By Vinaya Saksena

CUMBERLAND — Mayor Daniel McKee arrived back in Rhode Island on Tuesday night following a trip to Washington D.C., where he heard President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address in person.

McKee had flown down to the nation’s capital to witness the annual speech as a guest of Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). Upon his return, the mayor said the trip overall was quite inspiring, the president’s speech less so.
“There was nothing really earth-shattering that was discussed,” McKee said. “It definitely reflected the fact that the president has had difficulty working with congress,” and that his term was drawing to a close.
McKee said he was dismayed by what he said was a lack of ideas that would help Cumberland and other communities facing similar problems to those currently faced by the town. Specifically, he cited fuel costs and municipal finances as areas of concern he wished had been addressed, though he credited the president for raising the issue of a possible tax rebate to address ill effects of the current economy on taxpayers.
“I kept looking for something that would help our state,” the mayor said. “But I couldn’t pull anything out that really did that. It can’t help but make one feel that some (attention) should be brought back home.”
Indeed, McKee said he felt that issues affecting individual communities did not receive enough attention, and that issues affecting Americans at home in general could have received more airtime. He said he hoped to see incentives introduced for environmentally friendlier sources of energy, but added that in the short term, he felt there was an even more pressing need to address energy costs.
The mayor added that his visit gave him time to speak with Rep. Kennedy, as well as Rhode Island’s Senators, Democrats Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Kennedy’s staff. McKee said the visit helped in his pursuit of major federal grants for Cumberland’s Office of Children, Youth and Learning and its police department.