EAST HARTFORD — Daniel Russo is an accomplished professional with several graduate degrees, but at age 57, after losing his job, he fears he will soon have to decide between paying the mortgage or his costly health insurance.

The Middletown resident was one of a dozen people who testified Wednesday at a listening tour sponsored by U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who took testimony to bring back to Washington as the Obama administration works toward health care reform.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) who has been asked by Chairman Kennedy to serve as his chief deputy for health reform, today hosted the first town hall meeting of his Connecticut Prescriptions for Change listening tour.  Approximately 700 Connecticut residents came to Goodwin College in East Hartford this morning to hear from Dodd and a panel of experts and to share their views and ideas for reforming our nation’s health care system.

EAST HARTFORD — Blaming the failure to win universal health care in 1993 on a failure to listen to taxpayers, state officials led by U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., are touring the state to hear what people have to say.

Around 700 people came Friday to Goodwin College’s Riverside Campus hoping to get the inside story on a universal health care proposal from Dodd, one of the most senior members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) announced today that fire departments in several Connecticut towns have been awarded federal grants totaling more than $2 million.  The funds will go to improving operations and safety at their facilities, acquiring new vehicles, and hiring additional personnel. The grants were made possible by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program, which provide aid to first-responder programs nationwide with the aim of improving the equipment and staffing levels in order to protect the health and safety of the public, as well as that of the first-responders themselves.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) today announced the Senate’s passage of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009.  The legislation includes four key bills that will designate two new trails and allow for expanded activities at two national parks.

Agreement Will Keep Jobs in Connecticut

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), along with Senator Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Representative John Larson (CT-1), today praised an agreement between Connecticut-based Hamilton Sundstrand and Oceaneering International that will allow workers in Connecticut to continue producing components for NASA’s space suits.  Hamilton Sundstrand and Oceaneering International have agreed to submit a single bid to NASA for the new Constellation Space Suit System contract.

FARMINGTON — U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd warned Saturday that the failure to develop comprehensive after-school programs places not just children, but the nation as a whole at risk.

Speaking before nearly 300 delegates of the Connecticut After School Network symposium, Dodd hailed their efforts and told the delegates he uses Connecticut’s programs “as a model for national after-school programs.”

Senator Chris Dodd, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and a longtime supporter of mental health parity, held a press conference at the Institute of Living in Hartford on Wednesday to celebrate the passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

Senator Chris Dodd met with local Hispanic business owners and community leaders today.  Dodd visited businesses and non-profit organizations along Park Street and discussed how current economic conditions are affecting the Hispanic community in Hartford.