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February 29, 2008 10:50 am
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GLOUCESTER DAILY TIMES (GLOUCESTER, Mass.)
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Feds: Mayor's request to address Congress unusual
"Having to go through professional associations, lobbyists or special interest group organizations can lead to a watered-down message."
By Richard Gaines
CNHI News Service
GLOUCESTER, Mass. — Mayor Carolyn Kirk's request to speak directly to Congress about the impact of federal mandates on the city of Gloucester may well have been an American first.
The idea was shot down as unprecedented and impractical by her Congressional representative and the chairman of the House Budget Committee, but it was considered doable by U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who has charged his staff with engineering a setting and time for Kirk to explain how a near perfect storm of federal policies has helped lay low the nation's oldest fishing port.
Sources in both houses and the Library of Congress reported to the Times Thursday that what Kirk proposed — to go to Congress and speak on behalf of the people of an American city — just isn't or hasn't been done, at least in modern memory.
Anthony Wallis, a research analyst for the Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives, wrote to the Times that the First Amendment Constitutional "right of petition, a request made by private citizens and other officials," is understood to give citizens the opening to submit requests to speak to Congress.
But Wallis said Congressional rules allow committee and House leaders to decide whether the petitioner may appear in the flesh or be compelled to avail him or herself of that right by indirection.
In any event, Wallis said his research showed very few instances when nonfederal officials were allowed to exercise that right by speaking to Congress. Exceptions, of course, are nonfederal officials appearing in response to invitations or subpoenas.
"There are few examples in recent history when nonfederal officials have spoken before the (House Budget) committee at the discretion of the chairman," Wallis said.
He said he found two examples from last year, a pastor from post-Katrina New Orleans and a New York City commissioner.
The records did not reveal whether these witnesses invited themselves or were invited.
In casual conversations with U.S. Rep. John Tierney and Kerry soon after the new mayor took office last month, Kirk invited herself to speak to Congress. She said she reasoned that the same right citizens exercise to stand up to the City Council or Legislature applied to Congress.
Tierney called her this week to tell her she would not be recognized.
Tierney's press secretary, Catherine Ribeiro, passed the buck to Rep. John Spratt, a South Carolina Democrat and chairman of the House Budget Committee, saying in a written response to questions that "the chairman has decided not to invite any nonfederal officials to testify on the budget."
Chuck Fant, Spratt's press secretary, attempted to pass the buck to chairmen past, explaining that the bar was a long-standing precedent.
"Obviously, we can't accommodate every local official from the hundreds of thousands of towns across the country who want to testify in person," Fant explained in an e-mail to the Times.
Pressed to quantify more precisely the number of local officials who, like Kirk, had expressed a "want to testify," Fant conceded the sentence was a figure of speech. He said he was unaware of any local official who'd proposed to do what Kirk proposed.
But he went on to argue that if Spratt allowed Kirk to speak to Congress, then Congress would find itself inundated with copy-cat city and town officials. That wouldn't do, Fant argued.
He contended that Tierney's offer to take written testimony from Kirk and insert it in the Congressional Record would provide the same impact.
Tierney did this Thursday. After noting that in his visits to city officials in his district, he often hears "the frustration of those who are struggling .. (and) of a mind that the federal government must do more," the Salem Democrat inserted a paragraph from Kirk.
It asks for "increased funding for all domestic initiatives that impact the quality of life" and urged Congress to "make domestic issues the highest priority."
Tierney's subsequent statement praised Speaker Nancy Pelosi and expressed confidence the "Democrat-led" Congress would do the right thing.
In a written response to questions from the Times, Kirk said she is bothered that the free petition right has been whittled down to impersonal exchanges on paper.
"When they all just talk to each other, they run the risk of losing perspective," Kirk said. "I firmly believe that is what has happened — Washington has lost touch with the on-the-ground reality of the challenges facing cities and towns."
She said, "I realize the difficulties with the logistics of giving access to all the people who want to testify, but that isn't to say it can't be done. Having to go through professional associations, lobbyists or special interest group organizations can lead to a watered-down message."
"Personal testimony can be very powerful," she said, adding she continued to hope that its Congressional delegation would come through for Gloucester.
Drew O'Brien, an aide to Kerry, said he thought it likely that Kirk would be allowed to speak to a Senate committee about her concerns, which include forced cutbacks in the operation of the fishing fleet that have weakened the city economy while environmental mandates are forcing the city to spend more than $100 million on infrastructure upgrades.
But O'Brien also said, "There's no precedent for this. We've never gotten a request like this before."
Richard Gaines writes for Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times and can be reached at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.
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