Upton visits DUHS
Published 4:37 pm Tuesday, November 1, 2005
By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton visited Dowagiac Union High School on Halloween, but he wasn't trick-or-treating.
Cass County's congressman, who spoke to Bob Kwiatkoski's senior government students Monday morning, visits a school every week because “when I was a student, I never, ever had a legislator come visit a class.”
Sunday night Upton spoke in Niles at a Polly's Place fundraiser.
The director of the shelter for abused women told Upton she remembers him speaking to her class in high school about making a difference, inspiring her to do the work she does today with a $250,000 budget.
Upton, R-St. Joseph, grew up in Berrien County and earned a journalism degree from the University of Michigan, where he was sports editor of the campus newspaper, with the idea of writing for the Wolverines or Chicago Cubs.
His mother and brother teach.
Then he met Dave Stockman, who “had a lot of good ideas about balancing the budget and welfare reform. He seemed honest and hard-working, so I volunteered to help him. It was a great job for me. My dad thought I was crazy. He didn't have a chance of winning” until it turned out that he had.
Upton ended up in Washington, where “I had never been before,” with a “terrific job” doing constituent service “from Three Oaks to Three Rivers.”
President Ronald Reagan tapped Stockman as budget director.
Upton logged long hours at the White House. Working “on the legislative side of things,” he lobbied members of Congress and met weekly with President Reagan.
After working there about 4 1/2 years, Fred married Amey. Their daughter, Meg, turns 18 today.
Back home, Upton was being eyed as a congressional candidate himself.
Upton said he made all of more than 500 votes recorded this year. In fact, in his 19 years in the House, he has cast some 10,000 votes and missed only 18 - most of those the two times he went to Iraq.
He averages 1,000 pieces of correspondence a week - 60 percent e-mail and 40 percent letters and post cards - and personally signs “Fred” more than 50,000 times a year.
As chairman of the Telecommunications Subcommittee, Upton gets involved in Internet and broadcasting issues. Another committee assignment is health, since his district's major employer is Pfizer. He formerly served on the Education Committee.
Even though there are 435 House members, “Often there are votes that literally one vote makes a difference, either in committee or on the House floor. Even in the 2004 presidential election, if (President George W.) Bush had lost one state that he won, John Kerry would be president. Perhaps someday you'll be a candidate.”
Upton knows Bush, who shortened his nickname from “Freddie Boy” to “Freddie.” He said, “I'm not afraid to support a Democratic president if I think he's right and I'm not afraid to oppose a Republican president if I thought he was wrong. My vote is very hard to get.”
Upton, who returned to Washington Monday night for votes today, fielded questions for about a half hour. Oscar Azevedo asked whether Congress considered staying home and relying on videoconferencing.
That idea had some appeal to Upton because “there's no direct flight from our district” and he often drives. “The reason you can't vote by videoconference or special phone code is you don't always know what the amendments are going to be. It's important that you're able to go to the amendment sponsor and ask him or her what it does if you've got a question. I might be in a committee hearing, giving a speech or meeting with constituents” during debate.
Committee sessions sometimes last from 10 a.m. until 1 the following morning, recessing to cross the street for floor votes.
Upton recalled his summer amendment to thwart Bush's plan to build a $650 million embassy in Iraq. “That's a lot of money for a building,” he said. “I was at the new Stryker plant in Portage,” which makes medical equipment. “They spent $60 million and it's gigantic. It's two stories and a couple of football fields long.” Allegan's new high school cost a similar amount. “Why would we spent 10 times that for an embassy that would be a sitting target? I'm anxious for the Iraqis to take over their own government and to get our troops home. Saddam had some 300 palaces. I saw some of them that we're occupying. It cost $650 million to build the Sears tower. I got another Republican and a Democrat and the three of us offered an amendment striking it. The White House wasn't very happy about that,” Upton said. “It survived in the Senate,” then went to a conference to iron out details between the two bills.
Upton, who spoke Monday morning to Cass and Berrien County school superintendents in Berrien Springs, also talked about soaring energy costs.
Western Michigan University is closing an extra week during the holidays to save $20,000 a day, or $100,000.
Bush signed a law in August for long-term solutions, such as new nuclear plants and refineries. “We have not built any in your lifetime,” he said. “Worldwide, we're pumping at about 98 percent of capacity. Oil is driven by supply and demand. The world is thirstier every year. China, as an example, a country of more than 1 billion people, has energy demands that are growing by more than 20 percent a year, locking up all these long-term gasoline and oil contracts, particularly with Middle East countries.
He commiserated with the college-bound. When he attended U of M, his tuition of $330 a semester could be paid off with a summer factory job. Today, Michigan and Michigan State cost roughly $8,000.
Austin Lawrence asked about Bush's nomination of 15-year Third Circuit Court Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr., a former U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, to the Supreme Court to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor.
Upton recalled riding on the bus with Bush and the first lady when they visited Niles. “My wife was disappointed she wasn't here so we called her.” Amey wasn't home, but Stephen, their seventh grader, answered.
His dad passed the startled Stephen the call with Laura Bush on the other end commenting on his Little League game.