Holt: Bush approach to war on terror is 'deadly'
Democrat congressman critical of administration on health care, education
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - Congress-man Rush Holt held a town meeting on Saturday to discuss issues affecting the people of the township, the county and the state.

About 50 residents attended the meeting, held in the courtroom of the municipal building, to voice their concerns about the state of society.

"It's almost an unbelievable range of questions and problems people bring to me, but that's what I want," he said.

A major focus of the discussion centered on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her pledge to implement all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission to help keep this country safe. Holt said that more active, deeper and broader oversight is needed in the intelligence community, with the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency being paid attention to on all fronts.

"It wasn't until after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that Americans realized what happens in our intelligence community really affects our lives," he said. "Because of the way intelligence was misused or miscalculated, there were no weapons of mass destruction [found in Iraq] and the justification for the war certainly was not as it appeared, at least."

He mentioned the creation of the Select Intelligence Oversight Panel, of which he is chairman, which will focus on topics ranging from what spy satellites are launched to covert action programs covered in other parts of the world. He said agencies have gone largely unexamined for quite some time and that real reforms will go into effect over the next few months and years.

"If we don't make policy based on good intelligence … we can't really protect ourselves," he said.

He also said that the country must retain its reputation and not detain combatants overseas in an inhumane fashion or conduct surveillance against Americans on their home soil.

"I think it's a misguided project," Holt said of intercepting private phone calls and e-mails of Americans. "I think that once again we should re-establish that we do not spy on Americans without a court order. … The president does not believe that. [He believes], take the fight to them overseas and be suspicious of them at home … [but] his idea of the war on terror is unsafe, I think dangerous and deadly.

"There is a need for secrecy to protect sources and methods," he continued, "but we should never be engaged in something we hope remains a secret forever. If that is the case, we are doing things we shouldn't be doing."

Focusing on the rising gas prices, Holt said that if the country had followed the suggestions of former President Jimmy Carter, there would have been less dependence on fossil fuels and stricter automobile mileage standards. He said the implementation of a renewable energy portfolio in New Jersey is under way, along with investing in alternative energy means and penalties for price gouging.

"All of this is necessary not only because of the high prices but also because of the global and climate effects. We are changing our climate in ways that are very expensive and deadly," he said.

In regards to a question about public education, Holt said that local school boards determine the hiring and firing of employees as well as the curriculum, with only 8 percent of funding and policies stemming from the federal level. He said the government became involved with certain programs because of inequalities among states, such as disenfranchised poor students, the need for school lunch programs, special education requirements and the need for teacher professional development. However, he did agree that the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which seeks to ensure that every single student and subgroup meets adequate yearly progress, as addressed through standardized testing, is difficult to implement and keep up.

Addressing a complaint of how expensive medical insurance is and the fact that people without insurance can pay 10 times as much for a hospital visit than those with coverage, Holt said that "health-care delivery is regarded as a business and in many cases a for-profit business and many people are not comfortable with that." He noted that 45 million people are uninsured, mostly because coverage is based on employment status.

"No other country in the world that we would reasonably compare ourselves to does it that way," he said. "Almost every problem you can identify to the health-care delivery system can be traced back to the bogus idea that your health coverage should depend upon who you work for."

Instead, Holt said he believes the United States will work toward universal health-care coverage because businesses can be advocates and actively lobby for such coverage.

On a side note, Holt addressed prescription drugs and the reimportation of medicine from Canada and Europe.

"I am skeptical of price controls. In American history, it generally has not worked well," he said. He said that competition is needed because many medications are specialized, proprietary and sole-sourced, meaning that pharmacies are successful and continue to hold a monopoly because there is no opposition.

"Any counterfeit drugs that come across the border can completely undermine the safety and efficacy of our medicines," he said, adding that he has voted for a couple of limited plans for importation, although he is not a proponent for wholesale drugs.

In addition, last week, Holt, along with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced Danielle's Act into legislation, designed to protect people with developmental disabilities in life-threatening situations by requiring caregivers to call 911 in the event of a medical emergency and to end Medicare funding to health-care providers who fail to implement these regulations.

Danielle Gruskowski, a 32-year-old woman who suffered from Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects motor movements and the ability to communicate, required 24-hour care because of her condition. On Nov. 4, 2002, she experienced multiple symptoms that indicated the need for emergency attention, yet the caretakers at her Edison group home failed to identify the symptoms as life-threatening and did not call 911; she died the next day. Her family has been advocated legislation since then to ensure that other disabled people do not suffer the same fate.

"You think it might not be necessary to tell those who deal with people with disabilities or otherwise weakened to call for emergency help in an emergency but we do," Holt said.