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THE JOHN H. CHAFEE RECORD

The James E. Carney Public Health Legislative Award recognizes Rhode Islanders who have been instrumental in the promotion or enactment of legislation which has advanced the aims or mission of public health. We are pleased to announce the James E. Carney Public Health Legislative Award recipient is the late Senator John H. Chafee. Following is the Chafee record.

A Visionary Governor
Promoting Bipartisanship, Legislating From The Center
The Centrist Record
Health Record - Protecting Children, Families and Seniors
Protecting and Preserving the Environment
Contributions of Sen. Chafee in Support of WIC Program
The James E. Carney Public Health Legislative Award

The Chafee Record

For the better part of four decades, John H. Chafee served the State of Rhode Island with distinction. As State Representative, Governor, Secretary of the Navy and United States Senator, John Chafee set a high standard at all levels of government and truly created a tremendous impact on this state and the nation.

A Visionary Governor

John H. Chafee served as Governor of Rhode Island during a critical juncture in the state’s history, 1963-1967. Indeed, many of Governor Chafee’s achievements are easily taken for granted today. When he became Governor thirty-seven years ago, no community college or coordinated system of vocational schools existed to serve as a foundation for a fast growing population and even faster growing economy.

Discrimination in housing and employment still confronted thousands of Rhode Islanders. Open spaces, farmlands, and villages cowered under a rising tide of concrete in our rapidly developing state. Rhode Island lacked critical and essential innovations such as a medical program for the sick and aged, a housing fund for the middle class, and a comprehensive mass transportation system.

At the age of 39, John Chafee, a veteran of two wars and six years in the Rhode Island General Assembly, including four years as his party’s leader in the House of Representatives, faced the challenge of leading the state through some pivotal years.

In 1962, Chafee, a tireless campaigner, took office as Governor by a razor slim margin of 398 votes. Chafee rose to the occasion and helped guide our state through some of the most difficult and challenging years. Chafee didn’t accomplish all his goals during his first term, but his hard working and honest style of leadership helped him win re-election in 1964 by a record margin of 87,336 votes!

Governor Chafee worked with the General Assembly and fought for Fair Housing laws and fair employment practices long before the federal government took such action to end discrimination. Chafee also fostered the creation of the Rhode Island Public Transportation Administration. He took action to institute medical care for the aged years before the federal Medicare program.

As Governor, John Chafee worked hard to keep the public’s trust. He steered the construction of Route 95 and surrounding highways, linking community to community, towards completion.

John Chafee’s progressive and effective leadership attracted attention outside the borders of Rhode Island. Governors from around the country chose him to be Chairman of the National Association of Republican Governors in 1967. His leadership gained him recognition across the nation, where Chafee wielded significant influence in matters from civil rights to social welfare and the Vietnam War.

In 1976, Chafee again ran for the Senate, gaining 58 percent of the vote – the first, and still the only Republican from Rhode Island elected to the Senate since 1930. In 1994 he won reelection with 65 percent of the vote, carrying every city and town.

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Promoting Bipartisanship, Legislating From The Center

Senator John Chafee approached his career in Washington with one overarching goal: to operate through consensus and cooperation wherever and whenever possible in order to "get things done."

Resisting partisan trends and working with Democrats on issues of great importance required a level of independence – a "maverick" quality – that carried some risk.

Pushing these concerns aside, Senator Chafee moved quickly to bring both sides together when there was a dispute over legislation. Thus, he achieved breakthroughs in four areas of policy since 1976: budget and tax policy; environmental protection; health care; and civil rights.

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The Centrist Record

Senator Chafee’s efforts to forge a middle round began early in his first term and continued through his career. In the late 1970s, under President Carter, Senator Chafee emerged as a voice of reason and consensus as the Senate debated the Panama Canal Treaty. In the late 1990s, Senator Chafee worked to bring Democrats and Republicans to consensus on health, child care, global warming, and managed care reform.

Health Care Reform: Anticipating that rising costs and diminished access would drive health care reform to the top of the national agenda, Senator Chafee formed a task force of GOP Senators in 1990 to examine the issue. A national health reform debate unfolded in 1993-1994, exposing sharp divisions between those favoring a vast regulatory overhaul of the system and those favoring few if any significant changes. Senator Chafee developed a bipartisan proposal to create stronger incentives for competition in the insurance marketplace -- thus bringing down costs and improving access to coverage. Although the debate later collapsed, the Chafee "mainstream" plan became a blueprint for reform, and helped pave the way for incremental changes such as the Kassebaum-Kennedy legislation on insurance portability enacted in 1996.

Senator Chafee maintained health care as a priority. He introduced bipartisan legislation to reform the managed care system, and establishing both the Congressional Prevention Coalition and the Congressional Task Force on Health Care Quality.

Budget and Taxes: In the early days of the Reagan Administration, Senator Chafee led the effort to temper some of the wide-ranging budget cuts proposed. He sponsored a $1 billion amendment to restore funding on critical education and health care programs for the needy. In the second Reagan term, Senator Chafee became the leader of the so-called "Gang of Six" – Republican moderates who greatly influenced budget debates by restoring funding for health care, education and the environment.

Civil Rights: Despite the gains made in the past three decades, civil rights still requires voices of consensus. As a result of landmark Supreme Court decisions challenging existing workplace and education statutes, Congress was thrust into emotional debates on minority rights, affirmative action, and other civil rights issues.

In 1987, Senator Chafee and other moderates surmounted a Presidential veto and enacted a compromise bill overturning the "Grove City" decision, which weakened protections against education discrimination against minorities and women. Following harmful Supreme Court decisions in 1991, the Senator crafted a compromise measure to the Civil Rights Act Amendments, strengthening workplace discrimination laws for women and minorities.

Environmental Protection: Senator Chafee achieved wide-spread renown for being a centrist on conservation.

From the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, to the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996, to the current debates over reauthorization of the Endangered Species Act, protecting open space, preserving wetlands, wildlife, and estuaries, and acting to curtail global warming, Senator Chafee achieved consensus on some of Congress’ most complex and politically explosive issues. He also worked to defeat non-germane, anti-environment amendments to various annual spending bills. He worked to stop attempts at moratoriums on all new Federal regulations, some of which would have devastated environmental protection.

In his role as Chairman of the Environment & Public Works Committee, Senator Chafee served as a bridge between Republicans and Democrats on environmental issues. He frequently mediated between Congress and the Administration.

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Health Record - Protecting Children, Families and Seniors

Senator Chafee became the Senate’s leading advocate for a strong federal commitment to health care for low-income families. Over the course of two decades, he successfully expanded eligibility for Medicaid coverage to a growing number of pregnant women, children and disabled individuals living at or near the poverty level. As more authority over Medicaid shifted to state governments, he secured important guarantees of coverage for these vulnerable groups. He designed the Children’s Health Insurance Grant program (enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997), which expanded health coverage for uninsured low-income children. The Senator strengthened the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant program, the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, and federal support for community health centers.

Advocates for persons with disabilities count Senator Chafee as a stalwart supporter. He authored landmark legislation to provide home and community-based services for the developmentally disabled, and made Rhode Island a national laboratory for these services.  He helped assure that vulnerable families are not harmed by cutbacks in the Children’s Supplemental Security Income grant program.

Senator Chafee sponsored the program enacted in 1989 to improve the quality, availability and affordability of child care nationwide. He played a key role in passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act, permitting workers to take unpaid leave to care for a new child or to deal with a family medical emergency. He led the successful effort to reform the child welfare system, through legislation signed into law by President Clinton in 1997. This law guaranteed the safety of abused and neglected children in foster care and promoted adoption. During two major debates on welfare reform during his tenure, Senator Chafee fought successfully to improve education, child care and job training opportunities for welfare recipients, and to preserve food stamp and SSI benefits for eligible legal immigrants.

Senator Chafee authored legislation to combat fraud in the marketing of Medicare supplemental insurance policies, to enhance portability among Medigap plans, to make health care more accessible to low-income seniors, and to expand preventive screening services in the Medicare program.

As a senior member of the Finance Committee, Senator Chafee championed both the Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which spurred private investment in construction of affordable housing, and the Mortgage Revenue Bond program, which provides states with the capital needed to assist first-time homebuyers. Each year, 2,000 families get help from the MRB program through the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation. In addition, he led efforts to preserve the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which helps low income families defray utility bills. Over 18,000 Rhode Island households receive assistance every year.

When partisan divisions threatened the launching of the National and Community Service program for college-age youth in 1994, Senator Chafee helped craft a compromise which allowed it to move forward. He authored the successful Even Start program, enacted in 1988 to improve literacy among disadvantaged children and parents. He continued to advocate parental assistance activities. He proposed the Goals 2000 law to spur educational improvement. The Senator also led efforts to deter tobacco use, especially among children, and to protect children from exposure to lead paint. He crafted a program making support available for asbestos hazard abatement in schools.

His senior position on the Finance Committee enabled Senator Chafee to assist struggling hospitals and community health centers in Rhode Island when severe federal budget constraints forced cutbacks. In 1990 the Senator won enactment of legislation that significantly increased federal payments to community health centers. As a result, an additional 15,000 Rhode Islanders received services. Between 1991 and 1994 he prevented Medicare cuts that would have reduced federal reimbursements to Rhode Island hospitals by $9 million.

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Protecting and Preserving the Environment

Senator Chafee influenced every step taken at the national level in the last two decades to control pollution and preserve natural resources. From comprehensive restructuring of the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, to the shaping of a more environment-friendly national transportation system, the Senator played a central role. He received every major environmental award.

At the time Senator Chafee joined the Environment and Public Works Committee in 1977, progress at controlling conventional pollutants under the Clean Water Act had begun. But industrial discharges of toxic substances and the decaying of America’s sewage treatment infrastructure both needed attention. This broadening of the scope of the Clean Water Act became an important priority as Senator Chafee assumed leadership of the key Subcommittee on Environmental Protection. He spearheaded a reform of the Construction Grants program for sewage treatment in 1981, steering millions of dollars to Rhode Island, where the deteriorating Providence Sewage Treatment Plant posed a serious threat to Narragansett Bay.

The Senator led a major reform of the Clean Water Act in 1986. He introduced controls on industrial pollution and a new emphasis on "non-point source" pollution from farms and highway runoff. He also created the National Estuary Program to protect coastal resources, targeting funds for the cleanup of Narragansett Bay. He helped steer the bill to enactment over a Presidential veto in 1987.

The Nation needed a more coherent approach to air quality in the 1980s. Senator Chafee led the development of emissions standards for cars and trucks and air quality standards for polluted areas, with a framework for achieving them. These efforts culminated in the landmark Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. This legislation controlled acid rain and toxic chemical emissions, and began the phasing out of ozone-depleting chemicals, including chlorofluorocarbons.

The Senator strongly supported steps to study the problem of global climate change caused by the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. He helped bring about a more aggressive national environmental strategy, winning Senate approval of a greenhouse gas agreement signed by the U.S. and 142 other nations at the Rio Earth Summit.

Senator Chafee wrote the 1993 law establishing the nation’s first indoor air hazard research and response program. The legislation included provisions to expand "sick building" assessments and develop state indoor air plans to reduce exposure to radon, asbestos and tobacco smoke.

Senator Chafee authored the Superfund program, created in 1980 to direct and fund the cleanup of hazardous waste dump sites and leaking underground storage tanks. He led efforts to expand and improve Superfund. The program made millions of dollars available for the cleanup of sites in Rhode Island. The Senator authored the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, requiring spillers to pay for oil cleanup and to compensate injured parties. He crafted legislation to strengthen this law in response to the North Cape oil spill in Rhode Island in 1996.

The Endangered Species Act attracted Senator Chafee’s attention during the 1980s. He forestalled attempts in recent years to weaken the law, and worked to make it more workable.

To preserve fragile coastal regions, Senator Chafee sponsored the Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982, updated in 1990. This law established a system of shoreline areas to be protected from development. Nearly 10,000 acres of Rhode Island’s coastline is included. The Senator worked aggressively for the conservation of wetlands, helping to expand the National Wildlife Refuge System and reforming tax policy to encourage the preservation of open space. He sponsored the North American Wetlands Conservation Act to preserve the wetlands habitat of migratory birds. He authored legislation to reverse the decline of the Atlantic Striped Bass.

Senator Chafee secured millions of dollars for the establishment and expansion of valuable natural areas in Rhode Island. These include the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge in South Kingstown, the Pettaquamscutt National Wildlife Refuge in Narragansett, the Block Island National Wildlife Refuge, Ninigret NWR in Charlestown and Rodman’s Hollow on Block Island.

Senator Chafee created a link between our nation’s environmental goals and our transportation policy. Beginning with legislation approved in 1991 and strengthened last year; states can use highway funds for public transit improvements, mitigation of traffic congestion, auto vehicle inspection and maintenance, bicycle and pedestrian projects and historic preservation activities. The Senator also won passage of tax changes to encourage the use of mass transit by commuters.

The Senator helped strengthen the nation’s drinking water infrastructure by steps to control lead and other contaminants, and to make funding available for plant modernization. Chafee also helped secure $1.9 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1992 to address Rhode Island'’ water contamination crisis in the affected communities of Central Falls, Cumberland, North Kingstown, and Pawtucket.

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Contributions of Sen. Chafee in Support of WIC Program

Senator Chafee often occupied positions where he could influence the shape and outcome of legislation affecting health and WIC – this included the Finance Committee and the Health Finance Subcommittee.

Senator Chafee fought every year for consistent expansion of WIC; initiated letters of support and obtained sign-on of 70-80% of Senators - built bipartisan coalitions to protect and expand WIC, saying, "WIC is the right thing to do" – "expanding WIC is smart spending."

He also battled powerfully-backed attempts to cut WIC – to block grant and chop it. Brought together WIC supporters in both parties to defeat the block grant bills which would gut the foundations of a proven beneficial and cost effective government program. Frustrated administration attempts to embargo appropriated funds.

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THE JAMES E. CARNEY PUBLIC HEALTH
LEGISLATIVE AWARD

Senator Chafee set a high standard at all levels of government and truly had a tremendous impact on this state and nation. His contributions to the improvement of health are significant. He made substantial contributions to health care reform, environmental protection, the protection of children, families and seniors, as well as civil rights, budget and taxes.

The Department of Health is pleased to announce that the annual James E. Carney Public Health Legislative Award was awarded posthumously to Senator John H. Chafee at a ceremony held on Friday, 14 April 2000 at the Rhode Island Department of Health, 3 Capitol Hill in Providence, Rhode Island.

Should you have an anecdote about Senator Chafee that relates to his Public Health that you wish to share, please send it to us at library@health.state.ri.us and we will add it to The Chafee Record as space permits.