Senator addresses Mahmood, SLC and rising gasoline prices

By Joseph A, Brill, Register-Star, Tuesday, March 9, 2004

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday he would seek parole for Ansar
Mahmood, but only if a check of the facts proves the detainee's release is
warranted.

After addressing residents of the Providence Hall senior housing complex in
Hudson on the topic of Social Security, Schumer was asked by the
Register-Star for his latest thinking on some issues of local and regional
importance. In addition to questions regarding Mahmood, the senator also
spoke briefly about St. Lawrence Cement, rising gasoline prices and his
potential challenger in the upcoming senatorial election.

Prior to answering those questions, Schumer met in private for about 20
minutes with Susan Davies and Marcie Gardner of the Mahmood Legal Defense
Committee.

"They made a very interesting case," Schumer said, after he spoke with the
two women.

The committee is seeking the release of Mahmood, 26. a Pakistani native who,
while in this country on a valid visa, was working as a pizza delivery man
in Columbia County in October 2001 when he was arrested. Mahmood aroused
suspicions when he asked to have his picture taken in front of the Hudson
water treatment plant.

He was taken into custody by local police and soon cleared of any possible
connection to terrorist activities. But a search of his home revealed he had
co-signed an apartment lease for a Pakistani couple who had over-stayed
their visas.

Mahmood was charged and, on the advice of his public defender, pleaded
guilty to harboring illegal aliens. He has been imprisoned ever since in a
federal detention center in Batavia, Genesee County.

Schumer pointed to Mahmood's guilty plea as one of the major stumbling
blocks to supporters' attempts to free him.

But, the senator said, it is a stumbling block that could be overcome if
Mahmood were granted parole.

Davies and Gardner have asked "for a complete factual review, which is what
I'm going to do," Schumer said.

"I'm going to look at all the facts," Schumer said. And if it merits it, "I
will ask for parole."

On St. Lawrence Cement's controversial proposal to build a new
cement-manufacturing facility in Greenport and Hudson, Schumer said he has
heard strong arguments on both sides of the debate.

But the senator said the state is currently reviewing the cement company's
plans, and he will wait and see how that process concludes before he comes
out with a position.

On increasing gasoline prices, Schumer said that while the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries is usually to blame for price hikes, this time
around there is another culprit, the U.S. government.

He said the requirement to use corn-based ethanol in gasoline is based on
the idea that gas burns cleaner with the additive. But, he said, there are
now other and cheaper means of accomplishing the same thing.

Schumer said he sees the continuation of the ethanol requirement as an
attempt by the government to appease ethanol producers.

The senator said he hopes President George W. Bush will grant an ethanol
waiver Gov. George E. Pataki has requested for New York.

Last week, state Assembly Deputy Minority Leader Howard Mills came to a GOP
fund-raiser in Columbia County, seeking support from the county Republican's
executive committee in his bid to unseat Schumer.

The senator, when asked about his potential opponent, explained that he is
the type of politician who works hard at his job and, "I don't look over my
shoulder."