September 19, 2007 One of Washington's top and most-respected political journalist, Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News and second in seniority among White House reporters, provided an insider's view of Washington's political scene and emphasized how important "access and accuracy are in politics," at the Maine Credit Union League's 13th Annual Legislative Forum on Tuesday, September 18th in Freeport, Maine. In addition to DeFrank's keynote presentation, the afternoon featured a panel of Maine legislators. One of Washington's top and most-respected political journalist, Tom DeFrank, Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News and second in seniority among White House reporters, provided an insider's view of Washington's political scene and emphasized how important "access and accuracy are in politics," at the Maine Credit Union League's 13th Annual Legislative Forum on Tuesday, September 18th in Freeport, Maine. "The media plays an important role in politics by seeking all angles of a story and issue, so without access to top government officials or a willingness on their part to provide information, the public loses," DeFrank told the crowd of 80 credit union leaders and directors from across Maine.
DeFrank reflected on his 38+ years of covering The White House by recounting numerous experiences and stories, many of them involving former President Gerald Ford, with whom he became very close. DeFrank's much-anticipated book on his hundreds of conversations and interviews with Ford over the past 30 years, Write It When I'm Gone: Conversations with President Gerald Ford, will be released in early November. Of today's current state of politics, DeFrank described a "very partisan environment that is not healthy for the country. However, we are still functioning as the strongest country in the world despite all of the acrimonious feelings among politicians and government officials. I am hopeful that this cycle of bad feelings will pass in the near future because I think it inhibits our ability to get things done politically."
In addition to DeFrank's keynote presentation, the afternoon featured a panel of legislators, three of whom serve as members of a key legislative committee, the Insurance & Financial Services Committee, that hears and debates the majority of issues impacting credit unions. The panel included Senator Nancy Sullivan, chair, Senator Lois Snowe-Mello, ranking minority member of the committee, Representative Jonathan McKane, committee member, and Representative Deborah Simpson, chair of the Judiciary Committee, another committee that the League and credit unions have issues before each session.
The panelists provided a recap of the past session as well as a preview of the upcoming session which begins in January. All of the panelists praised the strong presence of credit unions in Augusta. Senator Sullivan added, "The Maine Credit Union League serves Maine credit unions well in the Legislature by remaining well-informed, active, involved and responsive." Representative Simpson called on credit union representatives to "continue to build and maintain strong relationships with their local legislators."
John Murphy, President of the Maine Credit Union League, remarked, "We are pleased that we had another strong turnout for this year's Forum and were able to provide another solid program that educated and informed our credit unions about national and state politics. We have many strong relationships both in Washington and Augusta and these types of events helps to facilitate and reinforce our commitment and the importance of political involvement."
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