Domestic partners discriminated against

The fact that the U.S. government covers the travel cost of a family pet yet does not cover that of a domestic partner was brought up at a discussion held at the Center for American Progress (CAP). Unlike spouses of married foreign service personnel, domestic partners are ineligible for medical benefits, life insurance and are not even permitted to attend a two-day safety training course which the State Department offers to spouses.

Madeleine Albright, former Secretary of State, spoke during the discussion, recollecting when James Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador appointed by President Clinton to Luxembourg in 1999. Albright also considered former ambassador Michael Guest's resignation as ambassador to Romania a big loss to U.S. foreign policy. Guest resigned from his post because his partner was unable to receive the same benefits that spouses of his straight colleagues were offered. Albright wondered how America could expect itself to be a leader in promoting civil liberties when it still discriminated its own people.

Senator Gordon Smith (R-Ore.), also speaking at the discussion, pointed out that to an employee, health benefits are second in importance only to salary. Smith described how, in order to keep the best and brightest Americans working in the public sector, equal health benefits should be afforded to all. Also, Smith discussed his theory that a key to reducing health care costs is to widen the pool of those eligible, even if the "paradigms of families get shifted".

CAP panel discusses the "State of Homeland Security"

The Center for American Progress held a discussion today on “The State of Homeland Security” with guest speaker Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the first ever Democratic chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. A panel discussion with other guests who are knowledgeable about homeland security followed his remarks.

Thompson outlined eight primary challenges that the Department of Homeland Security faces, including an effective border protection plan, an adequate budget, chemical security measures, communication with small companies and various departments, employee diversity, stabilizing management, reducing reliance on contractors, and maintaining national security without infringing on civil rights. He stated that there are currently 86 subcommittees with jurisdiction over the DHS, which is “too many” to maintain efficiency. Thompson called for bipartisan solutions to these problems, stressing that “when the bad people show up,” meaning terrorists, they are not going to ask about party affiliations.

Panelist Philip Crowley, CAP director of homeland security, explained growing pressure on the DHS to not only prevent attacks on the U.S., but also to anticipate and respond to natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. He also said that the notion of a “War on Terror” should be retired because it is misleading and cannot be successfully waged or won. He noted that at the federal level, America spends twice as much defending Iraq than its own country and ten times more on offense than defense.