Category: Spring 2004
Peace Corps Volunteers Undeterred by International Political Turmoil
WASHINGTON – Despite escalating political turmoil around the world since the Sept. 11, 2001 , terrorist attacks, the number of new Peace Corps members has increased nearly 30 percent in recent years.
Though statistics show a slight dip in Peace Corps volunteer applications immediately after Sept. 11, applications surged in 2002 and 2003, according to Bart Kendrick, a spokesman for the Peace Corps. Last year, 11,518 people applied for Peace Corps service, up from 10,611 in 2002 and 8,917 in 2001.
Established under President Kennedy in 1961, the Peace Corps is a federal agency that sends college graduates to underdeveloped countries, where they work for two years in education, community development, health care, agriculture, information technology and small-business development.
Barbara Daly, the corps’ press director, said that instead of deterring volunteers from going overseas, unstable political climates have encouraged volunteers who want to make a difference.
“People want to do something to lend a hand across the world,” Daly said. “This is a way that people can fight the ignorance that is out there about who Americans are. By serving in the Peace Corps, they put a face on America .”
To cope with the possibility of terrorist threats, the Peace Corps has adopted new security measures, Daly said, including adding additional safety training for volunteers.
“There are risks involved when you’re serving overseas in countries that are less developed. We don’t hide that fact,” she said. Volunteers go through a 10- to 12-week on-site training session to learn the language, culture and how to assimilate so “they don’t stand out and make themselves targets,” Daly said.
In its more than four decades, 170,000 Peace Corps volunteers have worked in 136 countries to promote education, health care and information technology, Daly said. The organization’s goal is to help Americans and people in other countries gain better understandings of one another.
In 2003, 221 Connecticut residents served in the Peace Corps. That was up from 189 in 2002, 170 in 2001 and 190 in 2000.
Stamford resident Laura Buchs, 30, served from 1997 to 1999 in Chuuk, an island that’s part of the Federated States of Micronesia . Buchs taught English to first through eighth graders and helped open a library. She said Americans serving in foreign countries can help dispel stereotypes, which is essential during wartime.
“I think people who are attracted to the Peace Corps often understand the value of first-hand interaction with people,” Buchs said.
While there is often a military component to areas of political unrest, she said, volunteers see there is “also a human side. There is a significant portion of our population who believes in bridging the gaps of miscommunication.”
Helen Risom Belluschi, a New Canaan resident, served in El Salvador from 1966 to 1968. “I certainly was a Jack Kennedy aficionado,” she said. “I could not wait to get out of college and join. It was such a hot thing to do then.”
In 1961, the program’s first year, 51 Americans traveled to Ghana and Tanzania for the Peace Corps. By 1966, more than 15,000 volunteers were working overseas, more than any other time in the organization’s history.
Belluschi said the Vietnam War was a driving force in her decision to join. She said her goal was “to bring the world back home” and to fight poverty.
Mark D. Gearan, a director of the Peace Corps under President Clinton, said volunteers entering the Peace Corps today were more practical than those entering in the 1960s during Vietnam . The turmoil of the Sixties has not been duplicated during the war in Iraq , he said. “Without a draft, it’s a different time and a different generation.”
“Today’s generation is much more pragmatic than it was in the Sixties,” Gearan said. “I don’t know if you would hear today on campuses, ‘I’m going to change the world,’ but you will hear, ‘I’m going to change my part of the world.”
House Supports U.S. Forces in Iraq
By Morgan Kelly
WASHINGTON - Hours after a bomb ripped through a hotel in central Baghdad , killing at least two dozen people, the House of Representatives passed a Republican resolution Wednesday praising U.S. forces in Iraq and declaring the world safer since the American-led invasion.
During heated debate, Democrats, who were not allowed to help write the resolution, accused Republicans of using the "politicized" resolution to distract Americans from the mounting cost of the war and the ongoing violence in Iraq . They said the resolution also was being used to vindicate President Bush at a time when his decision to invade Iraq is being questioned.
Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) said the resolution does not mention critical issues surrounding the war, such as a shortage of supplies for troops or inspectors' failure to find weapons of mass destruction. It will do nothing, he said, to make troops safer.
"I only wish this House was considering today a truly bipartisan resolution to properly honor our troops," Rep. McGovern said, adding that after one year and $120 billion of American money, the violence in Iraq persists. "This resolution is more about what the Republican leadership wants us to forget.".
Rep. McGovern and several other Democrats wanted to add references to weapons of mass destruction, supply shortages and the pay gap between regular Army and reserve troops, but Republicans closed the bill to amendments.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Republicans were being protective about the resolution because they intend to use it as a campaign vehicle. As Friday's first anniversary of the war approaches, the president and his reelection team have begun touting the war in speeches and at campaign events and featuring it in television ads.
"I think it's a very outrageous attempt by Republicans to gain partisan points off the war," Rep. Frank said. He said in an interview that Republicans were using the resolution to "confuse the issue" over the threat posed by deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein versus President Bush's claims Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., who wanted to add an amendment requiring the president to give Congress an accurate assessment of "past and future commitments in Iraq ," said he does not know of a single member of Congress who does not support U.S. troops, so there was no need for Republicans to exclude Democrats from the drafting process.
Rep. David Dreier, R-Calif., defended the resolution, saying it simply was meant to honor U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq and to commend the Iraqi people on moving toward democracy. Rep. Dreier said the resolution did not claim the world was free from terror, as Democrats implied.
But some Republicans, such as Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida , made the case that war had in fact made the world safer.
"Each time a dangerous madman is removed anywhere in the world, the world is safer," Diaz-Balart said, saying that the people of Iraq certainly feel safer without Saddam Hussein.
Rep. Hastings fired back by asking if people in Spain , where terrorists blew up four trains last week, killing 200 people, felt safer.
Rep. Frank said Hussein's ouster was a good thing. "He was a disaster for the people in Iraq, but I don't think he was a threat" to the United States , he said.
On the House floor, the resolution drew out the bitterness between Republicans and Democrats that has defined this Congress, as members on both sides cheered their colleagues and booed those from the other side of the aisle.
Democrats gave Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., a standing ovation after he said that the resolution should be withdrawn and rewritten with Democratic help.
Later, Democrats hissed at Rep. Dreier when he said that every Congress member should support the resolution to show unified support for U.S. troops. Republicans tried to drown them out with applause and hoots.
The resolution is purely symbolic and will not go to the Senate.
Blumenthal Tells Secretary of Interior to Stop Tribal Recognition
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON—Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal Wednesday asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton to investigate whether the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) “illegally” granted the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation federal recognition.
The Schaghticoke’s leader promptly accused Blumenthal of being “reckless in his disregard” for the rights of members of the tribe.
Blumenthal asked Norton to put all tribal recognition proceedings on hold until an investigation of the process is completed.
“It was a spirited and frank discussion involving both the Secretary and her staff,” Blumenthal said in an interview following his meeting with Norton. “She was thoughtful and intent in her listening but didn’t indicate either way what her response will be. I’ve called for an investigation by the [Justice Department], which will hopefully begin sometime soon. I also suggested to her she may want to be ahead of that investigation.”
Blumenthal’s discussion with Norton about the Schaghticoke recognition took place during a meeting in Norton’s office with about a dozen state attorneys general from around the country.
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation first applied for federal recognition in 1994 and the request was rejected by the BIA two years ago. On January 29, the BIA reversed that December 2002 ruling and granted recognition to the tribe.
Last week, a controversial BIA memo which recommended recognition for the tribe, was publicly released.
That January staff memo, written to Aurene Martin, the former acting assistant secretary for Indian affairs, recommended that the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation receive federal recognition despite its failing to fully meet two of the seven recognition criteria: a continuous political relationship with the state and a complete list of tribal members.
The memo said the BIA could recognize the tribe even though "regulations and existing precedent" did not support federal recognition. The memo also says that recognizing the tribe may establish "a lesser standard which would be cited in some future cases."
The memo recommends that although the tribe cannot account for its “political influence”from 1820 to 1840 and from 1892 to 1936, continuous state recognition of a reservation and a well-defined community throughout its history should allow for federal recognition.
The BIA memo was released to all interested parties as part of a court-approved agreement to underscore the transparency of the acknowledgement process, Dan DuBray, a BIA spokesman said in a press release last Friday.
“Critics of the decision have now taken a few partial fragments from what are complete sentences within a multi-paged document to paint a negative picture of the entire decision making process…,” DuBray said. “This is one document of at least 11,000 that were considered in this painstaking and necessarily thorough process.”
Blumenthal told Norton in his letter that the BIA staff admits in the memo to ignoring substantial gaps of evidence in favor of recognition of the tribe.
“The BIA’s own internal memorandum demonstrates beyond any doubt that the tribal acknowledgement process is completely lacking in credibility, fatally flawed and in need of immediate and substantial reform,” Blumenthal said in a letter to Norton.
“I am shocked by the BIA’s lack of concern for the rights of the State of Connecticut, its citizens and the interested parties who participated in these proceedings under the apparently mistaken view that their input would be heard and considered fairly,” Blumenthal wrote.
“It is inconceivable that the Attorney General of Connecticut could be so reckless in his disregard for due process and the well-documented rights of citizens of the state who also happen to be Schaghticoke,” Chief Richard Velky said Wednesday in a statement.
“By calling for a moratorium on all tribal recognitions, the AG is dismissing more than 300 years of history and a 25-year process he once described as fair, open and balanced simply because he doesn’t like the outcome,” said the tribal statement.
“The Attorney General’s inflammatory rhetoric and use of words such as ‘infected’ to describe our petition process is degrading to the tribe and embarrassing to the state. There is a comprehensive and meticulous process in place, and the Attorney General should abide by that process rather than fostering hysteria and divisiveness.”
Shays Says Color Coded Terrorist Threats Ignored
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON—Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th, warned Tuesday that Americans are beginning to ignore the Homeland Security Department color-coded warnings of terrorism threats.
Shays said at a hearing the department needs to upgrade it’s terrorism alert system to provide the suspected time, place and nature of the perceived threats, as required by law.
“Seeing no difference between a perpetually ‘elevated’ state of risk—Code Yellow—and a ‘high’ risk of terrorism at Code Orange, Americans risk becoming colorblind to the signals that are supposed to prompt public awareness and action,” Shays said at a hearing before the National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee, which he chairs.
The Homeland Security alert system uses five colors to indicate the possibility of a terrorist attack. The threat levels are “Severe—Red,” “High—Orange,” “Elevated—Yellow,” “Guarded—Blue” and “Low—Green.”
The government created the system on March 12, 2002, and it never has been lower than “Elevated—Yellow.” The system has been raised to “High—Orange” five times, for a total of 87 days.
But the system puts the entire nation on alert and does not distinguish among regions of the country or economic sectors that are the most likely targets, Shays said.
“When a blizzard or hurricane is forecast, the public is not advised to be brave for America and stay in the eye of the storm,” Shays said. “But when the threat of terrorism is ‘elevated,’ citizens are advised to go about their lives as if no real peril approached. We need to make terrorism alerts at least as targeted and accurate as storm projections.”
Gen. Patrick Hughes, the Homeland Security Department’s assistant secretary for information analysis, said the alert system has evolved over the last two years into an effective warning device.
“Since March 11, 2002, the protective posture of our nation has increased based on our refined ability to respond to specific information with targeted actions and prevention measures,” Hughes said. “As a result, today’s Threat Condition Yellow is yesterday’s Orange….
“Although information is provided publicly regarding protective measures, it is important for the public to understand that DHS implements and recommends additional and more specific protective measures to state and local officials that are only disseminated to security professionals.”
Shays, however, said the warning system needs to evolve further. The Homeland Security Act, which Congress passed in 2002, requires the government to provide “specific warning information and advice about appropriate protective measures” to the public, he said.
“The lack of specificity as to the time, place or nature of the perceived threats provided no basis upon which to calibrate appropriate public or private responses,” Shays said. “As a result, governments and critical industries broadly increased security measures and incurred substantial costs. At the same time, exhortations to carry on as usual in the name of economic normalcy dulled any sense of urgency in the public at large.”
Charles Connor, spokesman for the American Red Cross, praised Americans for not allowing terrorist threats to disrupt their daily lives.
“We are a nation of resilient, optimistic individuals,” Connor said. “We have not let the increased threat of danger deter us from living our lives, and we applaud that spirit.”
Other witnesses at the hearing agreed with Shays that the warning system should provide more specifics.
The government should use a regional alert system to notify emergency workers about threats specific to their jurisdiction or state, said Michael Wermuth, a RAND Corp. expert on responses to terrorism. It also should provide training to first responders about what preventive actions are necessary at different threat levels. Finally, the Homeland Security Department should create a process for providing specific guidance to potentially affected regions when threat levels change, Wermuth said.
Shays said that sometimes the government should give Americans information about specific threats so that they can change their behavior. For instance, Shays previously said he would not venture into Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2003. He added in an interview that he knew what the public did not: the government had picked up word a dirty bomb might be detonated there.
“Whether due to an excess of caution about intelligence sources, or a reluctance to ask for changed public behaviors and sacrifices,” Shays said, “the codes and warnings in use today may be a better barometer of political realities than public safety risks.”
CT Delegation Works Together To Combat Comanche Job Loss
WASHINGTON - In an effort to stem the loss of jobs following the Army's cancellation of the Comanche helicopter program, Connecticut 's Congress members said Thursday they would push the government to build its new fleet of presidential helicopters at the Sikorsky Aircraft plant in Stratford .
The lawmakers met behind closed doors with George David, chief executive officer of United Technologies Corp., which owns Sikorsky, to discuss the fallout from the loss of the $39 billion Comanche program.
"UTC remains the largest private-sector employer in the state of Connecticut , and we want to protect those jobs and see them grow," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democratic member of the Armed Services Committee. "The termination of the Comanche program is a crisis for us now. We have to answer some very critical questions."
David said 700 workers, mostly salaried employees in Bridgeport and Stratford , face layoffs as a direct result of the Army's decision to halt production of Comanches. The Comanche program was considered key to Sikorsky's military future.
"This was a heartbreaking thing," said Rep. Chris Shays, R-4 th dist. Sikorsky has "been working on this for so long, and saw 10 years of really wonderful employment."
The lawmakers said they hope Sikorsky could save at least some of the jobs by winning the $1.6 billion initial contract to build the next fleet of presidential helicopters, called Marine One.
But Sikorsky faces intense competition from the European helicopter consortium Agusta Westland and its American partner, Lockheed Martin Corp.
"By fighting as hard as we can alongside the company for the presidential helicopter, we hope to see as many of those 700 employees on the presidential helicopter program as possible," Lieberman said.
"We've been very strong as a delegation on that matter," agreed Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3 rd Dist.. "We are asking Sikorsky not to lay off workers until we know what is happening with the Marine One contract. We are fighting very hard for the residual of the Comanche money."
Six of Connecticut 's seven Congress members attended the meeting with David. Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd was unable to attend because he was giving a speech on the floor of the Senate prior to a vote on an amendment he sponsored on exporting jobs overseas.
Lawmakers also hope the Army will increase its order from Sikorsky for Black Hawk helicopters.
"We all agree that we have a goal here, with regard to the Comanche," Lieberman said. "The goal is that when it's all over, that there's not a single job lost at Sikorsky. And how do we do that? Marine One, increase the Black Hawk and the transition that we work out for Comanche.
"That's our goal," he said. "Not a single job lost."
Shays and Rowland Bicker Over Train Seats
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON— Gov. John Rowland and Connecticut House Speaker Moira Lyons have rejected a proposal by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4 th, to increase the state gasoline tax to pay for 20 new rail cars for the Metro-North Railroad’s New Haven Line.
According to Shays, they have suggested that instead of focusing on the rail line, he turn his attention to getting more federal highway money for the state.
Rowland and Lyons decided Monday that the state should issue $25 million in bonds, which, pooled with the $35 million the state already set aside, would be enough to begin purchasing the new rail cars.
Under their plan, the state legislature would authorize the director of the Connecticut Department of Transportation to begin purchasing the rail cars immediately. Otherwise, the state would have to wait 18 months to buy them.
Last winter, the Connecticut Department of Transportation had to remove 35 percent of the New Haven Line’s rail cars from service because they broke down.
“The cold weather did not cause these cars to break down,” Shays said in a statement last week. “The age of the rail cars and lack of adequate maintenance facilities did.”
Shays proposed then that the state issue bonds to purchase 20 new rail cars and begin building a new maintenance facility, with the bonds paid back through a hike in the gasoline tax.
“When Connecticut reduced the gas tax from $0.39 to $0.25 [per gallon] between 1997 and 2000, the state gave up more than $500 million in revenue that would have gone directly to transportation,” Shays said.
Rowland and Lyons, however, told Shays Tuesday that they were seeking other ways to pay back the bonds.
“The governor and speaker reject the need to raise taxes on the people of Connecticut,” said Lyons’ spokesman, Todd Murphy. “There is no need to raise taxes any more in Connecticut because they are already too high—some of the highest in the country. The representatives of the legislature, the governor and all the people of Connecticut who use this metro system everyday are against a raise in the gas tax.”
Murphy said the state legislature is seeking ways to pay back the bonds that would result in a “win-win situation” for Connecticut residents. But Shays said an increase in the gasoline tax is the best solution.
“A gas tax is not something my constituents want to have, but they don’t want their roads, bridges or railroads falling apart either,” Shays said in an interview Tuesday. “This is a conflict of interest but they need rail cars so we need to take action. I’m willing to take action and willing to raise the gas tax.
“The governor was saying I shouldn’t get involved with this issue, but it’s a huge issue that affects my district,” Shays said. “We have a huge issue with transportation in the state of Connecticut, but if the state wants to raise money somehow instead of raising taxes, that’s their problem.”
Shays said the current political scandal involving Rowland has affected his working relationship with the governor. Rowland accepted gifts for his Litchfield cottage from friends, employees and a state contractor and later lied about it. A special state House committee is investigating his conduct to determine if he has committed any impeachable offenses.
“It could be better—I mean these are awkward times,” Shays said. “I asked him to resign, but I think John and I can be professional.”
Murphy said Shays should focus on increasing Connecticut’s share of federal highway money. If the pending $318 billion highway spending bill passes, Connecticut would get the smallest increase in highway funds of any state.
“We are happy with any involvement Shays has in the [rail car] process,” Murphy said. “But it would be really helpful for us if he was working on getting highway funding. We need a bigger slice of that pie.”
Senate Shoots Down Gun Immunity Bill; Lieberman Disappointed
WASHINGTON - Politicians and advocates for gun safety in Connecticut had mixed feelings Tuesday after the Senate rejected a firearms legal immunity bill by a landslide 90-8 after its advocates decided that the measure had become overweighted with gun control provisions.
Before voting down the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, the Senate approved a series of amendments that would have imposed tighter gun controls, including one to extend the assault weapons ban that is set to expire in September and another to close a so-called gun show loophole.
Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) who sponsored the amendment to mandate background checks on people who buy guns at gun shows and voted in support of the overall bill, was upset with the end result.
"In the end, I concluded that the harm done by the immunity bill was outweighed by the good done by several amendments successfully added to it," he said. "I am disappointed that the Senate's final action today in defeating the bill will prevent important, life-protecting amendments from moving forward at this time. But I am hopeful that we will see them move forward through other means in the future."
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) expressed relief that the bill, which would have given gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits for damages, was rejected. "This was a bad bill," he said. "Its aim wasn't to protect a single person in Connecticut or across the nation from gun violence. Its aim was to shield the gun industry from lawsuits. That's wrong."
The chief author of the immunity bill, Sen. Larry E. Craig, (R-Idaho), said the gun control amendments added earlier in the day made the bill so offensive its sponsors could no longer support it.
"I now believe it is so dramatically wounded that it should not pass," he said in urging defeat of his own legislation. The National Rifle Association (NRA), which supported the bill, began pressuring senators to shoot it down after the provisions were added earlier in the day.
Ron Pinciaro, a spokesman for Connecticut Against Gun Violence, said the Southport-based organization was "very much opposed to the immunity bill" and "not in favor" of extending the Federal Assault Weapons Act of 1994, calling it outdated.
"That an industry that has such a dangerous product has immunity granted from all damage it causes is almost unheard of," Pinciaro said. "No other industry has that."
"We are going to have to come back with new legislation to fix these things," he said. "But I think we are better organized to do that and are optimistic that the future will bring better outcomes for us."
"It's a huge, huge victory, a gigantic victory," said Matt Bennett, spokesman for the Washington-based Americans for Gun Safety. "The assumption is that the NRA runs this town, and they took a huge loss. This is a substantial victory. We are celebrating."
The nation's top gun manufacturer, Norwich-based Smith & Wesson, referred all inquiries to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The organization lent its support to the immunity bill.
"The act relieves our industry from the court system," spokesman Gary Mehalik said. "What criminals do with the guns is way beyond the control of the law-abiding and licensed industries."
Although President Bush said he favored renewing the assault weapons ban, he wanted to keep the legislation providing legal protection to the gun industry clear of any amendments that might hinder its passage through Congress.
"The President is a strong supporter of stopping frivolous lawsuits and litigation," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "With these amendments the legislation will not pass the Congress."
Shays Faults FEC for Campaign Finance Loophole
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON—Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4th, said Tuesday that the campaign finance law that he spearheaded is positively affecting races this year but that the Federal Elections Commission needs to enforce it better.
“We are pretty happy with the way campaign finance reform is going,” Shays said in an interview. “You don’t see candidates taking unlimited funds and big checks from lobbyists.”
Nonparty organizations called “527s,” however, may be the loophole that Shays and co-sponsor Rep. Martin Meehan, D-Mass., did not foresee when they introduced campaign finance reform legislation that eliminated unlimited “soft” money contributions to political parties. Congress passed the bill in 2002, making this the first election year it is being implemented.
A 527 is a group, organized under the 527 tax code, that advocates political issues and even advertises for or against candidates, said Steven Weiss, a spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent organization that monitors campaign money. Now that big-money donors no longer can finance the Democratic or Republican parties through large and unrestricted soft money contributions, many have shifted their resources to 527s.
Although most 527s existed before the new law did, Weiss said, “there are new groups whose sole issue seems to be to elect or defeat certain candidates….
“These groups are now funding the same activities that political parties used their soft money for in the past,” Weiss said. “Issue advocacy that stops short of saying ‘vote for this candidate,’ but is clearly trying to influence a particular election, is a good example of this.”
Most 527s try to influence federal elections through voter mobilization efforts and so-called issue ads that tout or criticize a candidate's record, Weiss said. The organizations do not report to the Federal Elections Commission but must divulge their contributors and expenditures to the Internal Revenue Service, unless they already file identical information at the state or local level.
“We do have a problem with the 527s,” Shays said. “If 527s raise money that is used in a campaign, then that money should be treated as campaign money. FEC should step in here big time—they are the ones who introduced soft money in the first place.”
The FEC will decide Thursday whether to take up the issue of political organizations and campaign finance, said spokesman George Smaragdis. Commissioners could choose to redefine “political action committee,” which would help determine whether 527s fall under the restrictions of the campaign-finance law.
Campaign-finance reform, which President Bush initially opposed but eventually enacted, actually has worked to the Republicans’ advantage. Republicans traditionally have raised significantly more money than Democrats from small donors who contribute “hard” money – up to $2,000 per candidate per election. Democrats relied more heavily on now-illegal soft money.
As a result, Democratic supporters have turned their attention to 527s. Democratic and liberal 527s raised nearly $36 million during the past year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. By contrast, Republican and conservative 527s raised $4.2 million.
Shays also said the federal government does not provide enough money to presidential candidates. The system, established during post-Watergate reforms in 1976, gives candidates $45 million if they adhere to certain spending limits. This year, both Bush and Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic frontrunner, have opted out of the system, a decision that will allow them to spend millions of dollars more.
“I don’t blame President Bush for opting out [of the public campaign finance system],” Shays said. “Or the Democrats, particularly, for not accepting the $45 million,” he said.
“If you have a realistic amount and someone says they have to go over that amount—someone would have to argue getting $75 million for free is not worth it.”
“If someone wants to bypass it then they’d have to work for it.”
New Hampshire Discusses Broadcasting Issues
Washington -Sen. John Sununu, R-NH, said Tuesday that broadcasters need to be persuaded to offer free air time to political candidates.
Sununu, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over broadcasting, spoke at a National Association of Broadcasters State Leadership Conference
Although legislation to provide free air time is not something Congress is likely to discuss this year, Sununu said, campaign financing reformers will look for other ways to meet the high costs of running for office. Public financing is controversial, he said, and it's difficult to "get the public to scrape up" the money to pay for it. So it has to be done, he said, by "forcing broadcasters to give free air time."
But Sununu cited constitutional reasons for not making free air time mandatory.
He recommended that broadcasting stations think in advance of how to make free air time accessible, and with some planning, they will "be the better for it."
WNDS, channel 50 in Derry , offers free air time through debates and informational interviews during the election season and on weekend shows, news director Alicia Preston said in a telephone interview.
WMUR, channel 9 in Manchester , recently did 14 half-hour shows, two one-hour specials and two live debates with the Democratic presidential candidates. Thirty days before the primary, WMUR asked the major candidates to answer 10 questions "without editorial comment," general manager Jeff Bartlett said. "We don't believe it [free air time] should be mandated because we offer plenty of opportunities without a mandate"
Sununu also talked about the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act, which, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Web site, "permits satellite carriers to transmit local television broadcast signals into local markets. The act also allows "satellite carriers to provide distant or national broadcast programming to subscribers."
Although Sununu said he didn't think there would be "any dramatic changes" in the law, he believes it should "reflect an updating and modification based on what viewers have come to expect."
"Consumers have a strong expectation that what's free over the air should be part of their cable package," said FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin.
According to last year's New Hampshire House Journal, many satellite subscribers in New Hampshire are in the Portland/Auburn area and don't receive ABC affiliate WMUR..
Some northern counties, such as Coos, Carroll and Grafton, are considered to be in Maine ' market, so they don't receive WMUR, Bartlett said. Dish network EchoStar is so far south that those counties are unable to get the station's signal, he said.
Last August, Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-NH, and Rep. Charles Bass, R-NH, proposed an amendment that would provide access for states with only one affiliate station to that station's signals through satellite, according to a press release. "The amendment would allow people in northern counties to choose to watch us," Bartlett said.
Another problem is that New Hampshire doesn't have many local stations, Sununu said. WNDS covers the area north of Concord and down to the seacoast, the Maine border, some of Vermont and a large portion of Massachusetts . "A station like ours, which also covers an enormous amount of Massachusetts , has a lot of land to cover," Preston said.
Comcast subscribers Anthony Jones in Portsmouth and Bill Robinson in Dover receive WMUR but say there is a lack of variety.
"You don't get as much local news as you want," said Jones, a restaurant worker. "It's all about what's going on around the world, and it's not relevant to here."
Robinson said he watches channel 6 in Portland , Maine . He said the station has some New Hampshire news, and it doesn't really bother him to watch another state's news since he has beach property in the Pine Tree State .
Lieberman Bashes Bush’s Handling of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON - As the Department of Homeland Security nears its first anniversary amid hype of its accomplishments, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said the new agency has fallen well short of its goals. "So much of the hard work still lies ahead," he said.
Lieberman, who spearheaded the effort to create the department, blamed lack of foresight and guidance for the agency's inefficiencies.
"While we have gained a new Cabinet member and a new governmental entity, we do not yet have what the department was truly meant to provide-forceful administration, vision and leadership on homeland security," Lieberman said in a statement.
In a speech Monday at George Washington University , DHS Secretary Tom Ridge praised the work the department has done since it began operations last March.
"In the space of one year, the men and women of this new department have achieved a great deal to secure this country," Ridge said. "It has been quite an undertaking ... and resulted in a country more secure and better prepared than it has ever been before."
Lieberman disagrees. "The administration's failings on homeland security betray a dangerous mix of overstatement and inattention," he said.
President Bush, he said "appears oblivious to the many, critical vulnerabilities that remain and the lack of discernable progress in key areas. And he has steadfastly refused to provide sufficient resources in his budget to get the job done."
Critics agree the department's work is only beginning.
"This agency is a disaster waiting to happen, it's so vulnerable," said Gordon Adams, policy director at George Washington University 's Homeland Security Policy Institute, which works with the department to provide research.
"Their trouble is they need to focus on everything," he said. "They have to create a department and run one at the same time."
Dr. Tee Guidotti, chairman of the university's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, said a major problem has been integrating 180,000 federal employees from 22 agencies into a single department.
"The [reorganization] they have had to do has been overwhelming," Guidotti said. "Things have gone slowly, with an exceptional amount of confusion [because] they have had to integrate so many different cultures with contradictory ways of working. They have had a very hard time."
Brian Ruehrkasse, a spokesman for the department, acknowledged that getting a new department to run smoothly will take time. But, he said, "This isn't a sprint; it's a marathon."
"It has been an important accomplishment in the department's first year to bring together all of the 22 component agencies and to provide the men and women of Homeland Security with new tools and resources to better do their jobs," Ruehrkasse said.
"We understand there still is a long way to go."
Frank Cilluffo, George Washington University 's associate vice president for homeland security and a member of the federal department's Homeland Security Advisory Council, said time and experience will allay concerns about the department. "I think you are starting to see some of those [components] coming together," he said. "All things said and done, it's moving along pretty well."
