WARWICK – Members of the Rhode Island congressional delegation responded this morning to a host of wide-ranging questions during the annual legislative breakfast sponsored by the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
Some 500 people attended the event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Providence-Warwick Airport, at 801 Greenwich Ave. (Route 5) in Warwick. The event was moderated by Donna C. Cupelo, Rhode Island and Massachusetts regional president of Verizon Communications and chair of the Chamber’s federal affairs committee, and featured U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with U.S. Reps. Patrick J. Kennedy and James R. Langevin, all Democrats from Rhode Island.
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The chairman of a Senate subcommittee looking into bankruptcy laws, Whitehouse said his goal is to find a way to make credit card companies be “a little kinder and gentler” to the American public. “A lot of people are turning to their credit cards as a way to get through these tough times,” Whitehouse noted. “The results can be very devastating.”
The senator spoke of a Scituate man whose credit card interest doubled to nearly 30 percent when he missed a payment through no fault of his own and was unsuccessful in his efforts to negotiate more favorable terms with “a huge corporate apparatus.” Whitehouse spoke of credit card contracts that keep consumers tethered to payments that are so high, the debt never can be paid off, and said he is discovering that this is an “actual strategy” credit card companies use to milk consumers. Whitehouse indicated he also hopes to undo some recent changes in bankruptcy laws that were “a terrible mistake.”
Regarding health care, “right now, this is the year for health care reform,” said Kennedy, an advocate of reformed health care and improved insurance coverage, particularly for mental illness and substance abuse. He said he believes Rhode Island has the ability to “come up with new cures and new medicines,” and to accomplish advances in terms of electronic medical records, that should allow the state to successfully compete for federal research funding with Boston and New York.
Kennedy gave credit to the congressional delegation for changing the effective date of the global waiver that Republican Gov. Donald L. Carcieri sought from the federal government to control Medicaid and Medicare costs. Changing the date, which Kennedy said was “not easy to do because Gov. Carcieri tied our hands behind our backs,” means Rhode Island can qualify for another $100 million in Medicaid funding.
Kennedy spoke passionately about the need for nurses in this country, saying 1 million nurses will be needed in the next five years to replace retirees. He noted that the Rhode Island College nursing program has a waiting list due to a lack of faculty members. “Rhode Island Hospital is asking us to import nurses from overseas,” Kennedy said in apparent disbelief. Any nurses hired at Rhode Island Hospital should be from Rhode Island, he insisted.
In other highlights:
Noting that the current federal stimulus package is designed to provide $1.1 billion to Rhode Island over the next two years, Reed said there could be a second stimulus package because the recession is more than a national phenomenon, but is international in its scope.
Reed endorsed President Obama’s policy of withdrawing troops from Iraq and focusing instead on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border inhabited by the reconstituted Al-Qaeda and other terrorists. He called Obama’s policy “sensible.”
Langevin called the president’s recent removal of funding restrictions on stem-cell research the greatest development he has seen since he has been in Congress. Rhode Island “can and should be” a leader in this field, Langevin said, predicting that within five to 10 years advances will be made on a scale with the discovery of X-rays and vaccines. He cited ongoing work at Brown University and the University of Rhode Island as just two examples of the advanced medical research taking place in the state.
Whitehouse reported that there are not enough votes in the Senate to enact the Employee Free Choice Act, which would eliminate secret ballots in workplace votes on forming a union. His remark was met with applause by those at the breakfast, one of the few times the audience applauded. “Point taken,” Whitehouse replied.
News and information from the U.S. Congress, including the Rhode Island delegation, are available at www.gov.com.
The Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce aims to foster a healthy business climate throughout Rhode Island through public policies, economic development and business-to-business relationships. Based in downtown Providence, it has more than 2,300 member businesses across the state. To learn more, visit www.ProvidenceChamber.com.
