multiply, McKay said. For that reason, he said, it is "not very effective" as a large scale bio-terror weapon.
Senator Christopher Dodd, (D-Conn.), expressed deep concern over the ricin found in the mailroom in Frist's office. "Anyone-be they terrorists or criminals-who would use these types of toxins as weapons needs to be dealt with in the harshest fashion and swiftly brought to justice," Dodd said in a statement. "I'm just hopeful that no one is ultimately harmed by this attack."
Senator Joseph Lieberman, (D-Conn.), who was campaigning for president in Delaware and Virginia Tuesday, expressed concern for those in the Dirksen Senate Office Building who were exposed to the poison.
"The health and law enforcement officials on the scene have my full support as they work to decontaminate the area and trace the source of this deadly substance," Lieberman said in a statement. "We must get to the bottom of this so that the Senate can focus on the people's business."
Dodd also stated he hoped the substance found early Tuesday at a postal distribution center in Wallingford turned out to be harmless. "Sadly, our state previously had to deal with tragic consequences from anthrax attacks," Dodd said, referring to the death from anthrax poisoning of a 94-year-old Oxford woman in late 2001. "My thoughts and prayers are with the workers [in Wallingford ] as they deal with these anxious moments."
Lieberman's staff members had to work from their homes Tuesday even though their offices are not located in the Dirskson building. "This wasn't a big disruption for us," spokesman Matt Gobush said. "We were expecting a big ice storm for the area and I packed up plenty of work yesterday in anticipation of working from home today."
Schaghticokes Get Recognized, Shays: Disappointed
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON -Rep. Christopher Shays, (R-4), has introduced legislation that would make it harder for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to build a casino. His move comes as the Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognized the Schaghticokes of Fairfield County as an Indian tribe, which may enable them to build a casino in Connecticut .
"We have to respect the process, but I hope the state uses all resources necessary to seek to overturn the decision," Shays said in a statement after the bureau acted Thursday. "This recognition may enable the Schaghticokes to build a casino, which I believe will be very detrimental to the state."
"The gaming industry in the east is a billion-dollar industry. . It is a financial license to print money," Shays said in an interview. Casinos bring a tremendous amount of traffic and congestion to a community."
Shays contended that local residents should have a say, through state legislatures, over whether to host casinos. "The bottom line is citizens should have the final word on casino expansion in their communities," he said.
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has more than 300 members and is located near Kent , on a reservation established by the Colony of Connecticut in 1737. The Schaghticokes are considering building a casino, and possible sites include Danbury .
Federally recognized tribes need to obtain the approval of their state's governor to begin casino construction. Shays and Rep. Frank Wolf, (R-VA), introduced legislation Wednesday that would also require state legislative approval for building new Indian casinos.
"I understand this is an important issue to Mr. Shays' district because there are many groups trying to get recognition as tribes there," said Charles Bunnell, chief of governmental affairs of the Mohegan tribe. "I just don't understand why we are continually focusing on the Indian community. This piece of legislation seems like an attempt to undermine the special relationship the government has with Indian communities."
The proposed Tribal and Local Community Relationship Improvement Act would also direct the President to create a committee that would establish requirements for federal regulation of Indian gaming.
"We already have a committee that reports to Congress with thoughts on regulations for Indian gaming," Bunnell said. "It's called the National Indian Gaming Commission."
Shays said he agrees the commission has a similar mission but that it fails to carry it out.
"The Gaming Commission has very little oversight and is poorly funded," Shays said. "It also doesn't report to the local communities, it reports to Indians."
Jeff Benedict, president of the Connecticut Alliance against Casino Expansion, welcomed Shays' new legislation.
"There is no question that there is a need for the empowerment of local municipalities and state governments to have a greater say in whether they will become host sites for casinos," Benedict said. "This legislation is welcome news for a state that has been on the wrong end of federal recognition for a decade."
Norwalk ‘s Own Takes on DC’s 911
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON -Michael Latessa, who for six months has run Norwalk 's police and fire communications center, soon will take over as chief of the troubled 911 emergency system in Washington , D.C. , officials announced Monday.
"Second to the chief of police and chief of the fire department, this is the most critical appointment to the city," said Tony Bullock, spokesman for Washington Mayor Anthony Williams. "We have had longstanding problems with our 911 system."
Last year, one man died in a fire when four 911 operators did not answer their phones and two others "unplugged" five minutes early, according to The Washington Post. The fire consumed one building and damaged three homes.
"Part of [Latessa's] job will be to improve our response time, but the good news for him is that he will be running a state-of-the-art, best-in-the-nation 911 system," Bullock said. "We are also at the crossroads of building a new facility in the range of $50 to 60 million.
"We have the added burden here of protecting not only the city, but also all the federal buildings, like the Capitol, while coordinating with other federal agencies, which is a complicated arrangement," Bullock said. "This is especially true in the post-September 11 environment."
On Monday, Williams appointed Latessa to the position, which has been officially vacant since October. Howard Baker resigned from the job last year after acknowledging he used a racially derogatory term during a meeting with subordinates.
"We have made significant strides in improving our 911 services, but Mike is the right person to take us to the next level," Williams said in a statement. "I am pleased that we are able to bring him here to the District, and I'm confident that he's going to manage this operation so that we are not just meeting, but exceeding our performance goals."
Latessa said the new position is similar to the job in Norwalk , which he began last July.
"The only obvious difference will be the size of the job," Latessa said.
Norwalk Mayor Alex Knopp said Latessa's appointment comes as no surprise to him and will not impede the department Latessa leaves behind. "I think this outcome only confirms we made the right choice when we hired [Latessa]," Knopp said. "The fact that the officials of D.C. thought he was qualified shows we picked the right person."Latessa , 49 , began his public safety career more than 30 years ago as a part-time firefighter in Wellesley , Mass. He continued as a dispatcher in Durham , N.H. , from 1973-77, while attending the University of New Hampshire.
From 1977 to 1982, he worked for the emergency medical services bureau in the Missouri Division of Health Bureau of E.M.S. From 1982 to 1985, he was chief of emergency medical services in St. Louis , and from 1985 to 1988, he was EMS director for Lee County, Fla. and the award Under under his direction, the emergency team won the National EMT Paramedic award.
For the next decade, Latessa w as director of the Public Safety Department in Manatee County , Fla. In the five years preceding before he came to Norwalk , he worked for a commercial billing company and for a large manufacturing company as health, safety and security director and . He also served as a reserve deputy sheriff, devoting about 15 hours a week to developing his law enforcement background.
"Mike was a good guy, a good listener, and a good leader," said Mark Edenfield, chief of emergency medical services in Manatee County . "He took our ambulance fleet from eight to twelve vehicles and oversaw seven different divisions, including animal control and administrative work."
Latessa's new position carries an annual salary of $111,000, Bullock said. He is scheduled to begin work Feb. 9.
"We think he is superbly qualified," Bullock said, "and are sorry to steal him away from the good people of Norwalk ."
Shays says Patriot Act Essential, Marriage Amendment Expendable
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON -Rep. Christopher Shays (R-4 th District) said in an interview Wednesday that President Bush was right to support the USA PATRIOT Act to combat terrorism but wrong to use his State of the Union address to disparage gay marriage.
Bush should not have threatened a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage "because he's the President of the United States and there are bigger issues," Shays said. "There's energy, and the environment, the war on terrorism."
Shays said he would not support such an amendment, though he voted in 1996 for the Defense of Marriage Act, which gives states the right to deny recognition to gay couples married in other states.
In his address to Congress Tuesday night, Bush said the government must continue to give homeland security and law enforcement officials every tool they need to defend the country from terrorist attacks.
"One of those essential tools is the PATRIOT Act, which allows federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells and to seize their assets," Bush said. "Key provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire next year. The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule."
Shays, a member of the Select Homeland Security Committee, said the PATRIOT Act is essential and criticized those who are "negative" about the law without being specific. Critics argue the law infringes on civil liberties, in part by allowing law enforcement officials to conduct searches of homes and businesses without informing the owners.
"People should not be critical of the PATRIOT Act--we need good intelligence if we want good security," Shays said.
"If we think you are a terrorist, we are going to want to trace your calls and see what you are reading at the library without telling you we know you are a terrorist. We are not going to look at what books you are reading-not unless you're checking out books on weapons," Shays said.
Sen. John Sununu, R-NH, said Congress called for some key provisions of the law to expire at the end of 2005 not because concerns of terrorist threats would disappear, but because these were new powers that may need to be modified.
"I think we should extend some provisions, but I think we should change some provisions," Sununu said in an interview after the president's speech Tuesday night. "I introduced legislation to change or modify notification for 'sneak-and-peek' search warrants and subpoenas from libraries."
"Some wholly support [the PATRIOT Act]. Some, like me, favor some changes. Some people want to repeal the whole thing, which isn't very smart," Sununu said.
Section 215 of the act "allows the FBI to obtain orders for the production of any 'tangible things' (which can include library, travel, genetic, health, business or firearms records) without any meaningful standard of judicial review and no mechanism for the person affected to challenge the order," Anthony D. Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a press release Wednesday.
"Last year, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Section 215 has not been used, raising the question of why the Bush administration believes such sweeping law enforcement powers are essential for the war on terrorism," Romero added.
