Category: Daisy Tseng
Support Program Prepares Members of N.H. National Guard and Families
Mental Health
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Dec. 5, 2009
WASHINGTON – Patrick Sadlemire and Kaileigh Hubbard, who have been dating for two years, have always had communication problems. Little things like calling the landlord to fix a faucet or deciding what they would have for dinner were hard for them to work out, Hubbard said.
“After weeks of bottling my emotions up, something as simple as a bottle cap on the floor would make me verbally throw everything at him but the kitchen sink,” Hubbard, a Concord pre-school teacher, said. “He would become more defensive about all the issues I was bringing up to him at once and would say just about anything to me to make me stop. It was becoming very scary.”
In addition to difficulty communicating, Sadlemire said, he has anger issues and they have financial problems.
Sadlemire, 24, a produce associate at Hannaford Supermarkets in Concord, joined the New Hampshire National Guard four years ago and is among the 140 members of C Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment who are preparing for deployment to Afghanistan early next year.
As a member of the New Hampshire National Guard, Sadlemire was able to get help in working out solutions to the problems the couple was facing. In July Peter Collins was assigned to them as a “care coordinator” by the Full Cycle Deployment Program, a New Hampshire National Guard program that could be copied by other National Guard units across the country.
Started two and half years ago, the program adds pre-deployment planning to the nationwide Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, which provides National Guard and Reserve members and their families with information, services and referrals during and after deployment, according to Col. Rick Greenwood, director of manpower and personnel for the New Hampshire National Guard.
When a service member signs up with the Full Cycle Deployment Program, the member and his or her family are assigned a care coordinator, who develops a lasting relationship with the member and the family, Greenwood said.
A care coordinator, who must have a minimum of a master’s degree in social work or a related field, acts as a case manager who helps service members and their families to figure out what needs and problems might lie ahead and to assess situations across a spectrum of domains. The care coordinator then either offers guidance directly or coordinates with service providers in the civilian community who can present the families with the help they need.
“We provide the individual care and attention to our service members and their families prior to the deployment,” Greenwood said. “The pre-deployment planning is the biggest difference that New Hampshire is doing now.”
The most common problems service members and their families have encountered involve financial, emotional and legal issues, according to Collins, a licensed social worker for 25 years. He’s also helped people deal with relationship issues and the preparation for and anticipation of what children’s reactions might be.
“In pre-deployment planning, we put together a fairly detailed plan that takes the knowledge that we have about service members and families, and some of the problems they’ve experienced in deployment and in reintegration, and we kind of take that step forward, and that can minimize or take away problems from developing later on,” Collins said.
“A lot of the problems that service members face could be mitigated or lessened if intervention was provided before they deploy, if they could anticipate what might come up, and start to put preventive and proactive supports in place,” said Daisy Wojewoda, project director of veterans’ services at Easter Seals New Hampshire, the nonprofit that contracted with the state’s Department of Health and Human Services and the New Hampshire Guard to provide care coordinators.
Approximately 1,400 of the Guard are going to deploy in the next 18 months, according to Greenwood. What differentiates them from regular active-duty Army is that they live a civilian life rather than on a military base and that they and their families don’t get the service and support a military base would provide.
The New Hampshire model was recognized by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who included the Yellow Ribbon Plus amendment in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama at the end of October.
“New Hampshire is leading the nation in developing programs to assist our National Guard, reservists and their families before, during and after deployment,” Shaheen said in a statement. Providing personalized assistance is one of the greatest ways to honor the sacrifice and dedication of the members of the military, she said.
From Sept. 11, 2001 to Sept. 30, 2009, according to the Department of Defense, about 1.4 million regular active-duty personnel of all branches were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 570,000 National Guard and Reserve troops were mobilized, of which about 28 percent were deployed two or more times. Of the total number of National Guard and Reserve troops, 2,900 list New Hampshire as home.
The Yellow Ribbon Plus amendment seeks to evaluate and improve the nationwide Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, calling on the Pentagon to identify lessons learned from programs that have expanded beyond Yellow Ribbon, including New Hampshire’s Full Cycle Deployment Program.
It’s not certain that the new Yellow Ribbon Program will have the personalized service that the New Hampshire National Guard provides, according to Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk, a Pentagon spokesman. It will require extensive collaboration among Department of Defense agencies and each state’s National Guard, he said.
“It’s one thing to be able to handle problems as they develop, it’s another to prevent problems from developing,” Collins said. “And if that can happen across the country, that would be a wonderful thing.”
After about five months of weekly meetings with Collins, Sadlemire and Hubbard are more stable financially, and they have been able not to let their fights escalate to the point where they’re yelling, Sadlemire said.
“I have been able to remain calm during tense conversations or situations,” he said.
Hubbard said that Collins has changed their life. “He came into the relationship at our lowest point, picked us up off of the ground, sat us on our butt and said let’s fix this thing,” she said.
Sadlemire left Dec. 8 for six to eight weeks of training in Indiana before going to Afghanistan.
Although still terrified, Hubbard said, she tries to stay positive about Sadlemire’s deployment.
“Like so many other significant others and soldiers, I am ready for it to begin,” she said. “I am thankful that, through my work with Peter, I am more equipped to handle the stresses of deployment.”
“This program offers sanity and stability – two things that go out the window when your soldier leaves,” she added. “To have someone who understands the process is invaluable.”
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Veterans History Project Collects War Stories
VHP
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Nov. 10, 2009
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., announced Monday her office is participating in the Veterans History Project in conjunction with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, encouraging veterans to tell their stories for future generations.
“We honor the selfless service of our nation’s veterans, who put themselves in harm’s way so that Americans can enjoy the comforts of peace and freedom,” Shaheen said in a statement. “New Hampshire has more than 130,000 veterans, many of whom served in conflicts around the globe, and I’m proud to work with the Library of Congress to make sure New Hampshire veterans’ stories are available for future generations.”
The Veterans History Project, created in 2000, collects first-hand recollections of the nation’s wartime veterans. The stories are either written or recorded with a video camera or an audiotape recorder. The project also collects original diaries, letters, maps and photographs.
Shaheen said that there is information on her Web site for New Hampshire veterans who want to record their stories and that assistance is available from her staff.
The project relies on voluntary participation of veterans. The Library of Congress is receiving about 100 collections per week, and has about 67,000 collections, with close to 7,000 fully digitized and available online, according to Monica Mohindra, senior program officer for the project.
“We’re hoping to encourage and inspire citizens across the country to interview the veterans in their lives,” Mohindra said in a phone interview. “Rather than putting the burden on the veterans themselves to tell their stories, we’re asking the country to interview the veterans. Honor them by interviewing them and collecting their stories.”
The project works with congressional offices, educational institutions and various organizations across the country, including the library in Madison, N.H., the Manchester VA Medical Center, the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton and the University of New Hampshire Center for the Humanities.
In coordination with the Veterans Home, one of Shaheen’s staff members interviewed three New Hampshire veterans and videotaped their stories for the project’s archives.
So far, the project has preserved 145 New Hampshire veterans’ stories. However, collecting stories from New Hampshire veterans doesn’t seem to be that easy.
“So far it’s been hard to drum up interests among veterans and among people to collect stories,” said Mary Cronin, director of the Madison Library, which has participated in the project for about a year but has not had any veterans share their stories.
Cronin said the library is trying to do more networking and get the word out to the community. She even put the information on Twitter this week, hoping to collect more stories, she said.
“Some veterans are reluctant to talk about those war experiences because they’re traumatic. That’s a hurdle for them.” Debra Krinsky of the VA Medical Center said. “We have to let the veterans come to us and want to share their experience.”
The center has participated in the project for about five years and has about 40 veterans’ collections, said Krinsky, the center’s acting public affairs officer.
The New Hampshire Veterans Home joined the project four years ago and has about 15 collections, including the three recently recorded in cooperation with Shaheen’s office, according to Jackie Bonafide at the Veterans Home.
“If you don’t pass that [war experience] along through oral history, you’re missing a lot. It’s very important for future generations to preserve that oral history,” Bonafide said.
“It’s very significant,” Kinsky said, “and it’s very beneficial for them [veterans] to know that their contributions and their sacrifices have been recorded and documented and will be saved for future generations.”
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Senate Passes Unemployment Benefits Extension, Expansion of Housing Tax Credit
BENEFITS VOTE
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Nov. 4, 2009
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted 98-0 Wednesday to approve an economic relief bill that would extend unemployment benefits, expand tax credits for homebuyers and offer tax breaks to businesses hit by the recession. Both Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., supported the bill.
“Many of our nation’s unemployed workers have been anxiously waiting for these benefits to come through, and I’m happy to report that relief is on the way,” Shaheen said in a statement. “I am proud of the bill that passed the Senate today. It will help nearly 2 million Americans who are still unable to find work, protect small businesses struggling in this challenging economic climate and stimulate economic activity to help create jobs and grow our economy.”
Gregg in a statement called the extension of unemployment benefits “an appropriate and needed effort.”
”I supported this measure, as I believe it will provide important assistance to those hit hard by unemployment and incentives to boost economic activity,” Gregg said. “It also is fully offset and will not add to the deficit.”
The Senate bill is estimated to cost $2.4 billion over 10 years and its backers say its cost would be fully offset by an extension of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act until June 30, 2011.
The vote originally was scheduled for Thursday but came to the Senate floor late Wednesday afternoon.
The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act, would extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers in all 50 states and extend benefits for six weeks beyond the 14 for workers in hardest-hit states with unemployment levels of 8.5 percent and above.
The House passed a bill a few weeks ago that extends benefits for 13 weeks to jobless workers in the 27 states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent. The Senate-passed legislation will now go to the House, where quick passage is expected.
The $8,000 tax credit currently available to first-time homebuyers would be extended through June for buyers who sign purchase agreements by the end of April. In addition, a $6,500 credit would be available to homeowners who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more and are buying another house.
The credit is available only for the purchase of principal residences with a purchase price of $800,000 or less.
“The slumping housing market is one of the main causes of this recession, and it is absolutely critical that we got get it moving again,” Shaheen said. “Winter months are some of the toughest for the housing and construction industries, and this tax credit extension should help to get us over that hump. But this tax credit should not and will not exist forever.”
Companies of every size hit by the recession would be allowed to carry back losses incurred in either 2008 or 2009 to get refunds of taxes paid in the previous five years.
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Stimulus Bill Vote Expected This Week
HOUSING CREDIT
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Nov. 3, 2009
WASHINGTON – After weeks of advocacy by Democratic senators, the Senate is expected to vote Thursday on an economic relief bill that would extend unemployment benefits, expand tax credits for home buyers and offer tax breaks to businesses struck by the recession.
“I’m pleased we’re finally getting to vote on Thursday,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., “but I’m very disappointed that it’s taken so long.”
After an overwhelming procedural vote on Monday that moved the bill forward, Shaheen expressed confidence the Senate will approve the legislation.
“I think it will pass with a strong vote,” Shaheen said in a phone interview.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said in a statement: “In these difficult times it is appropriate to extend unemployment insurance temporarily for those who have been unable to find work. I support extending unemployment benefits, but doing so in a way that is paid for and that does not pass the costs onto future generations. The current proposal before the Senate is properly paid for. That said, I am hopeful that we will be allowed to offer amendments to improve this important package as we continue exploring additional ways to spur economic growth.”
This legislation would extend unemployment insurance by up to 14 additional weeks for jobless workers and extend benefits for six weeks beyond the 14 for workers in states with unemployment levels of 8.5 percent and above.
The $8,000 tax credit currently available to all first-time homebuyers would be extended through June for buyers who sign purchase agreements by the end of April. The tax credit, part of the $787 billion stimulus package enacted last February, was set to expire at the end of this month.
In addition, a $6,500 credit would be available to homeowners who have been in their current residence for the last five years or more and are buying another house.
“The housing market is one of the things that got us into this difficult economy, and being able to continue to stimulate the housing market is going to be very important,” Shaheen said.
By helping homebuyers and businesses, Shaheen said, the legislation could boost the housing and construction industry and create jobs.
Companies of every size hit by the recession would be allowed to carry back losses incurred in either 2008 or 2009 to get refunds of taxes paid in the previous five years.
“As we help businesses with their losses, that’s going to encourage them to hold on to their employees and to be able to grow,” Shaheen said.
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In Third Quarter Ayotte Raised More Money Than Hodes Raised in U.S. Senate Race
NH FEC
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 27, 2009
WASHINGTON – Republican Kelly Ayotte, a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, raised more money in the third quarter of this year than Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., her Democratic opponent. According to candidate campaign finance filings with the Federal Election Commission, Ayotte raised $613,111 for the three months that ended Sept. 30 and Hodes raised $582,046.
But Hodes, who has been running since February, has raised a total of $1.62 million whereas Ayotte has been running only since July, when she resigned as state attorney general..
About 80 percent of Ayotte’s money was from individual contributions, according to Brooks Kochvar, her campaign manager. Hodes has received 69 percent of his money from individuals, according to his filing with the election commission.
First-time candidates generally get most of their money from individuals because they haven’t built up relationships with organizations or corporations that have political action committees, according to Dave Levinthal, communications director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that reports on and analyzes campaign finances.
Political action committees are organized to raise and spend money to elect and defeat candidates. Most committees represent business, labor or ideological interests and are used to channel money into campaign war chests.
When incumbents run for reelection, they tend to get more money from PACs than they did when they first ran. When Democrat Jeanne Shaheen beat incumbent Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., in 2008 she received 79 percent of her contributions from individuals, whereas Sununu had 62 percent from individuals, according to OpenSecrets.org, the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics.
Gregg, by contrast, had only 40 percent of his money from individual contributions when he ran for a third term in 2004
Hodes received 69 percent of his total contributions from individuals in his first run for the House in 2006, and 57 percent in 2008, though that share has bounced upward so far this year.
“If you’re receiving hundreds and hundreds or even thousands of small individual donations, that does mean that a great number of people like you so much and support you enough to actually make a donation to you,” Levinthal said.
“I think it’s really good to have an outpouring of support from individuals,” Kochvar said, “and we’ve seen that, and I think that’s a good way to start the campaign.”
Raising money from individuals could be more challenging than raising money from PACs, Levinthal said, because a lot of times PACs have already made their decisions on how to spread their money. “With individuals,” he said, “you have to try to convince them to come to your fundraisers, to write a check to you, and to give you money.”
“It’s always difficult,” Kochvar said.
Mark Bergman, the communications director of the Hodes campaign, did not respond to questions about the candidate’s fund-raising approach, saying that Hodes’ focus isn’t on raising money but “is really on working for the people in New Hampshire.”
Under the law, PACs can give a federal candidate $5,000 in each primary and general election, for a total of $10,000 per election cycle, and individuals can give $2,400 per election to a federal candidate, for a total of $4,800 per cycle.
“At the end of the day, if they receive a great deal of support from PACs, then they’re really in even stronger position than they would be if they were just receiving money from individuals, a stronger position financially speaking, at least,” Levinthal said.
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Sen. Shaheen Urges Senate to Extend Unemployment Benefits
BENEFITS
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON – Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., urged Republican senators Tuesday at a press conference to “do the right thing” and support the bill that would extend unemployment benefits in all 50 states.
“The pending bill is a great bill,” Shaheen said at the press conference. “It’s one that will stimulate the economy. It’s one that will help unemployed workers who are struggling to get back on their feet during this recession.”
The passage of the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act would help the almost 2 million Americans who are in danger of losing their benefits by the year’s end by extending jobless benefits for a minimum of 14 weeks in all states and by 20 weeks in states with unemployment rates of 8.5 percent or higher, according to Shaheen.
Shaheen said earlier in the day that the extensions are targeted only at unemployed workers who have already exhausted their benefits and been out of jobs for more than a year.
With an unemployment rate of 7.2 percent in New Hampshire in September, the 14-week extension would help at least 1,500 individuals who will exhaust their benefits by the end of the year, according to Darrell Gates, deputy commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security. An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 people would run out of their unemployment benefits by the end of March.
“It definitely helps,” Gates said in a phone interview. “Three more months of benefits can at least get them through the winter.”
Shaheen and 12 other Democratic senators at the press conference stressed the importance of the extensions and accused their Republican colleagues of holding up the bill.
“Slow-walking these benefits doesn’t just hurt individuals and families,” said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., “it is bad for businesses and the broader economy. Helping people stay afloat is not a partisan issue. It is an urgent national issue that demands action now. And it is time for obstructionism to stop being the philosophy of too many Republicans.”
“Republicans are becoming the party of no,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.
“I ask those members who are holding up this urgent legislation for political purposes to do the right thing and pass this extension immediately,” Shaheen said.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said in a statement, “In these difficult times it is appropriate to extend unemployment insurance to those who have been unable to find work. This extension needs to be done in a responsible way so the cost of it is not passed on to our children by increasing the federal debt, which is already extraordinarily high.”
The proposed bill would cost $2.4 billion and would be fully paid for by extending the federal unemployment tax through June 30, 2011, Shaheen said. According to the Congressional Budget Office, every $1 spent on unemployment benefits has generated $1.61 in economic activity, and therefore, the Democratic senators said, the extensions would pay for themselves.
Several weeks ago, Shaheen objected to House and Senate proposals that offered four weeks of extended unemployment benefits to workers in 23 states, including New Hampshire, while the other 27 states would receive 17 weeks of extended unemployment benefits.
“Before Shaheen got involved in this,” Gates said, “New Hampshire wasn’t receiving any [extended benefits].”
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Shaheen Does Not Say if She Would Vote for Health Care Bill Without Public Option
REACTION
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 13, 2009
WASHINGTON— Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a strong supporter of the so-called public option alternative in health care legislation, said Tuesday she wasn’t ready to commit to voting for a Senate bill that did not include the option.
The bill the Senate Finance Committee approved earlier in the day does not include a public option provision. The panel approved it, 14-9, after almost five hours of debate. Olympia Snowe of Maine was the lone Republican voting for the bill.
Before the full Senate gets its crack at health care legislation, the Finance Committee version must be merged with one the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has already approved. That bill includes a public option.
Despite the long road ahead—three House bills must be merged into one and then reconciled with the Senate-passed bill—the Finance Committee’s approval of its bill moves health care overhaul closer to reality than it has been for decades.
Snowe, who announced late in the debate that she would support the Democratic health care bill, said, “When history calls, history calls.”
Shaheen, in a phone interview, said of the committee’s action, “I think it’s a positive step forward.” She said she was very pleased that insurance reform is included in the bill and that insurance companies would not be able to discriminate based on gender or health status.
Shaheen said she expected amendments addressing the public option would be offered when the merged legislation comes to the Senate floor, but she would not say how she would vote if the final bill didn’t include the option.
Stressing the importance of increasing competition in the health insurance market, Shaheen said she would wait to see what is included in the final bill. She said she would look at what options are offered and “support what I think would do that the best.”
Sen. Judd Gregg didn’t respond to a request to comment on the vote, but he said in an earlier interview that he expected a public option would somehow make its appearance in the final legislation.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., will be working with
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and others to blend the bill with the version approved by the Health Committee, which Gregg serves on.
Baucus’ bill would set limits on co-payments and deductibles and offer federal subsidies to help lower-income families purchase coverage. In addition, insurance companies have to take all comers, and people could buy insurance at exchanges, the new marketplaces for insurance.
Medicaid for low-income people would be expanded, and employers would have to pay a penalty for each employee who sought government-subsidized insurance. The bill is paid for by cuts in reimbursements to Medicare providers and by new taxes on insurance companies and others.
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New Hampshire Sergeant Named USO Volunteer of the Year
DONOVAN
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 7, 2009
WASHINGTON – When Army Sgt. Timothy Donovan, who grew up in Sandown, N.H., heard he would be named the volunteer of the year by United Service Organizations (USO), he said he felt excited and happy. But his mother, Lynne Mecka, was even more thrilled.
“This is the biggest thing that’s ever happened in our town,” Mecka said at the 2009 USO Gala, held at a Washington hotel Wednesday night.
The USO, a nonprofit association that provides support and recreational opportunities to U.S. military service members around the world, also honored one service member from each of the five services for their bravery.
Donovan, 26, loves people, has a lot of friends, and is easy going, his mother said.
“He’ll do anything for anybody,” said Danny Shields of Raymond, who grew up with Donovan and is his best friend. “He has a big heart. He loves helping people.”
It is because of his big heart, Donovan has devoted his free time to volunteering at the USO center in Vicenza, Italy, since July 2008. He is a full-time active duty soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, but finds time to volunteer at the the USO during lunch and after work.
He initiated the Football Night for the soldiers, leaving the center open till 1 a.m. when the games are on and closing the center after everyone leaves. Because some soldiers don’t have televisions in their rooms, Donovan said he thought it would be great if they could watch football at the center.
Even though Mecka is proud of her son, she tried to talk him out of joining the Army in 2004. For Donovan, on the other hand, joining the Army was “something out of the blue.”
“I like the Army life,” Donovan said, “but there’s always pros and cons about it.”
Family life is hard, Donovan said. Having a girlfriend and a close relationship with his family and friends, Donovan tries to come home at least once a year, and talk to them on the phone as often as he can.
Donovan, who flew back to Italy Thursday, will be preparing for his third deployment in Afghanistan, starting in December and lasting for one year. Facing the dangerous deployment, Donovan said, “There’s no point in being nervous. It doesn’t do anything.”
“He never gets nervous,” Mecka said. “He’s always been like that. He’s always just had the attitude, why waste energy being nervous?”
The calmness comes from being used to the job, Donovan said. This tall thin sergeant who shines his boots with cotton balls said joking about the deployment usually calms people down.
“Like, I hope I don’t blow up today or something,” Donovan said. “I don’t have much fear at all. If it happened, it happens.”
The challenge, Donovan said, is to train and motivate his soldiers, and bring them back safely.
In his spare time in Italy, Donvan likes to travel around Europe, he said, especially with his girlfriend when she visits. He doesn’t drink coffee, only juice and water, and he recently quit eating junk food, he said.
Family remains important to Donovan, and he said he plans to come back to New Hampshire when he gets out of the Army in 2012. Being a police officer or an emergency medical technician are possibilities he said he is considering.
In the mean time, Donovan concentrates on the job that he and his family are proud of, defending the nation from harm.
“He’s doing the great things for the country,” Shields said.
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Gregg Participates in White House Meeting in Afghanistan
AFHANISTAN
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Oct. 6, 2009
WASHINGTON—President Obama told congressional leaders Tuesday he was going to make a decision promptly on whether to increase the troop level in Afghanistan.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., who participated in the meeting at the White House with leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, said in a phone interview that though no conclusions were reached, he felt positive about the meeting’s importance.
“I appreciate the President’s invitation to join him and other congressional leaders at the White House to discuss the mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said in a statement before the meeting.
The White House invited 31 members of Congress to the one-and-half-hour closed meeting after Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that war advice should be provided to the President “candidly but privately.”
“There were a lot of opinions expressed,” Gregg said in the phone interview after the meeting, “and that’s always good to hear everybody’s thoughts.”
Obama made it clear in the meeting that he was going to make a decision in a timely manner, according to Gregg, but that he had to consider all the options because the decision is important.
“There were a lot of good thoughts put on the table,” Gregg said. “The problem is, there’s no good solution. It’s a very difficult situation.”
The subject of the proper troop level in Afghanistan was discussed widely in the meeting, according to Gregg. Whether to increase the troop level, whether to commit to a long-term high-level troop strategy in Afghanistan and how to deal with Pakistan in the context of Afghanistan and the region are all at issue.
The primary goal, Gregg said, “is to finally disrupt and hopefully terminate Al Qaida.”
The immediate issue is whether Obama will widen the war again after adding 21,000 U.S. troops earlier this year. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top commander of U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan, concluded days before that more U.S. troops are needed beyond the 68,000 already there.
Although the President said he would make a decision quickly, Gregg said he was not sure how things would develop in the future.
“I don’t know what we can expect,” Gregg said, “but the President’s got a tough call here. It’s not going to be an easy decision either way.”
In the earlier statement, Gregg said that success in Afghanistan is critical to regional stability and national security and that the nation must remain focused on the mission.
“If, as the White House has said, withdrawal is not an option,” he said, “then it is imperative that we provide our commanders and courageous troops with the direction, resources and reinforcements they need as soon as possible in order to accomplish their mission safely and effectively.”
Before the meeting, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that leaving Afghanistan wasn’t an option and that the President wanted to hear from all of those who are involved in protecting the homeland and keeping the country safe before making his decision.
“The president isn’t making the decision based on politics,” Gibbs said.
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Gregg Opposes Public Option Plan But Thinks it will be in Final Health Care Bill
HEALTH CARE
New Hampshire Union Leader
Daisy Hsiang-Ching Tseng
Boston University Washington News Service
Sept. 30, 2009
WASHINGTON—The Senate Finance Committee may have rejected a government-run health insurance plan, but Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said Wednesday he thinks the plan, the so-called public option, will be in the final bill that emerges from Congress.
The committee, as it worked its way toward sending a bill to the Senate floor later this month, rejected two amendments Tuesday to add a public option to the bill that would be available as an alternative to private insurance plans.
In addition to the Finance Committee’s version, the public option is already part of three health care reform bills that have cleared House committees as well as a bill the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved.
Although Gregg opposes the separate public option proposals Sens. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W. Va., and Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y, offered on Tuesday, he said in an interview Wednesday that ultimately something similar will become law because the idea is supported by a majority of the House and by the White House.
“Because public option is in the Kennedy-Dodd {Senate Health Committee] bill,” Gregg said, “it’s in all three of the House bills, and the administration says they want a public option, I think we can assume that the government option will be in the final product.”
“I assume there will be something like a public option or something that will lead fairly quickly to a public option,” Gregg said. “It won’t be called a government option, and it will be dressed up to look like something else.”
Gregg opposes the public option because he thinks “that will mean you’ll have a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor, and you’ll have set up a situation where basically the government moves toward taking over health care.
If you have a government option, you’re essentially moving down the road toward a single payer plan such as Canada and England have,” Gregg said.
Gregg said he believes the result could be health care rationing, price setting and the stifling of innovation “so that new drugs and new procedures will probably not be able to come on line because no one will want to pay for them”.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., a supporter of a public health care insurance option, said Wednesday in a statement she thinks it would encourage, not stifle competition in health care.
“For health care reform to work better for middle-class families and small businesses, we need more competition in the health insurance market. I believe the public option is the best way to do this, but it is not the only way. Between now and when a final bill comes to the floor of the Senate, I will work with my colleagues to find ways to add the competition we need so that costs are stabilized and the system works more efficiently.”
If the public option does not become part of the final legislation, Shaheen said she hopes Congress will act to require more competition among private insurance companies.
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