Category: Matthew O’Rourke
McGovern Has Taken 10 Privately Paid Trips Since 2000
WASHINGTON, May 2— Since 2000, U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) has made 10 trips abroad that were paid for by private groups. One of the trips, to a conference in Paris, was funded by a non-profit group promoting business and trade. Five trips to Cuba, three trips to Colombia and one trip to El Salvador were funded by non-profit educational, research or human rights organizations. Mr. McGovern has long had an interest in Latin America.
The total cost of the 10 trips was $26,751, according to travel disclosure forms filed by Mr. McGovern with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. The public filings, which each member of Congress must make for trips paid for by private sources, were examined by the Telegram and Gazette. In addition to privately funded trips members of Congress take official trips, often with other members, that are paid for by taxpayers.
The cost of Mr. McGovern’s privately funded trips ranged from $1,469 to $4,850, with expenses divided between travel, lodging, meals and other services, such as translator fees.
Mr. McGovern’s trip to Paris in February 2004 cost $4,524, which included the expenses for Mr. McGovern’s wife. It was paid for by the International Management and Development Institute.
Sabine Schleidt, executive vice president of the Institute, said the organization brings politicians and international business people together to discuss economic issues. Schleidt said she was on the trip that McGovern took and that it allowed members of Congress to speak with multinational businessmen “in an off the record setting.”
Twelve other members of Congress, including Reps. William Delahunt (D-Mass.), James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and Mark Souder (R-Ind.), were on the trip. According to Ms. Schleidt, the institute’s funding comes “100 percent” from corporate donors.
According to an itinerary provided by Ms. Schleidt, the trip to Paris included a guided tour of the Louvre, a cocktail reception, and several roundtable discussions with foreign dignitaries.
Michael Mershon, Mr. McGovern’s press secretary, said the congressman attended because he wanted to speak with multinational companies such as Sodexho about sponsoring food programs abroad. Mr. McGovern co-founded the Congressional Hunger Caucus and co-chairs the Congressional Hunger Center.
Privately paid travel in which highly paid lobbyists representing corporate clients have the chance to meet privately with members of Congress has become more controversial in recent weeks after lobbyist Jack Abramoff admitted paying for various members of Congress to journey abroad to exotic locales, if only to play 18 rounds of golf.
But not all privately paid travel is all play and no work, according to Mr. McGovern, who said the private trips can be more productive than those funded by taxpayers.
“The problem with U.S. government-funded trips is that I have to follow a certain protocol when I go to places,” Mr. McGovern said in a recent interview. “Usually I have to go with somebody who is assigned to me from the State Department or Department of Defense.”
On government-sponsored trips, embassies arrange meetings and set up itineraries for members of Congress, detailing whom they will speak to and which events they will attend. Members of Congress are given very little leeway to amend their schedules, Mr. McGovern said, and need to seek approval for the trip from the Speaker of the House before they may receive any tax money.
“I don’t find that particularly useful when I go to a place like Colombia, where I disagree with our policy, or Cuba,” he said. “To me, the only purpose of foreign travel is to learn, and if my trip is going to be basically embassy briefings, which are all useful, then I can do it here. I wouldn’t need to go anywhere.”
Ray Laraja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, said congressional travel of any kind can be good, even if the trip is a junket.
“We don’t want McGovern just to hang out in Worcester and in Washington,” Mr. Laraja said. “It does become questionable in terms of private travel, but you have to also remember it’s a public expense that people aren’t willing to pay for.”
Congressional members, especially of different parties, he said, don’t have much time to sit down to discuss the issues anymore.
“Even if it is a junket, if they are going with other members [of Congress] that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he added. “It allows them to get to know each other better.”
Brian Darling, director of Senate relations at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington, agrees with Laraja that traveling with members of both parties is important, but said representatives “should travel far and wide and not just focus on one or two countries.”
“Privately paid travel is not inherently a bad thing,” Mr. Darling said. “It’s better than the taxpayers paying because they already pay for plenty. If the members want it to be done with complete transparency then there is nothing wrong with it.”
However Mary Boyle, press secretary for Common Cause, a nonprofit organization promoting open and accountable government, said due to current ethics violations, an outside commission should be created to monitor privately paid travel.
“The concern about travel is this issue of access— people who can afford a corporate jet, etc. can get the kind of access that a common person would not normally get,” she said. “There should be some sort of outside body to review these trips. Short of that there should be no privately funded travel until that happens.”
A vocal critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, Mr. McGovern first traveled south of the border as a college student in the late ’70s to study the impact of the trade embargo on Cuba. He has returned to Cuba more than a dozen times since then, including during the late Pope John Paul II’s visit with Fidel Castro in 1999, and five times over the past seven years.
“I thought back then, as I do now, that our policy toward Cuba as an economic blockade, is just dumb,” Mr. McGovern said. “It doesn’t help the Cuba people and I think it has probably resulted in Castro hanging on for so long. If something goes wrong in Cuba, Fidel gets to blame it on the U.S. embargo.”
A trip to Cuba in April 2000 sponsored by the Washington Office on Latin America, a non-governmental organization that works to promote human rights, sought to facilitate an increase in academic exchanges with the United States. Presidents and deans of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the University of Massachusetts-Boston met with their Cuban counterparts. The Washington Office on Latin America paid Mr. McGovern’s expenses of $2,150.
“I think there is a lot of interest and focus on Cuba after the Pope’s visit, and that generated a lot of the interest in increased academic contact,” said Geoff Thale, program director at the Washington Office on Latin America. “The Clinton administration in 1999 made academic exchange much easier.”
George Humphrey, executive director of college relations at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, said because of Mr. McGovern’s negotiations with the Cubans, the college returned to Cuba in 2003 to attend the Inter-American Conference on Pharmacy.
“The dean of the college of pharmacy in Havana came to Boston to receive an honorary degree and spoke at our commencement,” Mr. Humphrey said. “The following year we went down to the conference and invited Congressman McGovern to be our keynote speaker.” The college paid his expenses of $1,469.
Mr. McGovern has a longstanding relationship with the Washington Office on Latin America, dating back to his service as chief off staff to the late Rep. Joseph Moakley (D-Mass.). He wrote a letter over Moakley’s signature urging the U.S. government not to certify approval of military aid to Chile when Gen. Augusto Pinochet ruled the country.
“They are in my opinion a very serious organization,” Mr. McGovern said. “The trips I’ve been on with them have always been very balanced.”
Oxfam America, a global humanitarian aid organization, paid for a trip for Mr. McGovern in January 2002 to monitor progress in sustainable agriculture programs in Cuba. The cost: $1,900.
Mr. McGovern also has participated in the effort to preserve Ernest Hemingway’s home just outside of Havana. The American author’s home is falling apart because of the harsh humidity and storms of the Caribbean.
Mr. Mershon said tense political relations have made it difficult for American scholars to study what Hemingway left.
The Social Science Research Council, an organization that promotes scholarly exchange internationally, has worked with the Hemingway Preservation Foundation, an academic organization based in Winchester, Mass., and with Mr. McGovern in trying to restore the house, which they view as “both a Cuban and American icon.”
Both organizations paid for trips Mr. McGovern and his wife, Lisa, took in November 2002 and November 2005. The tab was $4,850 in 2002, paid for by the Social Science Research Council, and $3,192 in 2005, paid for by the Hemingway Preservation Foundation.
“These things are worth preserving,” Mr. McGovern said. “I would hate because of politics that we stand by and watch all this stuff disintegrate and crumble.”
Jenny Phillips, president and treasurer of the Hemingway Preservation Foundation, said the organization has been cooperating with the Cuban government to send architects and technicians to restore the author’s estate.
Mr. McGovern, a member of the Foundation’s board, said the process of saving the house has been complicated by U.S. government regulations for travel to Cuba, which limits who can and cannot travel to the country as well as who can take U.S. currency into Cuba.
“If I wanted to bring a bag of cement down there, I’d have to go through a whole other process with the Commerce Department, the State Department and probably other agencies about whether or not I’m authorized to do that,” he said.
Mr. McGovern’s role has largely been one of a cultural diplomat, working with both Cuba’s National Council of Patrimony and the U.S. Government to negotiate a way that allows researchers to work together.
The Social Science Research Council has begun to preserve some of Hemingway’s documents and plans to create digital copies for the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, which already houses the largest collection of the author’s materials in the United States.
“If at the end of the day we can manage our way through it all and we end up protecting Hemingway’s writings and his house, that’s a good thing,” Mr. McGovern said.
In his office in the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, Mr. McGovern hangs pictures of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980. Romero, whom McGovern calls his hero, criticized the Salvadoran government for overlooking the poor and for its use of repressive tactics.
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, which represents institutions such as the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, invited Mr. McGovern and former Sen. George McGovern (D-S.D.) to travel to El Salvador last December to mark the anniversary of another tragic event from 1980—the murder of four American missionaries after their van was stopped by Salvadoran National Guard troops.
“We decided to make the trip not to recall the horrific tragedy or to decry the misguided U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America back in the 1980s,” Mr. McGovern wrote in December 2005 in The Nation. “Instead, we made the visit to celebrate the lives of these remarkable women and to be inspired by their selfless example.” The $1,933 tab for Rep. McGovern was picked up by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and by the Washington Office on Latin America.
While working for Rep. Moakley, Mr. McGovern became involved with events leading up to the peace process in El Salvador, particularly with the fate of refugees, according to Mr. Thale of the Washington Office on Latin America.
“On El Salvador, he’s probably the most outspoken and best known member of Congress since he worked as an aide and first arrived here,” Mr. Thale said.
The Washington Office on Latin America, which has sponsored the most trips for Mr. McGovern, is concerned about the role of paramilitary groups in Colombia, Mr. Thale said.
Mr. Thale’s organization paid for three of Mr. McGovern’s trips to Colombia, costing it $1,931, $2,656 and $2,146.
Mr. McGovern “has been concerned that we’ve been spending hundreds of millions of dollars down there [in Colombia] for drug interdiction efforts that don’t seem to be reducing the amount of cocaine on the streets,” Mr. Mershon said.
The billions of dollars spent on drug reduction efforts in Colombia could be better spent on law enforcement programs at home, Mr. McGovern said.
“I think the people in Worcester want to make sure we’re not throwing their tax dollars down a rat hole,” he said. “Heroin is more readily available on the streets today than it was five years ago. Something is not working right.”
“Part of my job is to worry about these things,” Mr. McGovern said. “I think my constituency not only wants me to be engaged, but be engaged where I can be thoughtful and intelligent.”
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Olver Arrested at Sudanese Embassy
WASHINGTON, April 28— Five members of the House of Representatives, including two from Massachusetts, were arrested outside of the Sudanese Embassy on Friday during a protest of the conflict in the Darfur region.
James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) and John W. Olver (D-Mass.) were willingly arrested along with Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), James P. Moran (D-Va.), and Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas) by the Secret Service Police.
The members of Congress, and six members of religious and humanitarian aid organizations, were charged with disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly after refusing to the leave the embassy property.
Protesters, including some from the Worcester area, clapped and shouted as the police placed plastic handcuffs on those arrested and loaded them into the back of a white police van. They were taken to a local police station and released after paying $50 fines.
Some demonstrators carried pictures of the conflict, while others held a painted banner with a woman crying and the words “stop the killing now” printed on it.
Mr. Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress, said the Sudanese government has not cooperated with the international community, including NATO and peacekeeping troops from the African Union.
“Two generations ago, the civilized world stood in silence and looked away,” Mr. Lantos, who is 78 years old, told the protesters before being arrested. “Congress stands united in our determination to put an end to this.”
An estimated 180,000 Sudanese people have been killed by government backed militias in the Darfur region of Sudan. More than 2 million others have been displaced by the conflict.
The members of Congress read from a list of four demands: abiding by a ceasefire, allowing United Nations peacekeeping forces to enter the country, granting full access to humanitarian organizations and continuing peace talks.
The Sudanese government has not taken proper actions to stop the genocide, Mr. McGovern said, and nations across the world “must take immediate concrete steps” to prevent more violence.
“We are here today because words are no longer enough,” he said. “The world has said ‘never again.’ It is time for action.”
Mr. Olver, agreed with Mr. McGovern and said the Sudanese government must be “held responsible” for its actions.
“The international community must act to end the genocide which has now been going on for three years in Darfur,” Mr. Olver said as he held a large poster of a village burning.
Among the protesters were refugees from Darfur. Samia Eshag, who arrived only 24 hours earlier from the troubled region, said it was important for her to give voice to the thousands of women who have been raped.
“The civilians in Darfur are suffering day by day, night by night from all of the attacks,” she said.
Scott Schaeffer-Duffy, a Worcester resident who visited Darfur in December of 2004, said Americans need “to do everything they can to stop this genocide.”
“I think anyone that is in a public position that chooses to do nonviolent civil disobedience on this is issue is doing a great service to the people of Darfur,” he said. “I hope more leaders will stand up and do the same thing.”
George Aghjayan, a member of the Armenian National Committee of Central Massachusetts, said he supports Mr. McGovern “one hundred percent” in his actions to “bring awareness to the people of Darfur.”
The Save Darfur Coalition, a group of more than 100 humanitarian organizations which seeks to raise public awareness on the genocide, organized the event and has scheduled rallies in cities across the country on Sunday. The largest rally, which will be held on the National Mall in Washington, is expected to draw thousands of protesters.
The United States and the international community cannot wait any longer to act, Mr. Moran said.
“This is about our humanity,” said Mr. Moran. “To decide not to get involved is to make a decision, the wrong one.”
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Massachusetts Health Care Law Could Spread to Other States
WASHINGTON, April 18- The new Massachusetts health care law could set a precedent for reform in states across the country, a panel of policy makers said Tuesday.
Ron Pollack, executive director and vice president of Families USA, a nonpartisan health care policy organization, said states across the country are "frustrated with the gridlock" in Congress over comprehensive health reform.
"So many states are feeling they cannot wait when they've got so many people who are suffering because increasing numbers of people are uninsured," Pollack said during a panel discussion sponsored by Families USA at the National Press Club. "Here the steps at the federal level, if anything, are exacerbating the problem."
The Massachusetts law, Pollack said, will be reviewed by other states as a model on how to approach health care legislation.
"Make no mistake about it, this legislation should be widely acclaimed as a breakthrough," he said.
The Massachusetts law requires every resident who lacks coverage to buy health insurance.
States that want to institute similar reforms should look at what was done in Massachusetts "less as a policy blueprint and more as a political blueprint," said John McDonough, executive director of Health Care for All, an organization that advocates for universal health care.
"One of the lessons we learned from other states such as Maine is that voluntary doesn't get you where you want to go," McDonough said. "If you really want to achieve a dramatic breakthrough in expansion of coverage, you have to be willing to take the political heat and political risk."
A Massachusetts legislative conference committee report found that an estimated 550,000 people in the state are without health insurance. Salvatore F. DiMasi, D-Third Suffolk, the speaker of the Massachusetts House and one of the Press Club panelists, said he risked ending his political career to pass the health care bill.
"We had to make sure that people were taken care of in a way that they wouldn't have to worry about their health insurance," DiMasi said. "They wouldn't have to have the anxiety of knowing whether they would be taken care of if they did get sick or if their children got sick."
Everyone - both liberals and conservatives - was involved in some aspect of the law's passage, DiMasi said.
"Whether you're an individual, employer, whether you're state or federal government, a provider or an insurer, everyone must participate in this legislation," he said. "That's the reason this legislation has a chance at being successful."
The new law, however, may not be applicable to all states. According to McDonough, a larger state such as Texas, in which close to a fourth of its adult population is without health insurance, would have a more difficult time writing a bill like the Massachusetts law. The new law does not require a tax increase because the state can support the program through its budget surplus.
In 1974, Hawaii passed a law requiring every business with more than 10 workers to offer health coverage to their employees.
Some Massachusetts businesses during the past 16 months have worried about the implications of becoming responsible under state law for their employees' health insurance, said panelist Philip J. Edmundson, chief executive officer of William Gallagher Associates, an insurance brokerage firm based in Boston.
"Most businesses find that government telling them they have to do still another thing to be a different kind of revolution," Edmundson said. "Entrepreneurs and business leaders don't tend to find that to be a good way to start a debate about health care."
However, he said, the new law presents a "great opportunity to educate people in the business community."
In the past, companies have had mixed feelings when various laws such as the minimum wage and Social Security went on the books, Edmundson said. Once businesses find their role in the process they want "to become engaged," he said, and in Massachusetts they helped to shape the legislation.
John Holahan, director of health policy at the Urban Institute, an economic research organization, said the Massachusetts law "provides a structure to get to universal health care."
Although the law won't take effect until next summer, DiMasi said that if the legislation needs to be changed "to reflect unintended consequences," the legislature will act to fix it.
"It's only the beginning of health care reform," he said. "The implementation is where the success will be."
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Pig Book Finds Members of Congress Squealing for Money
WASHINGTON, April 5- As two snorting pigs duked it out over crumbs of buttered corn cakes, members of Congress were recognized for their pork-barrel spending Wednesday by the 2006 Pig Book released by Citizens Against Government Waste.
The event, similar in style and setup to a high school pep rally, featured, in addition to the real pigs, a mascot dressed as a pig, Oscar-variety pig trophies, and trinkets such as a pig-snout mask.
The "Oinkers" of 2006, those who are recognized for their pork spending achievements, included Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, winner of "The Cold Shoulder Award" for more than $300 million in spending in Alaska, and U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers, R-Mich., "The Flushing Our Money Down the Toilet Award" for $1 million in spending for the Waterfree Urinal Conservation Initiative.
Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste, said he had hoped to see a change in congressional spending this year, especially after the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and former U.S. Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's prison sentencing.
"It is clear that our representatives and senators have shamelessly pursued their pork once again," Mr. Schatz said.
According to Mr. Schatz, the 2006 Pig Book "records a record amount of money" being spent in fiscal year 2006 on what the organization identified as pork projects-$29 billion, more than double the 1996 total of $12.5 billion.
The Pig Book defines pork as spending that meets at least one of seven criteria: requested by only one chamber of Congress; not specifically authorized; not competitively awarded; no requested by the President; greatly exceeds the President's budget request; not the subject of congressional hearings; and serves only a local or special interest.
Citizens Against Government Waste also ranks states based on "pork per capita," to show how much the federal government spends per person for pork projects in each state. While Alaska topped the list with pork per capita spending of $489.87, Massachusetts dropped seven spots, from 39 th to 46 th . Per capita pork spending in the state was $18.25. The national average was $30.55.
Pork spending in Massachusetts totaled $116 million for 143 pork projects, including $100,000 for the Cape Cod Memorial Statue Gateway/Walkway, $1.4 million for the Bass River Park Gateway in Dennis and $40,000 for the Coastal Massachusetts Ecosystem Restoration.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an outspoken opponent of wasteful spending, joined Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., as guest speakers at a press conference to celebrate the 15 th annual release of the book.
"Earmarks are the gateway drug to overspending," Mr. Coburn said. "We are overspending, and what we are spending is future opportunities for our children and grandchildren."
Mr. McCain acknowledged that he has pushed for projects in his state in the past but now is trying to make the process more transparent.
"We're not saying all these projects are bad," Mr. McCain said. "We're saying that they haven't gone through a legitimate process."
Bill Frenzel, a former House member who currently serves in the economic studies program at the Brookings Institution, said that although "pork lies in the eye of the beholder," Congress has not taken enough action to make the earmark process crystal clear.
"They may be for wonderfully noble things," he said, "but Congress hasn't held hearings on them and because one member is highly placed, he can get them [earmarks] placed strategically in bills and voted on at the last minute."
Citizens Against Government Waste is a non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission, according to its Web site, is "to eliminate waste, mismanagement and inefficiency in the federal government."
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Collins Pushes for More Port Security
WASHINGTON, April 5- Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is pushing for port security funds to be available to all ports, not just ones that are considered to be at a high risk for terrorist attack.
Her GreenLane Maritime Cargo Security Act includes a provision for a $400 million competitive grant program that all ports would be eligible to apply for. President Bush and the Department of Homeland Security favor disbursing $600 million to ports at higher risk, such as those in California, New Jersey and New York.
The head of the Portland Port agreed with Collins in testimony Wednesday at a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing..
Captain Jeffery Monroe said federal money for security initiatives should be given to all states; otherwise, smaller ports like Portland would be hard-pressed to cover all the security mandates the federal government has put in place since 9/11.
"Not everybody is as wealthy as many of the major port authorities," said Monroe, who is director of Portland's Department of Ports and Transportation. "And many times municipal ports like ours or state-owned ports have minimal resources. In regional centers such as Portland we would be unable to comply with the maritime security act without grant support. We're very fortunate to have received $3.5 million, which otherwise would have had to been borne by the taxpayers of the city of Portland."
Collins, who chairs the committee, said: "Seaports are more than waterfront facilities. They are crucial links in a supply chain that includes all modes of transportation around the world. They also are profoundly and unacceptably at risk."
Collins said that some 95 percent of U.S. foreign trade, worth $1 trillion, enters through the country's ports annually. Some 8,555 vessels make more than 55,000 calls on U.S. ports each year. About 800 million tons of goods are transported in more than 11 million containers.
Only 5.4 percent of those containers are scanned before they leave the port. Collins and the act's cosponsors, Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), want to see all containers scanned for nuclear material by the end of next year.
Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Michael P. Jackson said at the hearing that 100 percent inspection on such short notice was impractical. Scanning equipment could not be produced fast enough to meet those goals, he said. Jackson assured the committee that his department was working hard to improve the situation and that by the end of 2007 some 98 percent of all containers would be searched for radiation. The other two percent would be covered by more random inspection.
The "GreenLane" in Collins' act comes from an initiative to give incentives to importers who allow their products in foreign countries to be monitored from the time they leave the factory until they are loaded onto a ship. This would speed up the shipping process for participants, while heightening security, advocates say.
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Bush’s Chief of Staff Receives Praise From Two Massachusetts Democrats
WASHINGTON, March 28- Two members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation commended Andrew H. Card Jr. shortly after he announced his retirement from his position as President Bush's chief of staff on Tuesday.
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, said that Mr. Card had always been accommodating to the needs of both of Massachusetts citizens and members of the congressional delegation.
"I kind of regret that he's leaving because I do have a great admiration for him, and my problems with this White House have not been with him, they've been with his boss, the President of the United States," Mr. McGovern said in an interview.
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., praised Mr. Card's political career in Massachusetts, saying he "set a high standard" when he served as a state representative from 1975-1983. Mr. Card was named legislator of the year by the National Republican Legislators Association in 1982.
"From Holbrook to the White House, Andy Card has spent nearly three decades doing what he believed was right for Massachusetts and our country," Mr. Kerry said in a statement. "After so many years at such a breakneck speed he'll be able to relax with Kathleene and their children and grandchildren."
While speculation begins on the future of Mr. Card's political career, Nathaniel Gonzales, a political editor at the Rothenberg Political Report, an organization that analyzes political races across the country, said he did not expect Mr. Card to run for Massachusetts governor this fall.
"As far as down the line, I'm sure that he will be asked by folks in the state to look at various offices," Mr. Gonzales said in an interview. "Andy Card is very smart and very political, and he will look at opportunities as they come."
Mr. McGovern said Mr. Card would be "highly regarded by both parties" if he decided ever to seek a higher office.
"He's somebody that if he wanted to, he would certainly be a contender," Mr. McGovern said. "He's regarded highly by members of both parties, and I don't know what his plans are, but I suspect that he may want a rest from politics."
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Study Released Tuesday Cites Technology as a Factor in Teen Sleep Loss
WASHINGTON, March 28- A new study released Tuesday cited technology and caffeine as significant contributors to inadequate adolescent sleep.
The National Sleep Foundation, an organization that compiles data annually on sleep patterns in America, found that only about 20 percent of adolescents ages 11-17 are getting "optimal sleep" each night. According to the foundation, adolescents need nine hours in order to function at their full potential during the day.
The study, the 2006 Sleep in America Poll, shows a steady decrease in the hours of sleep teenagers get as they progress through middle school into high school. Of the 1,602 adolescents surveyed nationwide, sixth graders on average receive 8.4 hours per night, whereas twelfth graders receive only 6.9.
Differences between genders were minimal, with girls getting about 7.5 hours of sleep and boys receiving roughly 12 minutes more, at 7.7 hours.
The study found that three out of four teenagers drink a caffeinated beverage daily and that 31 percent drink two or more.
Jodi Mindell, an associate professor of psychology at Saint Joseph's University and co-chairwoman of the task force that oversaw the study, said that children who drank caffeinated beverages were twice as likely as their peers to fall asleep at school.
"Parents are mostly in the dark about their adolescents' sleeping habits," Ms. Mindell said. "Ninety percent of parents believe that their children are getting enough sleep in contrast to 44 percent of adolescents who think they are. So the adolescents are much more aware of this issue than the parents."
The 25-minute telephone survey was conducted in two parts, with both adolescents and parents being questioned.
More than 97 percent of adolescents have at least one technological item - a computer, television or phone - in their bedroom, the study found. Students with four or more items were likely to get a half hour less sleep on average.
Dr. Mary A. Carskadon, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown Medical School, said that parents should limit their children's caffeine intake after lunch to as little as possible.
"Children who are taking caffeine, who are stopping at Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts after school, are going to have that much more trouble falling to sleep at night," Dr. Carskadon said.
The consequences of insufficient sleep are not limited to poor grades.
"Those who get insufficient sleep were also more likely to score higher on a scale of depressed mood," Dr. Carskadon said. "Adolescents are nearly twice as likely to score high [on the depression scale] if they are sleeping eight hours or less."
Parents should look for warning signs of insufficient sleep, such as adolescents who need caffeine to wake up in the morning or those who nap for 45 minutes or longer on a recurring basis, she said.
"Parents should make sleep a positive priority for the entire family," Dr. Carskadon said. "Kids spend too much time multitasking in their rooms the hour before they go to bed. The more things they are doing, the less sleep they are getting."
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Kennedy Amendment Counters Bush’s Proposed Education Cuts
WASHINGTON, March 14- The Senate Tuesday by the narrowest of margins rejected legislation introduced by two senators from New England that sought to increase education spending in the next fiscal year.
Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, offered an amendment to President Bush's proposed budget that they said would increase federal education aid by $6.3 billion, including money for vocational, workforce and higher education programs.
The vote was 50-50, one short of the required majority.
The President has proposed cutting education spending by 3.8 percent, according to Tom Kiley, an aide to Rep. George Miller of California, the senior Democrat on the Education and the Workforce Committee.
Sen. Kennedy, in a statement after the vote, said "the Republican Senate turned its back on countless struggling students in communities around the country.. Locking the door to the American dream can only make America a lesser nation in the years ahead."
Before the Senate voted, the Senator told his colleagues, "The amendment is offered in response to the challenge we are facing internationally."
China and India are increasingly graduating greater numbers of engineers and more foreign students are getting their degrees from American universities than in past years, Mr. Kennedy said. In recent years, the United States has fallen behind in producing scientific literature, he said, and jobs at companies such as Intel and IBM have increasingly been outsourced.
"We have to equip every young person with the skills to deal with the ongoing challenges of globalization," Mr. Kennedy said.
Federally funded vocational education programs in Massachusetts would lose $20.2 million under the President's proposal, where programs are 95 percent effective, the senator said. Currently 78,376 students are enrolled in vocational programs in Massachusetts, and 74,457 passed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, a test required for graduation, Sen. Kennedy said.
Pell grants, which provide money to students pursuing higher education, would increase from a maximum $4,050 a year to $4,500 under the Kennedy-Collins proposal.
"When I graduated in 1975, the maximum Pell grant covered approximately 80 percent of the costs of attending a public, four-year institution," Ms. Collins said. "Today it covers less than 40 percent of these costs, forcing students to make up the difference by taking on a larger amount of debt."
However, not every New England senator was in favor of the proposed amendment. Republican Sens. Judd Gregg and John E. Sununu of New Hampshire strongly opposed the amendment, calling it "not fiscally responsible."
Mr. Gregg, who is the chairman of the Budget Committee, said Republicans have provided more for Title I aid funds for low-income families in grades K-12 in the past five years than the Democrats did during the eight years of the Clinton Administration.
"I take a backseat to no one when it comes to education funding," Sen. Gregg said.
Mr. Sununu criticized the Kennedy-Collins amendment, saying it "ignores fiscal restraint and responsibility."
"The amendment comes as a suggestion that no program should ever be cut or redirected from education," Mr. Sununu said, even when other programs may require more resources.
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How Much Have the Candidates Raised? [Cape Cod Times Version]
WASHINGTON, March 1- Nine of the ten U.S. Representatives from Massachusetts received/most of their campaign contributions from within the state in 2005, while Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy received most of their contributions from out of state.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Newton, collected only 33.6 percent of his funds last year from Massachusetts contributors, according to the PoliticalMoneyLine.com, a nonprofit organization that analyzes campaign finance data compiled by the Federal Election Commission.
The FEC, an independent regulatory agency, discloses campaign finance information and enforces provisions of the law, including limits and prohibitions on contributions. Members of Congress are required to file their data quarterly.
PoliticalMoneyLine.com reported that 91 percent of Kerry's itemized contributions--donations of $200 or more--was from states other than Massachusetts, with California and New York topping the list. Kennedy collected 76 percent from out-of -state donors, but with Massachusetts residents contributing more than those in any other state. Overall, Kerry, whose term doesn't end until 2008, raised $5,507,537 and Kennedy, who is up for reelection in November, raised $6,657,973.
Kerry, unlike most members of the Massachusetts delegation, did not accept money from political action committees. Of Kennedy's total campaign receipts, 80 percent were from individuals, and 20 percent from PACs, with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association tied for the largest contribution, with $10,000.
Hollywood, no stranger to congressional campaigns, also gave money to the two senators. Actress Maura Tierney of NBC's E.R. donated $2,500 to Friends of John Kerry, and actress Susan Sarandon gave $500 to Kennedy for his 2006 race, according to FEC reports. Individuals are allowed to give candidates a maximum of $2,100 and PACS are permitted a maximum of $5,000 per general election and per primary.
Raising a lot of money is one way to scare off potential challengers, said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks money's effect on elections.
"If you have a large war chest, you are more likely to end up by yourself on the ballot come November because everyone else thinks they can't possibly raise as much money as you have," Ritsch said.
He added that in Massachusetts, where incumbents often do not face significant opposition, fundraising is still necessary if only to prepare for future elections.
"Members of Congress feel like their jobs are always in jeopardy," Ritsch said. "They think that they need to prepare for this ominous challenger looming in their minds."
Rep. William Delahunt, D-Hyannis, who raised $499,845 in 2005, gave more than $127,000 to other Democratic campaigns, including $125,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $1,000 to U.S. House candidate Jim Marshall in Georgia, according to FEC disclosure reports.
Delahunt also received $4,000 from Glenn Marshall of the Wampanoag Tribal Council, a tribe that has been seeking formal federal recognition.
Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, an independent newsletter that analyzes races for the U.S. House and Senate, said donating to other campaigns is "a strategic decision."
"If and when the Democrats take control of the House, they will have chips now with these people and colleagues that might vote for them for the leadership," Rothenberg said.
According to Rothenberg, some members of the Massachusetts delegation may be saving money to make a run at a Senate seat, or if their districts change because of redistricting.
"It's a worthwhile investment for them," Rothenberg said.
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How Much Have the Candidates Raised?
Cape Cod Times version of this story
WASHINGTON, March 1- Nine of the ten U.S. Representatives from Massachusetts received most of their campaign contributions from within the state in 2005, while Democratic Sens. John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy received most of their contributions from out of state.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Newton, collected only 33.6 percent of his funds last year from Massachusetts contributors, according to the PoliticalMoneyLine.com, a nonprofit organization that analyzes campaign finance data compiled by the Federal Election Commission.
The FEC, an independent regulatory agency, discloses campaign finance information and enforces provisions of the law, including limits and prohibitions on contributions. Members of Congress are required to file their data quarterly.
PoliticalMoneyLine.com reported that 91 percent of Mr. Kerry's itemized contributions--donations of $200 or more--was from states other than Massachusetts, with California and New York topping the list. Mr. Kennedy collected 76 percent from out-of -state donors, but with Massachusetts residents contributing more than those in any other state. Overall, Mr. Kerry, whose term doesn't end until 2008, raised $5,507,537 and Mr. Kennedy, who is up for reelection in November, raised $6,657,973.
Mr. Kerry, unlike most members of the Massachusetts delegation, did not accept money from political action committees. Of Mr. Kennedy's total campaign receipts, 80 percent were from individuals, and 20 percent from PACs, with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association tied for the largest contribution, with $10,000.
Hollywood, no stranger to congressional campaigns, also gave money to the two senators. Actress Maura Tierney of NBC's E.R. donated $2,500 to Friends of John Kerry, and actress Susan Sarandon gave $500 to Kennedy for his 2006 race, according to FEC reports. Individuals are allowed to give candidates a maximum of $2,100 and PACS are permitted a maximum of $5,000 per general election and per primary.
Raising a lot of money is one way to scare off potential challengers, said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks money's effect on elections.
"If you have a large war chest, you are more likely to end up by yourself on the ballot come November because everyone else thinks they can't possibly raise as much money as you have," Mr. Ritsch said.
He added that in Massachusetts, where incumbents often do not face significant opposition, fundraising is still necessary if only to prepare for future elections.
"Members of Congress feel like their jobs are always in jeopardy," Mr. Ritsch said. "They think that they need to prepare for this ominous challenger looming in their minds."
Labor unions were the largest contributors last year to Reps. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, and James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, accounting for 25 percent of Mr. Olver's $383,767 in total receipts and 13 percent of Mr. McGovern's total of $412,311, according to PoliticalMoneyLine.com. Mr. Olver, the senior Democrat on the transportation subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee, received $32,500 from transportation union PACs.
In Fitchburg alone, Mr. Olver has earmarked nearly $14 million for several transportation projects, including the construction of the Intermodal Transportation Center's 400-car parking garage and the purchase of new passenger buses and vans by the Montachusett Regional Transit Authority.
Mr. McGovern gave more than $20,000 to other Democratic campaigns across the country, including $10,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $1,000 to Chris John for Senate from Louisiana.
Stuart Rothenberg, editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, an independent newsletter that analyzes races for the U.S. House and Senate, said donating to other campaigns is "a strategic decision."
"If and when the Democrats take control of the House, they will have chips now with these people and colleagues that might vote for them for the leadership," Mr. Rothenberg said.
According to Mr. Rothenberg, some members of the Massachusetts delegation may be saving money to make a run at a Senate seat, or if their districts change because of redistricting.
"It's a worthwhile investment for them," Mr. Rothenberg said.
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