October 31, 2006

Today, the Miami Herald published the following op-ed by Senator Dodd on voters' rights.  Senator Dodd co-authored the Help America Vote Act and is the Ranking Member on the Senate Rules Committee.

Americans will soon go to the polls under new rules for federal elections, the Help America Vote Act. Avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach, HAVA set minimum national election standards but left responsibility for implementation to states and localities. Voters are relying on state and local officials to effectively implement the new law while ensuring full compliance and being ready to address problems like those that emerged in primary elections across the country.

October 1, 2006

Today, the Los Angeles Times published the following op-ed by Senator Dodd.  Senator Dodd is a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

SIXTY YEARS AGO today, at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany, the verdicts were read in a trial that will forever define the punishment of war criminals. One by one, the 22 top surviving Nazi officers of Adolf Hitler were sentenced. By the time the gavel sounded, three had been acquitted, seven sent to prison and 12 condemned to death.

The White House and Congress should have no higher priority than protecting the American people from a bioterrorism attack or infectious disease outbreak, including a pandemic flu. Any good biodefense plan must have two fundamental components. First, it must encourage companies to develop and make effective medicines to counteract a disease or flu. Second, it must encourage patients to take those medicines.

Unfortunately, President Bush and the Republican leadership in Congress are now proposing a plan that contains neither of these essential components. On the contrary, their plan will protect companies that make ineffective or harmful medicines. And it will discourage rather than encourage patients to take medicine to counter a biological attack or disease outbreak.

If such a counter-productive policy sounds far-fetched, consider this: three years ago, the Bush administration bungled the program to inoculate millions of first responders against smallpox because it ignored the advice of its own public-health experts and refused to provide compensation for those who might be injured by the vaccine.

Doctors, nurses, firefighters and other first responders who would be on the front lines in the event of a smallpox attack by terrorists were bravely willing to put themselves in danger by receiving a risky vaccine. But they were not willing to roll the dice and risk the future of their families without compensation for their losses if they were injured, disabled or even killed by its side effects. Many refused to participate. The administration's failure to listen to the advice of experts turned a critical biodefense program into a failure.

On Nov. 9 of this year, while testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Dr. Julie Gerberding, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was asked about the expected success of a biodefense plan that does not include fair compensation to people injured by the medicines they thought would help them. She responded: "Well, I certainly feel that from the standpoint of the smallpox vaccination program, that the absence of a compensation program that was acceptable to the people we were hoping to vaccinate was a major barrier -- and I think we've learned some lessons from that."

There are tried-and-true solutions that would encourage the production of vaccines and drugs without leaving patients destitute if they are maimed by a given medication. Under these alternatives, the reputable and responsible manufacturers of needed medicines -- and the doctors, nurses and hospitals who administer them in good faith -- would be protected from frivolous lawsuits that might deter them from making and administering a needed medicine. But those injured by these medicines would be justly compensated for their injuries.

This solution has been adopted successfully by Congress in the past for childhood vaccines, swine flu and smallpox, and that's exactly the model the Biotechnology Industry Organization urged Congress to adopt.

We were involved with the creation of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which has successfully created incentives for the manufacturers of recommended childhood vaccines, encouraged families to have their children vaccinated and compensated those who are injured.

When thousands of Americans developed neurological problems after being vaccinated against swine flu in the 1970s, Congress protected the manufacturers of the vaccine from lawsuits, but established procedures for injured patients to receive compensation from the federal government. In the case of smallpox, Congress rejected the inadequate compensation program belatedly proposed by the administration and enacted a fair compensation program that paid medical costs and lost wages and provided a financial settlement for incurred disabilities.

But apparently, despite what Dr. Gerberding says, administration officials and leaders in Congress have not learned from their mistakes, because their current plan repeats them. It provides no guarantee that medicines will be made as safely as possible, and contains no compensation for injured victims. That approach failed for smallpox, and it is likely to fail again.

Knowing that this plan cannot survive public scrutiny, the Republican congressional leadership is considering inserting it into a massive appropriations bill as the current session of Congress ends.

Similar "midnight amendments" are often withdrawn if they are exposed to daylight before they become part of the bill. Denying victims the right to compensation for effects suffered from a medicine made with disregard for safety should be debated in the open, not slipped by stealth into a bill with the hope that no one will notice.

In a public debate, we are optimistic that Congress would reject any proposal that protects irresponsible or reckless companies rather than encourages reputable ones, and denies any compensation to health-care providers, children and others harmed by drugs that the government suggested or even required them to take. By working in a bipartisan manner, we can craft a solution that protects Americans from the risk of biological harm.

At this time of year, as we gather with the ones we love and give thanks for all that we have, our thoughts also turn to those most in need. They may be people we know or people we've never met: families who can't afford to heat their homes during the cold winter months or pay their health care bills; children struggling to learn in broken and overcrowded schools; or working men and women who will receive pink slips instead of pay checks in their holiday mail this year. They may also be among the hundreds of thousands of Americans who suffered extraordinary losses in the destruction wreaked by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.

Ever since the shocking recommendation by the Defense Department to close Submarine Base New London, residents of Connecticut – from public officials, to business leaders, to concerned citizens – have come together in common cause to keep alive this unique military asset.

No one in our state needs to be convinced that the effects of closing the base would be devastating. Life in Southeastern Connecticut is inextricably linked to the Sub Base – from the base itself, to Electric Boat and its subcontractors where these extraordinary vessels are built, to the local businesses that serve our military and their families. It is estimated that the closure would ultimately cost Connecticut’s economy 31,500 jobs and $3.3 billion.

In our decision to impose a trade embargo against Cuba, the United States stands alone in the world. After four decades, it is clear that our approach has failed to achieve its intended goals – the end of Fidel Castro’s regime and a peaceful transition to democracy. Today, Cuba remains under totalitarian rule, and Castro remains firmly in power.

Sadly, the only real victims of our policies are the 11 million innocent Cuban men, women, and children. Our embargo has exacerbated the already-miserable living conditions for Cuban citizens. Cuba’s economy has suffered greatly because it is prohibited from exporting goods to the United States. In addition, ordinary Cubans have very limited access to American products. Moreover, our policies abridge Americans’ right to travel freely to Cuba, making exchange between our two cultures essentially impossible.

Imagine that you lived in a country where newspapers only printed what the government wanted you to read. Where no television or radio report could be aired without the approval of government censors. Where reporters who dared defy the government could be fired, thrown in prison or worse.

Thankfully, our nation has always taken the opposite course. We consider a free and independent press indispensable to our free and democratic society. By keeping our nation's electorate informed about those who hold public office, and by holding powerful parties in the public and private sectors to account, the press is as much a part of our democracy as the Congress, the president and the Supreme Court.

From snipers to car bombs to organized ambushes, American troops around the globe face immediate threats each and every day. But they also face another serious threat, one that is far-reaching and large-scale. With every passing day, more and more of the weapons and equipment that protect our troops and our nation are being built on foreign shores. That threat was made crystal-clear last week, when the Pentagon chose an international group that includes British and Italian manufacturers, rather than Sikorsky, to build Marine One, the presidential helicopter.

Imagine that you are an employee at a large corporation, and you learn that your company is dumping highly toxic waste, contaminating the local water supply. You consider calling the police, but you are afraid word will get back to your superiors, causing you to lose your job, or even worse. Finally, you call a local news reporter and share what you know, provided that your name is kept strictly confidential. The reporter investigates the story, those responsible are charged and convicted, and countless lives are saved.

Last month, the top insurance regulators from all 50 states admonished the Bush administration for misleading American seniors about the new Medicare drug benefit. A month earlier, the Government Accountability Office released shocking findings showing that the private plans so aggressively promoted by the president and his allies in the new Medicare law are likely to cost the federal government between $650 and $750 more per person per year.