For Immediate Release: November 9, 2000
Further information: Tom McNaught (617) 514-1662
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that Jarrett Barrios, State Representative from Cambridge (D-28th Middlesex District), has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Fenn Award for Political Leadership.
The Fenn Award will be formally presented to Representative Barrios at a public ceremony on Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston.
Co-sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s New Frontier Society and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Fenn Award is given annually to a Massachusetts elected official aged 35 years or younger who has demonstrated outstanding political leadership. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s New Frontier Society is a non-partisan group of young men and women, aged 21 to 35, whose goal is to promote a greater understanding of local and national political issues, particularly those affecting this particular age group, and to encourage active participation in public affairs.
Barrios was selected in part, for his leadership in pursuing legislation that requires hospital emergency rooms to provide interpreters for non-English speaking patients.
A group of advocates worked for more than ten years to get legislation which would address the lack of adequate interpreter services for non-English speaking patients in hospitals. In his first term, Barrios took a lead role in this fight and worked with the coalition to get a legislative mandate. He fought opposition from the Massachusetts Medical Society that raised many issues about the bill. Barrios worked with other members of the legislature and minority party leaders to ensure the issue was non-partisan. The "Emergency Room Interpreter Bill" was passed in the House in December 1999 and by the Senate in the spring of 2000.
Barrios also worked to ensure that a grievance clause was included in the language of the bill which allows the Attorney General and patients who have been denied effective care to sue the hospital if interpreter services were not offered.
"The members of the New Frontier Society share President Kennedy's conviction that one person can make a difference and that every person should try," said Sarah Hast, coordinator of the program. "We are pleased to join with the Mass Municipal Association in honoring Representative Barrios."
Barrios first came to Cambridge as a student at Harvard University, where he graduated with honors. He then worked for the Boston City Council and on local campaigns before going to Georgetown for a law degree. After graduating with honors from Georgetown, Barrios returned to Cambridge to practice law at Hill & Barlow and he became active in the city’s Democratic Committee and neighborhood groups.
"The John F. Kennedy Library is committed to encouraging talented young people to become involved in public affairs," said Maria Stanwich, acting Director of the Kennedy Library. "We believe it is an appropriate way of honoring the memories of John and Robert Kennedy who believed deeply that one’s community could be improved through involvement and active participation in politics and public service. Representative Barrios has demonstrated this commitment to public service. We take great pleasure in honoring him with the Fenn Award."
The annual award is named in honor of Dan H. Fenn, Jr. who served as the first director of the Kennedy Library, from 1971 to 1986, and has remained active in public affairs.
The presentation to Barrios begins at 7:30 pm and follows the Kennedy Library Public Forum "What Happened in Last Week’s Election?" at which Mickey Edwards, former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, Paul G. Kirk, Jr., former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Rick Davis, former campaign manager for Senator John McCain, and Joan Menard, chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party will examine the election results and their effect upon the country’s political future. The free public forum is from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Columbia Point, Boston.
The Kennedy Library is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization. The Kennedy Library and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.