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.

Senator Chris Dodd (CT) and Congressman Chris Murphy (CT-5) have joined forces to advocate for open space protection in Simsbury. Dodd and Murphy wrote to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Abigail Kimbell, in support of a Forest Legacy Grant for the 73-acre Tulmeadow woodlot in West Simsbury. While 187 acres of the Tulmeadow Farm are already protected by conservation easements and are under the management of the Simsbury Land Trust, this grant would allow for protection of the remaining 73 acres of open space that is part of a 25 mile, 8,000 acre natural corridor that runs from Simsbury all the way to the Massachusetts border.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chris Dodd hopes to bring the nation's next health care czar to Connecticut later this month as Democrats look to improve access and affordability to a system they have long sought to reform.

Dodd said Wednesday that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle has agreed, if scheduling permits, to join him on a "listening tour" in Connecticut to hear what the state's insurance, businesses and health care leaders as well as ordinary citizens may recommend.

Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) announced today that fire departments in Farmington, Wallingford, Union, Meriden, Westport, and Woodstock have been awarded federal grants totaling more than $400,000. The funds will go to improving operations and safety at their facilities. The grants were made possible by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program, which provides aid to first-responder programs nationwide with the aim of providing better equipment to protect the health and safety of the public, as well as that of the first-responders themselves. In fiscal year 2008, the AFG program has provided approximately $500 million in nationwide grants.

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.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, welcomed new federal funding for Connecticut organizations that provide counseling and legal assistance to families facing the threat of foreclosure.  The grants, which were announced today by NeighborWorks America, will provide $681,230 to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and $202,536 to the Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven.  Several national organizations with offices in Connecticut will also receive large grants.