Congressman Mike
Michaud
“Literally we are putting Maine on the
map. I remember being shown maps where Maine wasn’t included,” said Congressman
Mike Michaud, referring back to when he first arrived in Washington, DC. “The
East-West Highway designation is a major breakthrough for the state. The Calais border is
the eighth busiest in the country.”
According to Sandy Blitz, executive director
of the East-West Highway Association, the east-west corridor starts in Calais and runs
along US Route 9. Then it connects with Interstate 395, then I-95, and then Route 2 in
Newport. The planned connector in the Skowhegan area would provide easy access to
Montreal.
“Because of Congressman Michaud’s
work, the federal government has recognized the importance of this corridor,” Blitz
said. “What we’re talking about is not just a road across Maine. By continuing
the road from Halifax to Montreal and Toronto, not only does it help us be connected to
our neighbors, other states alongside of us and the Canadian provinces, but it also
creates an economic region.”
The highway will help generate ecotourism
plans and help open the state up for entrepreneurs.
“Having a beginning and an ending point
is what we needed to get the designation official,” said Michaud. His work with other
members of Congress on the committee made it happen.
The congressman assured me that the people of
Maine will be able to express their opinions about the highway before construction starts
in their area.
Congressman Michaud worked in a truly
nonpartisan fashion with Maine’s senators to ensure success. “You can’t be
afraid to reach across the aisle,” said the congressman. “I don’t care who
gets the credit. It’s more important to work together to get legislation passed that
will help the people of the state of Maine.”
Congressman Michaud is disarming. He is
straightforward, friendly, outgoing, and makes anyone feel at home in his presence. He has
a passion for helping the people of Maine that keeps him working nonstop. He has a
built-in sense of justice that guides his actions, always doing what he considers to be
the right thing for his constituents.
Whenever there is an important vote he is
present, no matter the hour. The timing of many votes recently has been an issue all on
its own.
In Congress our representatives should abide
by rules of procedure. However, since the Bush administration, and with a majority of
Republicans in the House and Senate, those rules are continually being broken.
“Most controversial bills are pushed
through in the middle of the night,” said Michaud. “And they all went way over
the fifteen-minute timeframe.”
The actual degree of impropriety happening in
Washington, DC is inconceivable unless it is experienced first hand.
“If a Republican dares speak out against
the president and stands up for what they believe to be the right thing to do, they find
themselves out of a job,” said Michaud, citing well-known officials.
During the critical budget votes that narrowly
passed, they only did so because they were in the dead of night without the TV cameras
present and when many members were asleep. In fact legislation like the Patriot Act, which
has taken some of our civil liberties away from us, was passed in this fashion.
“The budgets are robbing the poor
to feed the rich. They are putting lives at risk. It’s unconscionable,” stated
the congressman, clearly upset.
“We have the largest debt —
$8 trillion — in history. The Untied States is going deeper into debt to foreign
counties.”
Michaud is a longtime union supporter, being a
member of USW Local #4-00037 when he worked at the Great Northern Paper Mill, following a
long-standing family tradition. He always stands by his union brothers and passionately
against the outsourcing of jobs. He led the charge to fight CAFTA and opposed NAFTA.
The vote to try and stop CAFTA won by the
narrowest of margins, largely due to the congressman’s activities lobbying to stop a
trade agreement that will mean more outsourcing of jobs.
Still, Michaud believes it’s important to
work with foreign counties for a peaceful future and a sound economy. “You have to
work together to bridge the divide. North Korea is a hot spot which we can’t ignore.
In less than two years Iran will have nuclear capability. In ten years the Chinese navy
will surpass ours. Economically, China could ruin us down the road if we don’t work
with them.”
Recently, the congressman held a meeting with
other colleagues and a Chinese delegation. The Chinese sat on one side of the table, the
US on the other. At the beginning only one Chinese gentleman answered the cordial,
politically correct questions. No one else seemed interested in the conversation, as it
wasn’t achieving anything. Tired of questions that never addressed the issues,
Congressman Michaud spoke up and honestly addressed the delegation. He said, “With
all due respect, we have lost jobs in my state due to outsourcing to your country; what
can you do for us?”
It was the question some members of the
delegation were waiting to hear and it opened up the dialogue. Many of the Chinese
officials had come in the hope of initiating new trade deals.
The no-nonsense direct manner in which the
congressman works is refreshing and has him blazing trails in Congress. In the US House of
Representatives, he serves on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee and is the Ranking
Member on the committee’s Health Subcommittee. He also serves on the following
committees and subcommittees:
House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure; Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines; Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management; House Committee on Small Business;
Subcommittee on Tax, Finance and Exports; Subcommittee on Rural Enterprises, Agriculture
and Technology.
Normally, it takes years and seasons of
experience in Washington, DC to become a ranking member on a committee as Michaud has done
on the Veterans Subcommittee on Health. With determination he lobbied to ensure a position
on Transportation, Small Business, and Veterans’ Affairs, as he identified them as
issues of great importance to the people of Maine.
In Maine’s Senate, Michaud cosponsored
the legislation for Maine Rx, which has successfully lowered prescription drug prices for
seniors. In Congress, Michaud worked to lower prescription drug costs for all Americans
through his America Rx legislation. When the Bush administration proposed the Medicare D
program, he foresaw problems.
“I knew that there would be problems. The
Medicare D program should have been simplified,” said Michaud. “I commend the
governor for all that he has done to protect Maine’s seniors and disabled. Maine has
really led the nation dealing with this issue.”
The congressman’s experience showed him
that unnecessary complexity for dispensing a new prescription drug program would be
disastrous. Making seniors choose between different providers with different polices,
Michaud saw as a surefire way to discourage seniors from even applying. “This
administration didn’t even bother to negotiate for lower prescription drugs. Seniors
won’t be getting what they need. It’s immoral.”
Michaud is equally upset with the inaction of
the Bush administration in securing sufficient funds for the Low Income Heating Economic
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to offset the increase in fuel costs.
“The high cost of home heating fuel is
making it harder than ever for many families to keep up, and is stretching the resources
of the LIHEAP program thin. For the average family nationwide, heating costs for the
2005-2006 winter heating season are expected to be almost $300 higher than last year.Lives
may be lost because of this,” said Michaud.
In February Congressman Michaud took action of
his own and introduced legislation that is intended to increase funding for LIHEAP. The
resolution states that it is the sense of Congress that, following a year of
record-setting profits, major petroleum products companies should incorporate LIHEAP into
their corporate citizenship and responsibility programs by donating a small percentage of
their profits to the program.
“This would be a powerful way for
some of our top companies to demonstrate responsible corporate citizenship without new
regulations, and it would help countless families make it through the rest of this
winter,” Michaud said.
“Congress has failed to appropriate
adequate funding for LIHEAP, leading to less than one in five eligible LIHEAP
beneficiaries receiving assistance in fiscal year 2005 in some states. Mainers deserve
better than this, especially given the fact that the big oil companies are clearly
benefiting from the same skyrocketing prices that are squeezing so many low-income
families.”
The unique resolution calls on the top ten oil
companies in the world, that made more than $100 billion in profits in 2004, to donate a
small percentage of these profits to help low-income families through LIHEAP.
The economy is never far from the
congressman’s thoughts. “Companies are relocating to Canada for two reasons. The
first is the lack of an educated workforce here in America; the second is the cost of
health care.
“This administration should be investing
in education not cutting it,” said Michaud. The budget proposes to cut 42 different
educational programs, including student loans and Pell Grants.
“We need to be investing in America. We
need more students graduating from college. In this global economy jobs of the future
depend on it. Other countries are investing in their people. India is producing top-notch
engineers.” In ten years India’s economy will be larger than Italy’s, and
in fifteen years it will have overtaken Britain’s, according to a Goldman Sachs
report. Indian companies are growing at an extraordinary pace, posting yearly gains of up
to 25 percent.
To help Maine compete and gain more jobs in
the ever-changing economy, the congressman proposed creating the Northeast Regional
Development Commission.
The commission would be charged with investing
$40 million per year in federal resources for economic development and job creation in the
most distressed areas of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, based upon the
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). ARC has reduced the number of distressed counties
in their region from 219 to 100 and cut the poverty rate from 31 percent to 15 percent.
ARC helped 1,400 businesses create 26,000 new jobs since 1977.
The congressman saw a huge opportunity for
Maine to work with neighboring states with the commission. His proposal will create the
first body focused on the need for jobs and economic development in the Northeast region.
“Whether the need is new irrigation
systems for agriculture, land and forestry conservation to maintain productive traditional
uses, investment in our fishing infrastructure, new roads, or health-care facilities, a
federal commission can play a key role in investing in our economy. Maine needs this kind
of investment,” stated Michaud.
Already, the interest that this proposal has
generated among diverse groups has helped to bring people together from many different
sectors. Working together, new ideas are being generated, new partnerships gained, opening
the door to possibilities that will benefit the Northeast region’s economies.
“We are off to a good start, and now
there is a lot more work to be done,” said the congressman.
Congressman Michaud with the
Governor greet the Sea Dogs mascot during the Patriots Parade honoring our service men and
women, and of course the football team
He is also working to ensure that our veterans
receive fair and equal treatment, as well as the benefits they deserve.
At a time when veterans’ services should
be increased, they are under threat. More service men and women are returning from Iraq
and experiencing posttraumatic stress syndrome. The medical disorder is serious but
unfortunately not all heath-care providers treat it seriously. Over 30 percent are refused
treatment from the private sector. Michaud is working to increase help for the veterans.
“It’s incumbent that we do everything we can to help them. It’s our
nation’s duty.”
Michaud’s drive to do the right thing for
the people of Maine got him going in politics back when he wanted to help clean up the
polluted Penobscot River near his home. This thirty-year mill employee found himself in an
election for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives in 1980. After winning he went
on to serve seven consecutive terms. In 1994, he defeated a millionaire incumbent in his
first bid for the Maine Senate. Eventually he became president of the Maine Senate, and is
now serving his second term as a US representative to Congress.
Michaud is a man of his word; when confronted
with an issue, he will work tirelessly until he comes up with a solution. He believes in
the people of Maine and works day in and day out to improve their livelihoods. He
currently resides in East Millinocket, where he is remodeling his late grandmother’s
home.
|
