Press Releases

CONGRESSMAN JAMES P. MCGOVERN
WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
VISIONS AWARD PROGRAM - MARCH 11, 2013
MECHANICS HALL, WORCESETER, MA
KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Good afternoon, and thank you Bruce for that generous introduction. I am honored to be here today with all of you for the Telegram and Gazette's annual Visions Award Program, now in its 22nd year. Let me begin by thanking the Telegram for establishing this important program to recognize the very best and brightest leaders in our City and our region. You have once again chosen a distinguished and deserving class of award recipients this year and I congratulate Abe (Haddad); Moe (Boisvert); Amy (Mosher); Dennis (Rice) and Anna (Klouda), as well as their families, for this prestigious recognition they rightfully receive today. I also want to publicly thank them for the invaluable contributions they have made, and will continue to make, to our community. We are all very grateful for your dedicated service and your stellar achievement.

Before I go any further, let me briefly mention that I know this is likely an uneasy time for the management and staff of the Telegram and Gazette given the recent announcement by the New York Times Company. Just as our national and local economy has been affected by some of the dramatic changes that are occurring in healthcare, the life sciences and manufacturing, so too are print media outlets undergoing dynamic shifts in that industry. I, for one, think it is vitally important for the City of Worcester and Central Massachusetts to have a daily newspaper. The Telegram is an intrinsic part of our regional identity, and while I don't always agree with its editorial positions, it is an important resource that all of us should fight to preserve. The second largest city in New England deserves to have a daily newspaper that documents all of the notable people and remarkable events that are occurring here. I expect that the Telegram will continue to be that daily newspaper for years to come.

That being said, let me now turn to some of the remarkable progress that I have witnessed here in Worcester and share with you my hopeful vision for the future of our City.

Nearly a decade ago, I stood right here on this very stage to address a similar audience at the annual meeting of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. At that time, I expressed my frustration with the City's approach to economic development, describing it as lurching from one project to another without any cohesion or comprehensive planning for the future. That speech has since been popularized by Bob Nemeth and others as the ‘soccer ball' speech because I compared the City's approach to my then four-year old son's soccer team where everyone rushes to chase the ball on the field, crowding around it, without regard for their position, assignment or ultimate goal.

I am pleased to report to you today that is no longer the case. What a difference a decade can make. We have revolutionized our thinking and strategically realigned our priorities so that we are all pushing the City forward in one direction toward a common goal. In fact, I think it is useful to take stock of the progress we have made as we endeavor to shape our future. So, please indulge me as I take just a few moments to chronicle what I believe are some of the most compelling examples of the new Worcester since I last stood on this stage and gave my candid assessment of the City's prospects.

Ten years ago, Gateway Park was little more than an interesting idea; the revitalization of Main South was a distant dream; the Hanover Theater was the lonely vision of two local pioneers for the performing arts; a vibrant commercial district centered around the rich industrial history of the Blackstone Canal was merely a curiosity; and the demolition of the moribund Worcester Common Fashion Outlets Mall to reconnect and renew our downtown was the whimsical fantasy of a Boy Mayor. As we gather here this evening, I am proud to say that all of this and much more has been accomplished. It has happened because together we consciously refused to accept the status quo and steadfastly rejected the low expectations that had held our City back for too long. Make no mistake, the progress we enjoy today is because of bold political leadership; disciplined municipal management and, most importantly, the willingness of academia and private business to partner with the city, state and federal government to support a shared agenda.

That a vastly underutilized brown field at the north end of our central business district could be transformed by the WBDC into a cutting-edge research park anchored by WPI and an incubator for burgeoning biotechnology companies shepherded toward success by MBI, is what first set the stage for the successful public-private cooperation that has become the hallmark of our new approach.

I am particularly proud the new approach we adopted did not leave neighborhood development behind. Building on the long-standing partnership between Clark University and the Main South CDC, we have successfully reclaimed blighted parcels in the Gardner-Kilby-Hammond Neighborhood for nearly 100 units of new housing for working families. Those families have a magnificent, state-of-the art Boys & Girls Club, to call their own and the City has reaped the financial rewards of once-derelict properties now generating substantial tax revenue to support City services. The Gardner-Kilby-Hammond Initiative must soon be completed with the construction of Clark University's Athletic Fields adjacent to the Boys & Girls Club so that neighborhood doesn't suffer any erosion of the gains we have made. In fact, we should not retreat from the contributions our CDCs have made to neighborhood development. Instead, we should rush to include them in the future growth of our City.

In as much as we have made our neighborhoods more livable for city residents these past ten years, we have also become a destination for those seeking cultural and recreational opportunities from across Massachusetts and New England. I'm grateful that the DCU Center continues to be a popular venue for major events but I'm also very pleased that the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts is also drawing patrons from outside the city to our downtown. The presence of a -Broadway-caliber- performing arts theater solidifies and enhances the City's reputation as a cultural center. I look forward to the further revitalization of the Theater district with the redevelopment of the former Telegram building and welcome the participation of Quinsigamond Community College in that effort. After all, we can't expect Charlie Monahan and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences will continue forever to be the leading champion of our shared goal to remake downtown into an 18-hour-a-day hub of activity; although, thankfully Charlie has not shown any signs of slowing down.

Another critical element of our new strategy has been to focus on our transportation assets and our geographic location. With many professionals being priced out of the metropolitan Boston housing market, we undertook an aggressive effort led by our Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray to greatly expand access to commuter rail. In a historic agreement, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts acquired the rights to the Worcester/Framingham rail line from freight carrier, CSX. This has given us greater frequency and control over the number of daily trains to and from Boston. As a result, we have benefited from steadily increasing ridership and a real estate market that has far out-performed other parts of the state even through the recession. At the same time, the magnificently restored Union Station has become more than just an intermodal transportation center. It is a majestic City landmark that has helped catalyze transit-oriented development in the Canal district and beyond. The sheer persistence and unbridled passion of a handful of business owners in that area of the City has re-established a thriving, unique commercial center that is home to street festivals and programming that set it apart. I am proud that government has been a partner in the explosive growth of the Canal district with millions of dollars of streetscape and infrastructure improvements to complement all of the private investment that has occurred.

In just a few more weeks, we will further strengthen our transportation network with the grand opening of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority's new HUB adjacent to Union Station. This will connect the dots of our public transit system in a way that we've never done before and it is further evidence of the linkage and cohesion we have brought to urban planning.

That we have also been able to turn-over ownership of Worcester Regional Airport to Massport while turning back the critics who have called for its closure is also a signature achievement of these past ten years. I too have been frustrated with the intermittent commercial service at Worcester Airport. But I return again to the central tenet of our new thinking: Worcester is no longer beholden to low expectations. We are not deluding ourselves by pursuing consistent commercial service at Worcester Airport for the long term. Just the opposite -- we have a defined market and a facility that is worthy of our lofty expectations. Rectrix, the new fixed based operator at Worcester Airport, shares those expectations and has made a significant investment in its facilities to promote private, corporate and charter service here. I am increasingly confident that our devotion to the airport as a regional transportation asset will soon be rewarded.

Finally, I will finish this retrospective of our progress with City Square which encapsulates the sea change Worcester has undergone in leveraging the power of public-private partnerships. After city and state officials devised an innovative public financing program to undertake the infrastructure improvements necessary to make way for City Square, we still needed a private developer to make the ambitious project a reality. Not content to rest on the success of the Hanover Theater and Hanover Field at Holy Cross, Fred Eppinger and the Board of Directors of Hanover Insurance thankfully stepped into the breach to join the City in moving City Square from the drawing board to reality. Now we all can see for ourselves the wisdom of what the Lieutenant Governor first envisioned when he proposed demolishing the Mall. Today, my heart sings as I drive past the newly renovated Worcester Common toward Washington Square and by the newly opened Unum office building and the future Saint Vincent's oncology center. It is incumbent on all of us to make sure City Square realizes its full potential as it enters the next phases of development.

So when I look at Worcester today, I see a great City - a world class city; a city that knows what it is and where it is going; a city that has fully embraced the power of partnerships to shape its bright future. If anyone doubts for a moment that Worcester is a world class city, then I would call your attention to the international acclaim our University of Massachusetts Medical School just received again for its central part in curing a 2 ½ year old girl born with HIV AIDS of that insidious disease. UMass Medical School is the envy of every city and state in this nation and I am thrilled that they are expanding into the biotechnology park so that they can continue to be in the vanguard of these kinds of ground-breaking medical discoveries that can only be described as a victory for humanity.

While Worcester has much to be proud of over these last ten years, I regret to say that Washington DC has regressed to the lowest point that I've witnessed during my tenure in Congress. We now have a United States House of Representatives populated with a number of members who truly don't believe that there is any role for the federal government beyond providing for our national defense. I mention that because each and every one of the examples I just cited of our success here locally over the last decade has happened BECAUSE OF - not in spite of - some level of support by the federal government. Often times that support has come from directed federal investment in the form of earmarks that my senate colleagues and I included in various annual appropriations bills to help stimulate economic growth. I know that the practice of ‘earmarking' has been derided by many in the media as wasteful spending on special interests. However, I will tell you that federal earmarks have absolutely been an indispensable part of the progress that we have enjoyed here in Worcester.

These are tough times for our nation. I know that right now Congress is not held in high regard by the public. I saw a recent poll which indicated that head lice is more popular than Congress. The good news according to the poll is that Congress is still more popular than syphilis,

Sequestration, in my view, represents an all time high in recklessness and stupidity. It's one thing to eliminate waste—it's quite another thing to allow for mindless, senseless across the board cuts in spending. It has become fashionable in Washington to bash government; to run for office promising to dismantle it; to imply that somehow government is responsible for all the evils in the world.

As you know, my good friend Senator George McGovern died last year after a long and extraordinary life. I was honored to fly out to South Dakota and to deliver one of the eulogies at his funeral.

And as I was thinking about what I wanted to say, I re-read a speech that he gave in 1978 - while I was a college intern for him-- to the annual convention of the Americans for Democratic Action, a speech he entitled -A Vision of Positive Government.- It's a terrific speech, a full-throated defense of an activist federal role.

I was struck by two things while reading it: First, it's no wonder he lost his re-election in very conservative South Dakota two years later.

And second, a lot of what he said still applies to us today.

-Let us insist,- he said, -that government can, and must, solve problems … A clear vision of a better country cannot offer mere abstractions and disconnected echoes of the latest opinion polls. It asks not just for efficient government; it asks efficient at what. It depends not just on preaching love, compassion and competence - but on achieving results. For faith without works is empty.-

Thirty-five years have passed since George McGovern gave that speech. But it encapsulates my philosophy, as well.

I am a proud and passionate liberal. I still believe in a strong public sector. But not for the sake of ideology alone. I am a liberal because I believe that government - our government - can and must do all it can to help every single one of us achieve the American dream. Government can provide ladders of opportunity so that everyone can succeed,

I am interested in results - results like those we have see right here in Central Massachusetts.

While I am a strong liberal, I also respect a strong conservative movement in our country-- those who believe in a smaller government that collects less in taxes. And, quite frankly, the problem in Washington is not the battle between these two great traditions- but, rather, both liberals and conservatives are confronted with a group that represents an anti-government extremism that would make Barry Goldwater's head spin, an Anti-government extremism that seeks to dismantle the New Deal and the New Frontier and the Great Society.

When I listen to those who would roll back 75 years of social progress, I'm reminded of the old Internet joke about the guy who wakes up to his alarm clock powered by a regulated electricity monopoly; takes a shower in clean water provided by a municipal system; eats a breakfast of bacon and eggs inspected by the USDA; takes his FDA-approved medication; drives his kids to public schools on roads maintained by local and state agencies; goes to work in a factory made safe by OSHA regulations; returns to his home that he could afford because of the mortgage tax deduction; a home that didn't burn down and which wasn't robbed because of fire and police protections; logs on to an Internet developed by the Pentagon and complains about how government can't do anything.

He'll probably write me an e-mail telling me to keep the government's hands off of Medicare.

-Let us insist,- George McGovern continued, -that government can, and must, solve problems ... that it can, and must set goals and define a vision for the nation.-

And there are plenty of problems to solve.

Stubborn unemployment; a growing disparity between rich and poor; persistent poverty and hunger; soaring health care costs; a planet threatened by the reality of climate change.

Government alone won't solve these problems, of course. But neither will they be solved without good government - smart and thoughtful and appropriate government.

But what about the debt, you may ask. What about runaway government spending?

First, we must recognized that with all of the cuts we have already made, non-defense discretionary spending - everything from transportation to medical research to education - will be at the lowest levels as a percentage of our GDP since the Kennedy Administration. That's 50 years.

Our long-term fiscal challenges - consisting primarily of the health care needs of an aging population - are real, and they must be addressed.

But deficit reduction alone is not an economic policy, and the best way to reduce the deficit is to put people back to work and to grow our economy. It's about results.

We can do this.

And, one other thing, I've always believed that anti-waste means anti-war. We have paid too high a price in blood and treasure as a result of these unpaid-for-wars that we are still trying to extricate ourselves from. There are some in Washington who rattle the sabres of war everytime someone does something they don't like. But, I would argue, these wars are not making us more secure or enhancing our stature in the world. I believe that America's true power lies within our values.

And so I leave you with some final words from my friend George McGovern. -The gravest threat today,- he said, -is not a foreign adversary, but an enemy within. That enemy is not a conspiracy or a fifth column. It is inside ourselves and among our leaders. It is the sense of futility. It is the dulled conscience. It is the lost vision.-

So let us continue to work together to sharpen our collective conscience and to renew our vision. Let us insist that we can take on big problems and solve them. Let us be unafraid to fight for justice, fairness and peace. And let us strive to make Worcester - and America - the best they can be.