Category: Washington, DC
Congress Passes Energy Bill Despite Opposition From Local Delegation
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON – – An energy bill that supporters said would generate almost 1 million new jobs and that opponents labeled as a giveaway to special interests skated through the House this week. But it faces a bipartisan effort in the Senate to kill it.
The bill, one of President Bush’s top legislative priorities, will cost an estimated $30 billion over 10 years, including $23 billion in tax breaks for oil, natural gas and coal producers. It would require a doubling of ethanol use in gasoline and would, for the first time, establish federal rules for operators of high-voltage electric lines.
Although the House approved the bill by a comfortable margin Tuesday, the measure is opposed in the Senate by an unlikely coalition that includes New Hampshire Republicans Judd Gregg and John Sununu and Massachusetts Democrats Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry.
Under Senate rules, 60 votes are needed to shut off debate and bring a bill up for a vote. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said he was planning to file a motion Wednesday or Thursday to bring the bill to a vote Friday or Saturday. Supporters of a filibuster said that they were close to obtaining the 41 votes necessary to block a final vote on the measure.
The House passed the 1,400-page bill after one hour of debate, with 46 Democrats joining 200 Republicans to support it. Congressmen Martin Meehan, D-Lowell, and John Tierney, D-Salem, voted against the bill and were sharply critical of its passage.
Meehan called the bill “horrible” and said it was the worst piece of legislation that Congress had passed in the last five years. He said the bill was a “kickback to Republican campaign contributors.”
Under the bill, Meehan said the nation would continue to rely too heavily on traditional forms of energy, such as oil and coal. He said the measure doesn’t provide a great enough incentive for companies to explore “renewable” types of energy. Roughly two-thirds of the tax incentives in the bill go to oil, coal and natural gas producers, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Tierney said the bill did not “do one good thing for my district or for the country.” He chastised Republicans for negotiating the bill behind closed doors.
“From what I have heard, there were plenty of energy company people in the room and no Democrats,” he said. “That should raise the eyebrows of everyone across America.”
The all-Republican New Hampshire delegation opposed the bill primarily because it contained a liability waiver for producers of MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether), a gasoline additive that has been found to contaminate groundwater. New Hampshire has filed a lawsuit against makers of MTBE, contending that the product contains a carcinogen that has been found in 15 percent of the state’s public water supply.
The MTBE waiver was demanded by Congressman Billy Tauzin, R-La., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Both of their districts house MTBE producers.
The massive bill had been held up for three years, but the late-summer blackout across the Northeast and parts of the Midwest spurred lawmakers to act. Republican negotiators finally produced an agreement Friday. The final disputes involved ethanol, a gasoline additive produced from corn, and the amount of tax credits for energy producers.
Senator Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, insisted the bill include an increase in the use of ethanol in gasoline, an issue critical to farmers in his state. That put him at loggerheads with his House counterpart, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, a California Republican. Ultimately, the deal on ethanol was brokered two weeks ago by Vice President Dick Cheney, who pressured legislators by reminding them the energy bill was an important domestic priority for the President.
With the ethanol issue resolved, negotiators then turned to the tax portion of the legislation. Some Republicans, including Sununu, and Democrats said that with the deficit growing, the country could not afford to lose money by giving energy producers additional tax incentives. The bill’s tax package was three times what the President had originally proposed.
Republican and Democratic critics charge that negotiators padded the legislation with unnecessary tax incentives that would appeal to lawmakers whose districts are home to the beneficiaries.
The Congressional Budget Office sent a letter Tuesday to Tauzin that said enactment of the bill “would reduce revenues by $17.4 billion over the 2004-2008 period and by $25.7 billion over the 2004-2013 period.”
Tierney said support for the bill was along geographic, not partisan lines. In fact, several Democratic Senators from the Midwest – the prime source of the nation’s corn supply — support the bill, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, who could face a tough reelection contest next year, had still not taken sides Wednesday.
DOJ Patriot Act Website Raises Eyebrows
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - A Justice Department Web site designed to mobilize support for the Patriot Act touts favorable quotes from leading Democrats, including Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, presidential contenders who are now critics of the law.
The Web site, www.lifeandliberty.gov, features comments made by Democrats and Republicans during and immediately after Congress debated and passed the Patriot Act in October 2001. It was barely more than one month after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and Washington was desperate to find ways to root out terrorism.
Two years later, the terrain has changed. Some Democrats and Republicans who initially supported the act, which gave more powers to law enforcement agencies, now say it curtails too many civil liberties and needs to be amended. And now some Democratic presidential candidates, who are campaigning against the Patriot Act, find that their earlier statements are being used as part of a Bush administration campaign to defend the law.
The Kerry campaign, in particular, is unhappy about it.
"It is just another example of the misleading that this administration does in putting politics over policy," said campaign spokeswoman Kelly Benander. Benander did not deny the accuracy of Kerry's quotation.
Kerry has emerged as a vocal critic of the Patriot Act during the presidential primary campaign. But the Justice Department Web site quotes him as saying on the Senate floor on Oct. 25, 2001, "With the passage of this legislation, terrorist organizations will not be able . . . to do the kinds of things they did on Sept. 11."
Edwards, who voted for the Patriot Act, has also sharply criticized it and has called for the repeal of some of its provisions. Efforts to reach the Edwards campaign for comment were unsuccessful.
Blain Rethmeier, a Justice Department spokesman, said the prominent placement of Democrats on the Web site's "Congress Speaks" page was "coincidental. There is no intent behind it."
In an August press release promoting the new Web site, Barbara Comstock, then the director of public affairs for the Justice Department, said the site would attempt to "dispel some of the major myths perpetuated as part of the disinformation campaign" against the Patriot Act.
She added that ""while news reports sometimes describe the law as 'controversial,' I have included below just some of the statements previously made by members of Congress about the Patriot Act." Among them are statements by Kerry and Edwards.
The Patriot Act provides federal law enforcement officials with new tools to track and obstruct terrorists. But in the roughly two years since its unanimous enactment,, the act has been the subject of withering criticism from opponents for violating individual liberties. The most vocal critics have been Democrats running for President.
As the outcry over the act intensified, Attorney General John Ashcroft traveled across the country this summer giving speeches that defended the law as effective and fair.
The Web site's home page displays a summary of the bill with links to other pages on such subjects as "Dispelling the Myths," "Support of the People," "Responding to Congress" and the "Congress Speaks" page that includes the floor statements and press releases that are two years old.
Jameel Jaffers, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Web site was "meant to sell legislation and is clearly a political site."
The law is set to expire in 2005, and President Bush spoke at CIA Headquarters in September in support of expanding the Justice Department's authority. It is unclear whether Congress would be asked to reauthorize the act or enact a new law in its place.
Will Medicare Issues be Resolved?
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - They are almost all Republicans, meeting behind closed doors in an effort to resolve their differences. But time is running out for Congress to complete its work on what would be the most significant overhaul to Medicare in 40 years.
"I've always thought failure was not an option," said Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy. "But we are in the last moments of the final inning."
Republican congressional leaders have said they wish to recess this month, but first they'd like to pass a Medicare bill that is a domestic priority for them and for President Bush. But one moderate Republican whose support is considered crucial to ultimate passage is not so sure the issue will be resolved.
"I am pessimistic that a bill will get finished," said Sen. Lincoln Chafee, R-Rhode Island.
Last summer, both the House and Senate approved a $400 billion, 10-year package that would revamp the health care system for seniors and, for the first time, provide them a prescription drug benefit. Yet the bill has been hamstrung by differences between House and Senate versions, particularly a House provision that would allow direct competition between private-sector plans and Medicare.
Democrats say such competition would eventually leave seniors without care. Republicans, prodded by conservatives in the House, have insisted that private plans be allowed to compete.
In June, the House passed its Medicare bill 216-215 amid last-minute arm-twisting by House GOP leaders. With only a one-vote margin, the House leadership is keenly aware of the value of every Republican vote. Therefore, various coalitions that emerge on the legislation can hold disproportionate sway over negotiations. For example, 42 House conservatives have threatened to oppose any bill that does not contain the provision for private competition.
In the Senate, Republicans must placate the concerns of moderate Senate Democrats and the liberal Kennedy, who long has been a leader on Medicare and who is the senior Democrat on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Kennedy supported the Senate version of Medicare, bringing with him Democrats who might otherwise have voted against the measure. As a result, his continued support is vital to the life of the bill.
"They need to keep the Senate Democrats happy and the House Republicans happy," said Congressman Martin Meehan, D-Lowell.
The two Republicans attempting to bridge the gaps are House Ways and Means chairman Bill Thomas of California and Senate Finance Committee chairman Charles Grassley of Iowa. They have engaged in several public disputes over the last few months, which has done little to inspire confidence that compromise can be reached.
"The disagreements between Thomas and Grassley are issues affecting who they represent and not between them personally," Chafee said.
Grassley reportedly wants to ensure that $25 billion goes to Medicare payments for rural states. Thomas is said to oppose that provision.
Democrats, meanwhile, have protested the fact that only two of their members--Senators John Breaux of Louisiana and Max Baucus of Montana--have been allowed to participate in the negotiations,. Last week, Congressman Charles Rangel, D-New York, attempted to join the Medicare discussions but was not permitted, Meehan said.
"There is a long way to go," he said. "To get the biggest issues resolved, you need to get Democrats a seat at the table."
It is likely to take congressional aides six to eight days to draft legislative language once an agreement has been reached. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office must review the bill to ensure it does not exceed its limit of $400 billion.
Many Congress members and advocates for senior citizens worry that if a Medicare bill is not completed this year, it will fall victim to presidential politics in 2004. But Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, said he does not necessarily think that will be the case.
"It will be harder to get a bill next year in an election year," Tierney said. But, he said, "I don't know why that has to be a matter of course."
Tierney said that it was "politically imperative" for the President to get a Medicare bill but questioned whether the bill would contain enough for Senate Democrats to support it.
The Bush administration reportedly has agreed with House Republicans to seek possible cutbacks in Medicare benefits, including the prescription drug plan, if the program's costs exceed $400 billion.
House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to continue their daily negotiations until at least Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Senate Approves Ban on Partial Birth Abortions
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - The Senate voted Tuesday to ban what opponents call partial-birth abortions, clearing the way for the first ban on a type of abortion since the Supreme Court legalized abortions in its seminal Roe v. Wade decision 30 years ago.
President Bush has said he will sign the bill, which the House passed three weeks ago. But opponents are prepared to challenge the constitutionality of the legislation in court as soon as the president signs it, according to an attorney with the Center for Reproductive Rights, which won a similar lawsuit three years ago.
The Senate voted 64-34 to approve the ban. New Hampshire Republican Senators Judd Gregg and John Sununu voted in support of the ban, while Massachusetts Democrats Edward M. Kennedy and John Kerry voted against it. Kerry, a candidate for president, was campaigning in New Hampshire and flew back to Washington for the vote.
Kennedy decried the Bush administration for "constantly attempting to undermine" Roe v. Wade.
"Proposals such as the partial-birth abortion bill are blatantly unconstitutional," he said in a statement. "Women have a constitutional right to choose, and Congress should respect that right."
Senators Gregg, Sununu and Kerry did not return phone calls seeking comment on their vote.
Partial-birth abortion is not a medical term, but refers to a controversial procedure that opponents say is generally performed late in a pregnancy on a partially delivered fetus. Abortion-rights advocates argue that the procedure is extremely rare, and that the legislation passed by Congress is so vaguely worded that it will outlaw other, more common procedures performed as early as 12 weeks into a pregnancy.
In 2000, there were 2,200 partial-birth abortions out of 1.3 million abortions performed nationally, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit organization that conducts reproductive health research. Figures were not available by state for partial-birth abortions. But in Massachusetts, 30,410 women obtained abortions in 2000, equal to the national average, while 3,010 women in New Hampshire had abortions, 10% below the national average, the Guttmacher Institute reported.
Passage of the legislation has long been a goal of social conservatives, who expressed renewed hope when Republican's took control of the Senate last year. President Clinton twice vetoed similar bills, in 1996 and 1997, because they did not include exceptions to protect the health of the woman. Abortion-rights supporters argue the latest bill also does not offer a health exception.
As the battle shifts from Congress to the courts, abortion-rights advocates are rallying around a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 2000 that struck down a Nebraska state law that also banned partial-birth abortions. The court ruled that the Nebraska law was unconstitutional because it did not clearly define what procedure was prohibited and did not provide a health exception for the woman.
Supporters of the ban say they have addressed the legal issues raised in the Nebraska case by tightening definitions and offering findings that show the procedure has not been used to protect women's health.
Priscilla Smith, director of the Domestic Legal Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said the issues before the Supreme Court in the Nebraska case were identical to the bill that is headed to Bush. The bill is slated to become law the day after Bush signs it.
Bremer Makes Case for More Money in Iraq
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - The American in charge of the rebuilding of Iraq appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday and offered this sober assessment of the situation there: "We will have good days and bad days."
L. Paul Bremer III, administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, spent nearly three hours defending President Bush's request for an additional $87 billion for war and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan -- and specifically the $20.3 billion the administration has included to enhance security and restore electricity and water in Iraq.
"This is urgent," Bremer said. "The urgency of military operations is self-evident. The funds for non-military operations are equally urgent. Now the reality of foreign troops on the streets is starting to chafe, some Iraqis are beginning to regard us as occupiers and not as liberators. Let's not hide the fact."
Before they grant any money, senators wanted answers.
Bremer faced a chorus of criticism from Democrats on the committee who wanted information for constituents who are growing wary of U.S. involvement in Iraq and wondering why the United States was being forced to pay the whole bill.
"Polls are not a basis to make decisions," said Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the panel's senior Democrat. "But when things go south here [in the Senate] they go south quickly."
Bremer said he hoped the United States would receive pledges from other nations and the international financial community to assist with the reconstruction during a conference on Iraq in Madrid in late October. Currently, Iraq is saddled with a $200 billion foreign debt - half of it owed France, Germany, Japan and Russia -- extending back to deposed President Saddam Hussein. The sizable debt is considered an impediment to Iraq's receiving loans from international monetary organizations.
Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Maryland, asked how long U.S. forces would remain in Iraq. Bremer told him it would be at least the next year.
With the President's approval ratings dropping, Democrats in recent days have become increasingly strident in questioning the administration's plan for Iraq. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, has led the charge, calling Bush's initial rationale for war a "fraud" that was politically inspired. He did not back down Tuesday in comments on the Senate floor, though he softened his language somewhat.
"There's no question the White House sees political advantage in the war. You can see it in Karl Rove's speeches to Republican strategists," Kennedy said Tuesday, referring to White House political adviser.
In the face of these questions and complaints, Bremer's time this week on Capitol Hill has been busy and not very pretty. Bremer reportedly was met with hostility when he addressed Senate Democrats at their weekly policy lunch Tuesday -- and did not even receive the traditional polite applause before he left.
In his opening remarks to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday, Bremer said the first priority for Iraq was to write a constitution that would create a political and legal structure, which, in turn, would allow for economic expansion. He said he did not know how long it would take to draft a constitution.
A critical component of securing the peace is an increased number of trained Iraqi police, Bremer said. Currently there are 40,000 Iraqi police officers, and another 40,000 are needed, he said. Training 25,000 police in the next year, the current goal, would be four times quicker than any previous similar effort, Bremer said.
In response to a question from Sen. John Sununu, R-New Hampshire, Bremer said Iraq was on target to meet its goals for electric power capacity. He added that oil output was 1.7 million barrels a day now, with a goal of 2 million barrels by the end of the year.
Bremer said the entire $87 billion budget request - including the reconstruction effort -- was essential to win the war on terror.
"Recreating Iraq as a nation at peace with itself and with the world, an Iraq that terrorists flee rather than flock to, requires more than people with guns," he said.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, did not attend the hearing. A Democratic presidential candidate, he picked up an endorsement an hour after the hearing concluded from the International Association of Firefighters, which was meeting in Washington.
Sept. 11 Victims Compensation Fund Deadline Nears and Decisions Loom
By David Tamasi
WASHINGTON - In the two years since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, victims' families have coped not only with devastating grief, but with a very difficult choice: whether to seek financial damages through a fund established by Congress or through the courts.
So wrenching is the choice that most have put it off, almost until the last minute. Victims who were injured in the attacks and, in most cases, the families of those who died have until Dec. 22 to file claims with the federal Victim Compensation Fund. If they do, they lose their right to sue, and possibly a chance to collect more money.
Ninety-three Massachusetts residents died in the attacks, yet only 28 victims' families - fewer than one-third -- have filed claims with the victim compensation fund, according to Camille Barris, assistant to the director of the fund. While 41 Merrimack Valley area residents died, Barris was unable to say how many of their survivors had filed claims.
Lee and Eunice Hanson, from Easton, Conn. lost their son, Peter, daughter in law, Sue and a 2-year-old granddaughter Christine Lee, all from Groton, on United Airlines flight 175, the second airplane to crash into the World Trade Center. The Hansons submitted a claim to the victim compensation fund and are awaiting a reply. But they understand why others have not done so.
"It drives you crazy to have to face it. There is so much grief and you are not able to start the paperwork," Lee Hanson said in a telephone interview. "I really hope people do submit the paperwork before the deadline, but it is just so difficult."
He said he believed the small number of people who had filed for compensation stemmed more from grief than with a desire to pursue potentially higher economic awards through civil litigation.
"I do not believe people are weighing the pros and cons of whether to file with the fund or a separate civil lawsuit," Lee Hanson said.
Yet a decidedly different rationale was given by Carie Lemack, whose mother Judy Larocque was killed aboard American Airlines flight 11, the first plane to strike the World Trade Center. Lemack also serves as vice president of Families of September 11, a nonprofit organization founded by families of victims to promote policies that would prevent further terrorist attacks and improve the public response to them.
Lemack said that Kenneth Feinberg, appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft to oversee the fund, has "made it a fund based on need rather than loss, which was not Congress's intent. Mr. Feinberg determines the need and there is no appeal of his decision. That is a lot of power for one person to hold."
President Bush signed a law creating the Victim Compensation Fund 12 days after the terrorist attacks. It was included in legislation that provided financial aid to the airline industry. The fund offers compensation to people who were injured or to relatives of those killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or on a flight downed over Shanksville, Pa.
The $3 billion fund pays victims and their families based on a complicated formula based largely on economic losses. So far, victims' families have received awards ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million, according to Leo V. Boyle, President of Trial Lawyer's Care, which provides free legal services to the families.
The fund caps non-economic losses - primarily for pain and suffering -- at $250,000.
Of the 3,016 people identified as having died in the terrorist attacks, the families of only 41 percent have filed claims with the Victim Compensation Fund, Boyle said.
Boyle attributed much of the delay to the difficulty of applying for compensation. The fund requires extensive documentation and completion of a 25-page victim compensation form.
"Filings with the victim's compensation fund will be hundreds of pages and are quite detailed," said Boyle, a long-time Boston attorney. "Only a tiny amount of people, 69 or 70 have filed civil lawsuits against the airlines or the [Massachusetts] Port Authority." The Port Authority controls flights departing Logan International Airport, including the two that slammed into the World Trade Center.
Feinberg reportedly has asked members of Congress to help him spread the word to victims' families of the looming cutoff date for filing claims. In addition, Feinberg plans to travel across the country this month to conduct informational meetings with victims' relatives. He will visit Boston on Sept. 22.
Congressman Martin T. Meehan, D-Lowell, said that the victim compensation fund was flawed because it does not provide large enough awards for pain and suffering and because it subtracts life insurance payments from potential awards. For example, if a victims' family is granted $1.2 million from the fund but paid $1 million in life insurance, it actually would receive $200,000 from the fund.
"I met with Kenneth Feinberg after having spoken with victims in my district," said Meehan. "I told him that a large number of people would not file because the fund was not fair or generous enough to victims."
Congressman John Tierney, D-Salem, said that his office had heard from victims' families expressing concerns about the fund and relayed them to Feinberg.
"I had contact with Feinberg back when the fund was being finalized," said Tierney. "We have not heard anything from his office recently."
A spokesperson for Congressman Charles Bass, R-Concord, said that Bass had received only general correspondence from Feinberg's office regarding the fund.
"We have not been asked to do anything specific, in terms of outreach," said spokeswoman Sally Tibbetts.
Feinberg did not return repeated phone calls for comment.
Linda Plazonja, executive director of Massachusetts 9/11 Fund, Inc., which raises money for free legal, financial and counseling services to victims' families, said there were a multitude of reasons, including grief, that a family might delay a decision.
"It is a very personal decision for people to make, especially when they are grieving," said Plazonja. "Families must conduct a complete financial analysis and every person's situation is unique."
Although the Victim Compensation Fund does offset for life insurance payments, it does not do so for charitable contributions. As a result, Sept 11 funds have emerged throughout the country to assist those who have suffered economic hardship.
An estimated $1.3 billion had been raised by last spring nationally, and about $5.4 million was distributed to Massachusetts families, according to the Massachusetts 9/11 Fund. That fund donated $513,000 in March 2002 and is gearing up for another round of contributions, according to its web site.
Meehan himself created the Marty Meehan Educational Fund, which has handed out 28 scholarships at $15,000 apiece for 13 families. The money pays for tuition, student loans and grief counseling. Grandchildren of victims also are eligible to collect money from that fund.
Boyle, of the Trial Lawyer's Care, said his group is urging victims' families to seek money from the Victim Compensation Fund before it is too late.
"This event transcends every other experience in human history and it is extremely difficult for people to relive it," Boyle said. "Many hundreds have filed with the fund and I believe hundreds more will."
Fuel Cells Begin to Play Major Role in State, Country
By Bill Yelenak
WASHINGTON – As the war in Iraq continues to highlight the United States' dependence on foreign oil, many scientists are turning their attention to something discovered 164 years ago: fuel cells powered by hydrogen.
The potent cells already power a New York City police station and a skyscraper. They have been placed in buses. They have gone to the moon.
The cells, said U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-1), "hold the greatest potential and the greatest opportunity for us both to embrace the most abundant element in the universe in hydrogen and also to wean ourselves off of our near-addiction to petroleum."
Fuel cells produce electricity by creating a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Cars powered by fuel cells would emit only water vapor.
United Technologies Corporation Fuel Cells, of South Windsor, the leading fuel cell manufacturer in the United States, makes the PC25 fuel cell power plant, which converts natural gas and other fuels into hydrogen before they enter the fuel cell, according to UTC spokesman Peter Dalpe.
Larson, who has proposed legislation that would step up research on fuel cells and hydrogen gas, said the United States produces far less oil than it uses. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that in 2001, the United States consumed 26 percent of the world's oil and produced only 9 percent.
President George W. Bush's proposal to drill for oil on protected land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska wouldn't change that equation, said Larson, who opposes the Alaskan drilling.
Despite his support for drilling in ANWR, Bush also is pushing to increase research into fuel cells. Bush has proposed spending $720 million in new money over the next five years to conduct research on hydrogen fuel cells.
Although fuel cells were invented in 1839, they did not have a practical application until the Apollo space missions of the 1960s. It wasn't until the mid-1990s - after the Gulf War -- that the automotive industry really began looking into the technology.
TO THE MOON AND BACK
UTC, a power company, began working with fuel cells in the 1960s, when it figured out how to send them into space on the Apollo missions, according to Dalpe. He credited fuel cells with making possible the first moon landing in 1969, explaining that they helped power the Apollo XI spacecraft as it exited and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
"We started with the space missions, and the reason the space missions needed a fuel cell was they needed to provide electrical power on-board the spacecraft," Dalpe said. "You need to do that as you're going through the atmosphere and as you're coming back."
Dalpe said it would have been impossible to reach the moon at the time using batteries, the existing technology, because they are too large and heavy.
"We wouldn't have made it up to the moon without fuel cells," Dalpe said. "And of course, you're sending up hydrogen and oxygen with this thing, so hey - what better to run it off of?"
The Apollo missions, Dalpe said, were "where the fuel cell industry started."
DOWN TO EARTH
Despite the fuel cell's success in space, it wasn't until the 1990s that major advances were made.
Companies such as UTC and the Canadian-based Ballard Power Systems had researched the fuel cells and were ready to put them on fleet-based vehicles, such as buses, to eliminate those vehicles' reliance on gasoline.
SunLine Transit Agency, a California-based bus company, originally considered putting fuel cells on buses in 1992. But it discovered that with the immense size of the fuel cells, placing them in a stack on a vehicle would take up "36 seats of a 40-seat bus," according to Bill Clapper, the executive director of the SunLine Services Group, which operates the bus company.
However, in August 1992, the company turned instead to compressed natural gas, which, it concluded, was cost-effective and environmentally sound.
SunLine has continued to test the newer fuel-cell technology, Clapper said. For 13 months beginning in 2000, the company tested one fuel-cell powered bus for a private shuttle service. SunLine was able to use it on buses after fuel cell companies discovered advancements allowing fuel cell stacks to be as small as 1 foot wide and 3 feet long.
Each fuel cell is about the size of a license plate and with the current design for cars and buses, there are about 250 of them in a stack. That entire stack, Dalpe said, can fit under the back seat.
More recently, SunLine tested a hybrid bus, running off of a battery and a UTC fuel cell stack, on one of its regular routes. The six-month demonstration was halted when the bus needed routine maintenance. But, clearly, it was popular with riders.
"We started getting calls into our customer service line wanting to know when the fuel-cell bus was going to be back online because they liked its quietness," Clapper said.
Clapper said he thought the fuel cell stacks would become prevalent in buses, which operate in fleets, before they would in cars. People who drive cars would have more difficulty finding hydrogen stations to refuel, he explained.
While the bus was a short-term success, Clapper said the technology needed to be improved before it could be used all the time. One problem is each cell's duration, he said.
Clapper said SunLine runs each of its buses about 6,900 hours a year. Since the current life of a fuel cell is just 4,000 hours, each stack would have to be replaced nearly twice a year, he said.
"The reliability and the durability are the issues in the transportation mode," Clapper said. "It's much easier in a stationary mode for fuel cells, because you don't have the shake, rattle and roll environment that affects all the vehicles out there."
STAYING STILL, BUT MOVING FORWARD
Looming 48 stories over Times Square, the Conde Nast building boasts a stationary fuel cell. Fuel cells also are used to power several of New York City's wastewater treatment plants and a police station in Central Park.
Dalpe, the UTC spokesman, said it would have cost the city $1.3 million to rip up part of the park to install electrical equipment to power the police station. Instead, the police department bought one of UTC's PC25s - at the going rate of $900,000 - and now the entire station runs free of the city's power grid.
"If the lights go off in the city, they don't go off in this police station," Dalpe said. "Here you are, right in the middle of our largest city, this real application of a fuel cell."
At the Conde Nast building, two of UTC's units - which are the size of a small truck - add to the power flowing into the building from the city's electrical grid. They also produce a significant amount of heat.
The Connecticut Juvenile Training School, a correctional school for teens, has the largest fuel cell installation in the world.
If the entire town of Middletown goes dark during a power outage, the lights, video surveillance cameras and security stations of the training school will keep on working. Six 200-kilowatt fuel cells, which work along with the electric grid and other generators, provide the facility with 1.2-megawatts of power.
However, it will be trumped next year by a 1.4-megawatt system being placed in Long Island for telephone company Verizon. The seven 200-kilowatt fuel cells will work with each other to give power to a call-routing center that gives local phone service to approximately 40,000 customers. Verizon will use generators, batteries and the electrical grid to back up the fuel cells.
PC25s have also been used in high schools, including South Windsor High School. The school added a fuel cell to its existing power system, according to Al Mothersele, chairman of the applied technology department.
Mothersele said the device made sense because "it would provide power in the event of an emergency, like a blizzard or something like that."
He added that the school now uses about half of the electric power that it used before, significantly reducing its draw off the power grid.
The fuel-cell system has not been fully tested, since the school has not had a power outage since it was installed last October, Mothersele said. But it could provide an important safety net because the high school serves as a regional emergency shelter, he said.
"It's really a seamless technology," Mothersele said. "It's just out there doing its thing, and we reap the benefits."
DRIVING AROUND TOWN
The big new test for fuel cells will take place in cars.
The first fuel cell vehicle to be certified as a zero emissions vehicle (ZEV) by both the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board is the Honda FCX, powered by fuel cells produced by Ballard, based in British Columbia.
There is only one on the road. And behind the wheel is Brian Williams, Los Angeles' deputy mayor for transportation. Williams said the FCX is very much like a regular gasoline-powered car.
"Other than the fact that it is probably the most environmentally sound vehicle anyone is driving, there isn't a whole lot of difference," Williams said.
Other car companies are rushing to compete with Honda. Dalpe said UTC is working with BMW, Hyundai and Nissan to provide various forms of fuel-cell technology for their cars. He said BMW wants to install a hydrogen combustion engine to power its car and use a fuel cell to power the electrical instruments.
"They put a 5-kilowatt fuel cell in the trunk," Dalpe said. "All the gizmos of modern BMW Series 7 vehicles run off the fuel cell. You can have the engine off with everything on."
Nissan has developed the X-TRAIL, which uses both a fuel cell stack and a battery, and is licensing UTC's patent on the fuel cell technology.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
Rep. Larson is optimistic that fuel cells soon will help the United States reduce its reliance on oil.
"I think that this is doable within a ten-year period," he said. "It will take Americans stepping up, but imagine the amount of money that will flow into Wall Street if all of a sudden municipalities and states are requesting of General Motors and others that they want vehicles that are powered by fuel cells."
Dalpe agreed, saying the technology could make cars powered by fuel cells available to buyers in seven to 12 years.
Andy Boyd, a spokesman for Honda, said the FCX is still in testing, and its ultimate price is uncertain.
"It's all new technology, it's all mass produced. Any time you're in that stage of technological development, cost has to be very high," Boyd said. "We're optimistic that, over time, those costs can come down."
While Dalpe and Larson were hopeful the fuel cell cars could be on the market in the next few years, others, such as Clapper of the SunLine bus company, said placing the cells into vehicles might not be a viable method of power for some time. He said there needed to be more improvements to make fuel cells a good economic choice for large fleets.
Christopher Phelps, an advocate for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (ConnPIRG), said there were other roadblocks. He said he is concerned about how hydrogen is refined. If it is obtained from fossil fuels, it would create pollution, Phelps said.
However, he said there were plenty of other ways to refine the world's most abundant gas than getting it from fossil fuels. Using solar or wind power to generate hydrogen, he said, would make fuel cells the most environmentally friendly way of powering cars or buildings.
Fuel cells will undergo years of testing before they become commonplace. But Los Angeles' Williams said he's eagerly awaiting the day the technology o reaches its full potential and believed hydrogen-powered cars would create a new way of life.
"There's been a huge investment by both private and governmental entities toward this new technology," Williams said. "I really do think this car is at the cusp of the revolution in our automotive industry and in our power industry right now."
"Personally, I intend to buy one once I can get one that's a little bigger for me and my family," he said. "I'd absolutely be in the front of the line, ready to purchase one."
Bill Yelenak, a Boston University student, works at the Boston University Washington News Service in Washington, D.C. His telephone number is 202-756-2860 ext: 114 and his email is byelenak@newbritainherald.com.
Published in The New Britain Herald, in Connecticut.
Autism Growing, But Causes Are In Dispute
By Scott Brooks
WASHINGTON - Jareb and Avery Lopez are identical twins. They are six years old, with dark hair and brown eyes. They also are autistic.
Their mother, Sherry Amaral, says her sons were not born that way.
Ms. Amaral, of New Bedford, said she believes the twins were poisoned during infancy, when doctors administered their required vaccine shots.
Those shots, she says, put her children on a crippling path, where language skills that they had started to develop suddenly vanished and everyday stresses caused them to vomit and shriek.
Ms. Amaral is one of many parents across the nation who blame vaccines, particularly those containing mercury, for a startling increase in autism among children. Though there is some disagreement, most scientific studies have not found a link between vaccines and autism.
Doctors have not, however, provided Ms. Amaral with an explanation for her sons' condition.
"I have a hard time understanding it," she said. "How can they develop normally, then all of a sudden start to regress?"
Since doctors diagnosed her sons almost three years ago, Ms. Amaral has waited for the day when someone would compensate her family. Until now, that has been impossible.
A federal program that compensates people who have been injured by vaccines has been closed to Ms. Amaral and her sons. To be eligible for compensation, the family would have had to file a claim with the program within three years of the boys' vaccinations. Ms. Amaral, who did not learn about allegations that vaccines might cause autism until years after her sons' diagnoses, was six months too late.
However, after a tortuous path through Congress, a bill that is now gaining momentum aims to make drastic changes to the program. The legislation would give Ms. Amaral a chance to file for compensation, but, advocates for autistic children warn, at a price.
The bill would protect some pharmaceutical companies from hundreds of lawsuits that have been filed against them nationwide. Parents no longer would be able to sue the companies, but instead would file for compensation from the federal government.
But the government wouldn't necessarily agree to pay the families. That would come down to whether parents such as Ms. Amaral can prove a link between vaccines and autism.
The bill's supporters - led by Senate Majority Leader and licensed surgeon Bill Frist of Tennessee - say no such link exists. Much of the medical community agrees.
At the center of the dispute is thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that until recently was prevalent in several mandatory childhood vaccines. Ms. Amaral said her sons were exposed to an excessive dose of thimerosal when they received hepatitis-B vaccines and other shots.
Around the time the boys were celebrating their first birthday, they were inoculated against measles, mumps and rubella. Although that shot, which combines three vaccines into one, did not contain thimerosal, some parents suspect it can produce adverse reactions in certain kids.
Ms. Amaral said she can see the changes in her family's home videos. On tape, she said, the boys appear to be reaching all of the typical childhood milestones. They have a short list of words they can pronounce with total clarity: mama, papa, ball, cup. They can call out to their aunt in Portuguese, the language of Ms. Amaral's family. Today, they can't do any of those things.
Pediatricians were slow to recognize the severity of the boys' illnesses, Ms. Amaral said. When Jareb and Avery were diagnosed around age 3, she said, she started doing research but couldn't find a suitable explanation for what had happened.
One day, Ms. Amaral saw a magazine story on thimerosal. Suddenly, she said, it made sense.
An Autism Epidemic
In Massachusetts, the autism rate has shown a steady increase in the past two decades. In 2001, the state reported 92 cases of autism among teenagers born in 1985. That compares to 193 cases among children born in 1990 and a statewide high of 318 cases among children born just two years after that. National studies show a similar trend and, though estimates vary, most suggest that autism rates have jumped significantly in the last decade.
But scientists are unclear on just what caused the spike. Perhaps doctors have gotten better at diagnosing less severe cases, spotting them earlier and more often. Or maybe the criteria for positive diagnoses have expanded.
Fairhaven nurse Pam Ferro, whose 11-year-old son is autistic, insists vaccine poisoning is to blame.
Ms. Ferro, who directs an autism program at Hopewell Associates in Mattapoisett, said she has observed a distinct increase in autism rates in the SouthCoast. The autism treatment center, which she co-founded, recently held a conference in Fall River for families with autistic children. Without much advertising, she said, the event drew 150 parents.
Ms. Ferro said some areas of Massachusetts, such as the old industrial districts of Fall River, are especially toxic. If a child is genetically predisposed to getting sick, pollution can increase their chances of being diagnosed with autism, she said.
Fish, too -- a staple of the SouthCoast economy -- are known to contain mercury, and pregnant women are sometimes advised to avoid eating certain types.
"It's some genetics that play a role, but kids are getting a huge environmental insult," Ms. Ferro said.
But Ms. Ferro, like other parents, is still looking for research to back her claim that thimerosal is directly responsible for increased autism rates. The Institute of Medicine, a private medical research organization, looked into the matter two years ago and found only that it was "biologically plausible." The researchers concluded there was insufficient evidence to accept or reject the theory.
Leading advocates for autistic children tend to point to a recent study, led by Dr. Mark Geier, a Maryland geneticist, which reported a link between thimerosal and autism.
Many scientists, however, say the study was unconvincing. They charge that Dr. Geier has a conflict of interest because he has testified on behalf of plaintiffs in various vaccine injury cases.
Dr. Geier is resolute in assigning guilt to vaccine companies. In a recent interview, he said the autism cases make AIDS, as well as the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, "look like a joke," and called the issue "the greatest catastrophe in the history of the world."
Critics note that so-called mainstream medical journals have shunned the Geier study.
"Try to find it," challenged Dr. Karin Nelson, a neurologist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Dr. Nelson is the co-author of a competing study released earlier this year that found no evidence of a link between thimerosal and autism.
Without much else to go on, many autism groups chide the federal government for being reluctant to fund new investigations. Some go so far as to say that the government, along with drug companies, is fearful of what researchers might find. If, in fact, a link is discovered, the costs to both could be extraordinary.
Cambridge businessman and autism activist Mark Blaxill, the father of an autistic 7-year-old, said he believes respectable scientists have been discouraged from pursuing the matter.
"If this is true, this is a massive blunder, and it calls into question the entire governance process of the childhood immunization program," he said. "It would mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of children have been harmed by government policy. This is not a comfortable theory."
Dr. Nelson, however, said it isn't like that. She said the government is interested in other areas of research, where federal dollars and personnel can be put to better use.
"It's a matter of priority," she said. "There's a lot of important research to do. I think this hasn't been thought sufficiently plausible to pursue."
Washington Weighs In
Talk in Washington about the controversy has centered on one question: How, if at all, are families to be compensated?
Claims against vaccine makers typically go through the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which Congress created in 1986 to absorb legal costs that might otherwise have sunk the industry.
But Congress failed to account for a loophole in the law, which allowed lawyers to file lawsuits against companies that manufacture the components of the vaccines but not the vaccines themselves. Thimerosal is one such component.
Lawsuits are also being filed against companies that make neither the vaccines nor the vaccine components. In the last few years, hundreds of lawsuits have been brought against Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company that, spokesman Ed Sagebiel said, has been out of the vaccine business for more than 25 years. The company was the first to use thimerosal in its vaccines, beginning in the 1930s.
Congressional Republicans - who received three-quarters of all pharmaceutical companies' campaign contributions over the past two years -- say the lawsuits are a serious threat to the manufacture of vaccines. If pharmaceutical companies are held liable for multimillion-dollar jury awards, they will stop making vaccines altogether, the Congress members contend.
At the end of the legislative session last fall, Republicans slipped vaccine industry protections into the high-profile Homeland Security bill.
By the time advocates for autistic children discovered the provision, it had passed Congress. President Bush signed the bill. But earlier this year, opponents succeeded in getting the measure removed, a quick turnaround that rarely happens on Capitol Hill.
The new legislation, sponsored by Sen. Frist, would steer families of autistic children away from the courts and into the federal compensation program. The government would decide whether and how to award parents for their children's injuries.
Unlike last year's measure, however, this one would open the program to Ms. Amaral and other parents who missed the deadline for bringing a case. The change could be crucial for Ms. Amaral, who worries that the cost of caring for her sons is more than her family will be able to handle.
There are the family's grocery bills, for one. Because her children's stomachs are particularly weak, everything Ms. Amaral buys has to be organic. She makes most of her meals from scratch.
There also are specially ordered supplements, as well as therapeutic devices, including a trampoline.
And, of course, there are medical bills. The boys have seen several allergists, and the family has gotten used to the constant need for new tests. Ms. Amaral said regular testing rarely proves accurate, so she takes the boys in regularly for specialized tests, which her health insurance does not cover.
There seems to be no end to the costs, she said. Ms. Amaral, who lives with her sons and boyfriend, works part time for the Nemasket Group, a Fairhaven nonprofit providing support to mentally challenged adults.
"Even if, let's say, a miracle happens -- they start talking, or however you define a miracle -- I envision they will need help for the rest of their lives," she said.
Ms. Amaral is not confident she will ever see compensation. Under the Frist bill, how much money, if any, parents receive would be up to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Without more research to back their claims, many parents are not holding their breath.
"We know we're going to get denied," said Laura Bono, a North Carolina autism activist and mother of an autistic teenager. "What are the chances of my child getting any sort of compensation? It's just very slim."
Vaccinations Continue
In 1999, government health officials recommended that thimerosal be reduced or eliminated in childhood vaccines. No recalls were ordered, but according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the industry agreed to federal recommendations. Today, the CDC reports, all recommended pediatric vaccines being manufactured for use in the United States contain no thimerosal or only trace amounts.
Ms. Bono said the industry should have pulled thimerosal from the market entirely, but she thinks she knows why that didn't happen. If makers stopped selling it, the autism rate would bottom out, a sure sign that thimerosal causes autism, she said.
"I can't prove it," she said. "It's just my belief."
Dr. Geier said thimerosal is still in half of all childhood vaccines on the market. He recommended that parents check the package insert for a vaccine's contents before allowing their children to be immunized. Ms. Ferro offered the same recommendation.
Proponents of the new vaccine bill, however, expressed concern that these warnings, and the autism groups' efforts to publicize their concerns about thimerosal, are creating a panic.
"I am deeply concerned that these unsubstantiated allegations are frightening parents and that some might not get their children immunized on time, which puts children at a much greater risk," said Dr. Louis Cooper, former president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. "That's what scares me.
"I know that today's kids are so much safer because of these vaccines, but they're only safer if they're used."
Autism groups, such as Ms. Ferro's Hopewell Associates, maintain that they are not anti-vaccine. But, Ms. Ferro said it should be the drug companies, not parents, who are responsible for ensuring that vaccines are safe.
"There's enough sick children out there to know that what we're doing right now is not the proper way to vaccinate kids," she said. "I agree if we don't fix the situation, we're probably going to see measles again. We're going to run into a bigger problem with lots of children not being vaccinated. However, until they agree to fix the problem and change the protocol, that's what we're facing."
Published in The New Bedford Standard Times, in Massachusetts.
On The Fast Track
By Kim Forrest
WASHINGTON--Kate Käufer moves fast. She's run a marathon, loves to cycle and participates in any sporting event she can.
But her athletic prowess is not the only thing that makes Käufer speedy.
In less than five years, Käufer, 28, has gone from being a congressional aide to an analyst on homeland security issues. She is about to get her master's degree in security policy studies at George Washington University, and she has received a fellowship to work for the federal government.
Käufer was born in Germany to a German father and an American mother, Christopher and Marie Käufer, who now live in Roxbury. She said her love of global politics stems from her own mixing of cultures.
"Growing up as an American in Germany, you're by default part of international relations. There's a world that opens up to you," she said with a smile. "That's where I got my start, I guess. Just reading a lot of [news]papers."
She also gained her tenacity from fending off four older brothers.
"Older brothers usually meant a lot of teasing," she said. "But I also toughened up."
Käufer earned an earlier master's degree in linguistics, political science and U.S. history from the University of Cologne. Then she obtained a congressional fellowship offered by the American Political Science Association - her ticket to Washington.
After more than two decades in Germany, Käufer said getting used to the fast-paced U.S. capital - she called it "a shark pond" -- was tough.
"I would say that I grew up in a more reserved surrounding in Germany, and it took me a while to adjust to what I would describe as American frankness," she said. "It wasn't exactly difficult, but it took time to transition and adjust to the different mentality and social interaction."
Washington, she said, is "a strange city. It took me a while to get used to the style of it. But I like it a lot; it has a lot to offer. It can be very intellectually stimulating. It can also be very partisan."
Her major complaint, however, has nothing to do with politics.
"The weather," she said with a scowl. "It's horrible."
Käufer came to the muggy capital city in 1998 to work as a legislative assistant for then- Rep. Bill Luther (D-MN). She specialized in defense, international affairs and trade issues.
"There's always something going on. You have to be able to think on the run," Käufer said. "I liked working for [Luther]. He was a good person and a good member, and that means a lot."
Luther had equally praiseworthy words about Käufer.
"She was just outstanding. A wonderfully committed young person who worked in my office," he said. "I know that she ahs a great future ahead of her. She loved the legislative process in Congress. Everyone in my office relied on her for knowing minute to minute what was going on on the floor."
After working for about three years on Capitol Hill, Käufer became a policy analyst at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, an independent organization that analyzes the federal government's work on such issues as arms control, weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile defense and terrorism.
Käufer helped write the center's Terrorism Prevention Handbook. Released last October, the handbook reviews federal programs aimed at combating terrorism and how they were funded. She said the goal was to make the handbook easy for ordinary citizens to understand.
"We sort of started it from a concerned citizens' perspective," Käufer explained. "As a citizen living in D.C., I obviously want to be protected from a terrorist attack. And I want to know what the government is doing to protect me from a terrorist attack."
Käufer's boss, Erik Floden, director of the center's terrorism project, said she was an integral part of the project.
"She's doing great," he said. "She and I work more as a team, more than a boss- subordinate kind of thing."
Käufer said that the government is trying to prevent terrorist attacks by safeguarding buildings and improving airline security. But she said it also is important for the United States to help economically struggling countries where terrorism could grow.
"You can make the case that poverty, disenchantment and not having freedom of speech fosters, or at least creates a culture that could support, terrorism," she said.
Käufer, who lives near the Capitol, said she is not afraid of another attack.
"What are you going to do? Live your life in fear?" she asked rhetorically. "There could be a terrorist attack, but people are dying of other causes every day. Am I not going to drive my car because I'm afraid of car accidents? I can't do that."
Despite a jam-packed schedule - or maybe because of it -- Käufer tries to make time to unwind by listening to classical music, an interest she inherited from her father. She also visits her parents in New Hampshire a few times a year.
"I love going up there," she said. "It's beautiful."
Although she's been in Washington most of her adult life, Käufer still is energized by the capital. She remembers feeling humbled and excited the first time she walked down the halls of congressional office buildings.
"I hope I never ever lose that fascination in government," she said.
There's one thing Käufer has gotten used to.
"You do see 'important' people all the time, and it gets kind of normal. I'll go to my cleaner, and there'll be a senator standing there," she says. "If you live in Hollywood, you see all the movie stars. Well, if you live here, you'll see government officials all the time."
So what's next? Käufer seems certain about the direction of her career.
"I want to work for the federal government and I will be working for the federal government," she said, bluntly.
When Käufer receives her master's degree, she will begin the Presidential Management Intern Program, which will allow her to work for a federal agency. She hopes to continue her focus on national security.
That's for now. Käufer has bigger, long-term plans.
"National security adviser Käufer," she said with a laugh. "Sounds pretty good to me."
Published in The Keene Sentinel, in New Hampshire.
Bass Visits Injured Marines in Washington
By Daniel Remin
WASHINGTON — On a dark, cloudy morning, Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., helped brighten up the spirits of wounded Marines hospitalized here with some of New Hampshire's maple syrup.
Bass joined about 11 other members of Congress, including House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., in a trip to the National Naval Medical Center in suburban Bethesda, Md., at 7:15 a.m. yesterday to visit Marines injured in the war with Iraq.
"You don't understand just how much courage it takes to do what these Marines are doing until you see wounded Marines and know that this happened in the field under adverse circumstances," Bass said in an interview.
The Congressmen saw about half of the 25 Marines who were brought to the hospital after being injured in Iraq. Most were 19 to 21 years old. None was older than 25.
Bass said most of the wounded Marines told him they were proud to have served their country and that they supported President Bush's decision to wage war.
"They think they're doing something that's going to make a difference for generations in front of them," Bass said.
Some of the Marines were seriously injured. A tank ran over one Marine while he slept in his tent. Hand grenades exploded in the faces of some others. And a bullet pierced the hip of one Marine and exited the other side, Bass said.
A field doctor cut that Marine open to make sure there was no damage to his arteries and then sewed him back up, Bass said. When he saw him at the hospital, Bass added, he was walking.
"Their friends or their fellow soldiers helped save their lives and bring them through a process where, in some instances, even as recently as Operation Desert Storm, (they) would never have survived," he said, referring to America's last war with Iraq a dozen years ago.
"I thought it was a very important part of my understanding and appreciation of the day to see the people who have made these kinds of sacrifices, talk to them about it and find out how they feel," Bass said.
"All of them were very thin," he said. "They explained to us, 'We were this way because if you had to eat what (we've) been eating for the last six weeks, you wouldn't be fat either.' "
Troops in Iraq dine on MREs, or meals ready-to-eat, standard pre-cooked military food.
None of the Marines Bass saw was from New Hampshire. But he said they enjoyed the maple syrup anyway.
"Their faces brightened up, and they thought that was wonderful," Bass said.
He said he and the other lawmakers asked the Marines if they wished to share the stories of how they were wounded.
"You go into the room with them, and you've never met them or know them. They don't know you," Bass said. "You say, 'Thank you, we admire and appreciate your heroism and we're proud of you. Of course, they go, 'Oh yeah, no big deal.' "
But Bass said the Marines were happy and willing to share their accounts.
"I think it makes them feel better that somebody cares," he said.
(Daniel Remin is an intern with the Boston University Washington News Service.)
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
