Meehan slams Congressional colleague for “despicable” comments

LOWELL — Congressman Marty Meehan, D-Mass., called on fellow Congressman Tom Tancredo to apologize for remarks he made last week comparing the existence of race-based Congressional caucuses to segregation.

Last Thursday, Tancredo told reporters that the existence of the Congressional Black Caucus and other race-based groups of lawmakers “amount to segregation and should be abolished.”

“It is utterly hypocritical for Congress to extol the virtues of a colorblind society while officially sanctioning caucuses that are based solely on race,” said the Colorado Republican, who is most widely known as a vocal critic of illegal immigration.

“If we are serious about achieving the goal of a colorblind society, Congress should lead by example and end these divisive, race-based caucuses,” continued Tancredo, who was in New Hampshire last weekend to promote his long-shot presidential bid.

“There is no place in the House of Representatives for these types of racist statements,” said Meehan. “Tom Tancredo’s comparison of the Congressional Black Caucus — which has done so much work for civil and social rights — to what African Americans faced in the ugliest chapters of U.S. history is despicable. He owes an apology to his colleagues in Congress and to the American people.”

Tancredo is chairman of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, which seeks to toughen border security to stem illegal immigration. He also opposes guest worker programs and immigration proposals by President Bush.

While U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., categorized the remarks as the tools of “a member of the minority party using intolerance to advance his presidential campaign,” Meehan’s criticisms focused on Tancredo’s misrepresentation of the role of groups like the Congressional Black Caucus.

“The Congressional Black Caucus does not amount to segregation, but rather — like many Congressional caucuses — provides a forum for members of similar backgrounds or interests to meet and develop policies that would benefit Americans who share those same backgrounds or interests,” Meehan said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senate passes funding for women’s business centers

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate unanimously passed an amendment last Wednesday to create a grant program for established, successful women’s business centers (WBCs) around the country. The provision is now part of the minimum wage legislation being considered on the Senate floor.

The amendment, which was sponsored by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, and John Sununu, R-N.H., allows established women’s business centers to apply for three-year grants on an ongoing basis, a permanent stream of federal funding critical to helping them secure matching private funds. The amendment also prohibits the centers from sharing information about their clients without their consent, unless the information is required by a court order or for an audit of the center by federal officials.

According to Kerry, who chairs the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the amendment will expand entrepreneurial opportunities for women.

“I cannot stress enough the vital role Women’s Business Centers play in cities all around the country,” said Kerry in a statement. “This amendment ensures we will be providing women-owned small businesses the tools they need to grow and flourish.”

Citing the roughly $2.5 trillion in revenues they generate, Snowe stressed the importance of aiding women-owned firms in their development.

“We cannot afford to ignore, or minimize, the extraordinary contributions America’s businesswomen are making to our economy, our culture and our future,” said Snowe. “They employ more than 19 million workers and are the fastest growing segment of today’s economy.”

“Centers that have performed at a high level should have the option of applying for additional help to enable their important work to continue,” added Sununu. “The Senate’s action today marks an important step in the effort to preserve critical funding for WBCs across the country.”

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center Program, WBCs represent a national network of more than 100 educational resource centers designed to assist women start and grow small businesses.

Goodheart tapped to chair Judicial Nominating Commission

Boston attorney Lisa C. Goodheart was appointed Tuesday by Gov. Deval Patrick to chair the Commonwealth’s Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The governor also announced the appointments of Worcester attorney Elizabeth W. Morse and Mansfield-based attorney John M. Griffin as vice chairs.

“I am very pleased that these three seasoned and esteemed attorneys have agreed to make the substantial commitment involved in leading the new JNC,” Patrick said. “They are each persons of unquestioned integrity. I trust, with their guidance, we will be able to recruit a diverse pool of strong, decisive and effective judges from all corners of Massachusetts.”

Earlier this month, Patrick issued an executive order reconstituting the JNC, which advises the governor regarding appointments to the appeals court and trial court departments. The commission’s 21 members are appointed by the governor and serve at his pleasure.

Goodheart is a partner at the law firm Sugarman, Rogers, Barshak & Cohen in Boston. Recognized as one of the leading environmental lawyers in the country, Goodheart currently serves on the Executive Committee and the Council of the Boston Bar Association. She also is president-elect and a member of the Steering Committee of the New England Women in Real Estate. Goodheart received her bachelor’s degree from Williams College in 1982 and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1985.

The former president of the Worcester County Bar Association, Morse is a partner with Tashjian, Simsarian & Wickstrom in Worcester. She serves on the Massachusetts Bar Association’s House of Delegates, has previously co-chaired the Worcester County Bar Association’s District Court Committee and has served as a hearing officer for the Board of Bar Overseers. Morse graduated from Fairfield University in 1981 and earned her law degree in 1988 from Suffolk University Law School.

Griffin, now Deputy General Counsel to Tyco Healthcare Group in Mansfield, is a former Assistant United States Attorney assigned to the Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit in Boston. He is a 1983 graduate of Columbia University and earned his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1986. He began his career in law with Nutter McClennen & Fish, where he became a junior partner in 1992.

Weekly podcasts take Patrick’s message to the Web

In an Internet-era update of the fireside chats made popular by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gov. Deval Patrick last week introduced a series of weekly podcasts designed to speak directly to Massachusetts residents. The addresses, intended to allow the public a glimpse inside the Corner Office while acknowledging the world’s growing dependence on Web-based communication, kicked off with a recording ranging from Patrick’s familiar stump to the dual problems of soot and smoke faced by the governor in his initial attempt at lighting his office fireplace.

“During my campaign, many people from across the state who had checked out of politics and government checked back in. We have a responsibility to keep those people engaged, and one of the ways we do that is by communicating directly with them,” Patrick said.

The first address aired last Friday on www.mass.gov, where it remains available. Interested listeners can download Patrick’s five-minute recording for replaying on their digital recorders. Future podcasts — which “will be added regularly,” according to Patrick’s office — will feature the governor and members of his administration discussing State House happenings “in a way [citizens have] never experienced before.”