Herewith, the first paragraph of a press release issued this afternoon by the Patriots:

(PROVIDENCE, R.I.)-In the field house of LaSalle Academy this afternoon New England Patriots Charitable Foundation President Joshua Kraft, Governor Donald Carcieri, Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed, Speaker William Murphy, Patriots and Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Tippett and The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, participated in a bill signing ceremony authorizing a Rhode Island license plate for the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation, with proceeds to benefit local non-profit organizations, and to kickoff the 2009-10 'Keep the Heat On' campaign, an effort that provides heating assistance to Rhode Islanders with no place left to turn for help.

The release does not say whether Bishop Tobin has given Congressman Patrick Kennedy dispensation to put such a plate on his car.