John Garamendi

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today we want to talk about jobs. The people in my district, the 10th Congressional District of California, in Concord, Antioch, Pittsburg, Fairfield, Livermore, they want jobs. They want to go to work. They want this government to create jobs. We are now in the 10th week of the new majority, the Republican majority, and thus far there has not been one significant, useful job bill brought to the floor. Instead, we had a CR brought to the floor that, in all probability, will cost America 700,000 jobs. That's what the CR, the first piece of legislation introduced by the Republicans, would do, 700,000 jobs. And it's all across the board: construction jobs, research, manufacturing jobs, education. We just heard one fellow stand up here on the floor and say he was worried about his children. He should be, because the bill that he voted for less than 10 days ago will destroy thousands and thousands of teaching jobs across this Nation, including 218,000 young children that will not be in the Head Start program. We can't afford that kind of a ``jobs'' program. Joining me today is Betty Sutton from the great State of Ohio, in the heart of the once very strong manufacturing base of this Nation. Ms. Sutton, if you would tell us what's going on in Ohio and how you see these issues.

Mr. GARAMENDI. We kind of bracket the United States here. We've got the east coast with Maryland, and I'm out on the Pacific coast, but somewhere in between I believe is the State of Colorado, and I noticed our colleague from the State of Colorado was standing over there, and he had that ``I've got to get involved in this'' look. Please join us and share with us Colorado, which has some of these programs and is very, very important to all of us.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Thank you very much for the perspective from Rhode Island. I was, years ago, on the Blackstone River, which I think was the heart of the Industrial Revolution here in the United States; and they were using water power for the mills at that time. A fascinating, great history. And now the most advanced technology is also done in Rhode Island, a lot of it having to do with the construction of submarines and the like. Very, very advanced. But all of that comes from the research, the engineering, the STEM education: science, technology, engineering, mathematics. I would like to turn back to our colleague from Maryland. I see that she has a few more thoughts. She was kind of anxious to get back into this discussion.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Happy birthday, Peace Corps. 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PEACE CORPS

Mr. GARAMENDI. Sam, we're just about out of time. Today, March 1, 2011, marks the 50th anniversary, the 50th birthday of the United States Peace Corps. It's been an incredible organization all of these years. Over 200,000 Americans have served, both young and old, in some 139 countries. And so for all of those out there that want to do something very, very special with their life, well, you can Google it or you can go directly to peacecorps.gov. Put your application in and see what the toughest job you ever loved will bring to you. Congressman Sam Farr, thank you so very much for joining me this evening, for Tom Petri and Mike Honda, the four of us who are in Congress that were--that remain--Peace Corps volunteers, and for Lois Capps joining us and giving her perspective, a very big ``thank you.''

Mr. GARAMENDI. There are many, many opportunities that the Peace Corps develops and yes, indeed, they can come home with a new family or wife. You are quite correct about Aaron. There are 8,655 volunteers, as of today, serving in 77 countries, urban, rural, in all kinds of work. Just some of the statistics are, I think, interesting; education, 37 percent. We were teachers and community development. Actually, Patti and I were involved in the smallpox eradication program, Ethiopia being one of the last countries to eradicate smallpox. Health, HIV/AIDS, was 22 percent. Business. Do you want to be a graduate of Harvard Business School and really get some experience? Fourteen percent of the volunteers do that.

Mr. GARAMENDI. And as you were talking about Peace Corps volunteers working with young families, our son and daughter served in Paraguay in the Peace Corps, and her work was precisely that, working with her families in her community in Paraguay. They were also in a rural area working on family health on the issues of raising children, healthy children, and providing them with information about how they could better take care of their families and have a better life. Our son was involved in community development work. Our two daughters also served in the Peace Corps, and for young men and women, and others who are not so young, the Peace Corps offers an incredible opportunity to serve the world, serve this country, and to serve the needs of individuals in a one-on-one relationship in some 77 countries now, and hopefully with a small increase in the Peace Corps budget, which stands just at $400 million. You issued, you gave a statistic earlier in your discussion that is really, I think, important. For every soldier that we send to Afghanistan, we could send 13 Americans somewhere in the world to work on the issues of poverty, the issues of education, social development, societal development, and peace. So it's a 13-1 ratio, a great investment. Aaron Williams is the current Peace Corps director. He was a volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 1967 to 1970, served 3 years.

Mr. GARAMENDI. There is another example of an individual who has dedicated his life to peace. He now heads up an organization that is a consortium of nongovernment organizations that are dedicated to searching for peace in countries around the world and trying to resolve disputes before they come to war. We would just be derelict in our duty if we didn't make a heavy-duty pitch here for people to join the Peace Corps. Everywhere I go on campuses, people, the young men and women that are graduating, and older people--I think 7 percent of the volunteers today are over 50 years of age. The next election may give us an opportunity to return to the Peace Corps. Who knows what will come of that. But whatever your age is, the Peace Corps offers you an opportunity to serve.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Well, it really speaks to the thousands of Peace Corps volunteers that worked in Ethiopia and Eritrea. In the late nineties, a war broke out between those two countries. There is, here in Washington today, well over 100,000 people from Ethiopia and Eritrea. They were getting riled up and choosing sides. Those of us that served in Ethiopia, together with Chic Dambach, who is here in the gallery, set out to try to get these people here in the Washington area to work towards peace rather than to get into an argument amongst themselves over which country was right or wrong. From there we very quickly found ourselves invited to travel to both Ethiopia and Eritrea, where we were able to meet with the heads of state. In both cases, the team that was assembled, there were five of us, myself, I was then just leaving Federal Government service as the Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Mr. Dambach had just left the Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association, the National Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Association, a Federal appellate court judge who had served in Ethiopia who was then on the bench in Arizona in the Ninth Circuit; Mike McCaskey, who was then the president of the Chicago Bears; and another fellow who was deeply involved in African relief issues. We journeyed and we sat down and met with first the President of Eritrea and had a 3-hour conversation with him about the war and why the war was underway, what his goals were. We then traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where we met first with the foreign minister of Ethiopia, who actually was a student of Mike McCaskey. They talked about it, and there was this bond that was immediately established between them. Shortly thereafter, the foreign minister arranged a meeting with Prime Minister Meles, and, again, we spent nearly 3 hours with him asking him about the war from his perspective, what there was. It came to the five of us that there was a way to find peace, that there was a path that could bridge these differences that these two countries had that at that point had resulted in nearly 100,000 soldiers, both Ethiopia and Eritrean, having been killed in that war. We turned that information over to the Organization of African Unity, which was then working towards some sort of a settlement. And, shortly thereafter, within a couple of months, the basic elements of the peace treaty were developed, and they were based upon the work that we had done. There was some more back and forth that took place. But our team was invited to Algeria for the signing of the ceremony of peace. So the work for peace really never ends, and I know you are doing it here in Congress.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Certainly the pull personally, but much more important than that was the pull that Patti exerted upon me. I had an opportunity to play professional football, but turned that down to get married and to spend a 2-year honeymoon in the far western part of Ethiopia, where there was no running water, and we literally lived in a wattle, which is a mud-walled home with a corrugated tin roof and an outhouse out back. And it turned out to be the most marvelous honeymoon, and it's still going on now some almost 46 years later. So it was a beautiful opportunity for us to serve. And then the rest of what you said is a Peace Corps volunteer never leaves a life of service. We transform it into many, many ways. Lois Capps talked about three or four examples from her own district of returned Peace Corps volunteers and the way they inserted themselves into their communities for service, and in one case international food.

Mr. GARAMENDI. The interest in the Peace Corps is not just shared by those of us who are return volunteers; it's also served, and the interest is found, by others. I'd like to invite here to the well a colleague of mine from California, Congresswoman Lois Capps, who represents the Santa Barbara area up into Santa Maria. Would you care to join us? Thank you so very much for doing so.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Well, that's exactly the case. And it's not unusual to find wars going on. But as Mike Honda was talking about the President of Peru, who started his climb up the economic and educational ladder as a result of his experience with a Peace Corps teacher in Peru, the same thing happens in the countries in which you and I and other Peace Corps volunteers serve. I recall in 1999-2000, when the war broke out between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a group of us became interlocutors trying to figure out how to get these two countries to settle up. And because we were able to stand on the shoulders of so many Peace Corps volunteers that had served in those countries, we were able to meet with the President of Eritrea and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in two separate meetings and just talk to them about peace, about why they were fighting, why this war was going on that killed nearly 100,000 soldiers at that point. And it turned out that they were willing to talk to us. The reason was that in their high schools they were taught by Peace Corps volunteers, and they had this trust. They knew we didn't represent the American Government. They knew that we were there searching for peace as we had when we were volunteers. It turned out that those conversations led to the essence of the settlement of that war, the peace treaty. And I'll never forget a day when--actually, a gentleman who's here in the gallery at the moment, Chic Dambach was one of our team, and another fellow, Mike McCaskey, who was then the president of the Chicago Bears, he was part of our team. We sat down with the foreign minister of Ethiopia, and we were talking about where we served in the Peace Corps and Mike was saying he served in the northern part of the country. And the foreign minister said, what school? And Mike described the school. It turned out that Mike was the teacher for the foreign minister, and immediately there was a connection. That connection then led to the meeting that we had with Meles and the conversation that ultimately led to a peace treaty. Our role was ended, but the African Union carried on. Those are the relationships that count. We never know when they're going to materialize. It's quite possible that the people that you taught may one day be the leaders in Somalia once again. And these are the foundations upon which the Peace Corps breeds. Thank you so very much for joining us. I know that you have another appointment that you need to get to. But the experience of a Peace Corps--and my wife, when she was the associate director of the Peace Corps, would often say that a Peace Corps volunteer leaves to search for peace and returns, and throughout one's life, continues that process. Our work here in Congress is part of that. Thank you so very much for your service and joining us this evening.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Those were the same years that Patti and I were in Ethiopia, and we served in the far western part of Ethiopia in a very small town.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Tom, thank you so very much for your experiences. What year were you in Somalia? MR. PETRI. I was in Somalia in 1966-67.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Congressman Mike Honda, thank you so very, very much. Let me now turn to my colleague on the Republican side, Tom Petri, who also served. Tom, if you could share some of your experiences with us.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today, March 1, marks the 50th anniversary of the United States Peace Corps. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy, together with Sargent Shriver, established the most remarkable, long-lasting, and incredibly successful United States Peace Corps. On the announcement of the establishment of the Peace Corps, countries around the world clamored to have Americans of all ages come to their country and assist in the economic development of those countries. To date, over 200,000 Americans have followed that call to service and have served in over 130 countries. Today, some 77 countries have Peace Corps volunteers and another 20 countries request the presence of Peace Corps volunteers. My wife, Patti, and I are proud returned Peace Corps volunteers. Joining me today to celebrate this 50th anniversary are two other returned Peace Corps volunteers. And together with Sam Farr, who unfortunately cannot join us this evening, we comprise the four Members of Congress who are returned Peace Corps volunteers. I would like to call upon my colleague from California, Mike Honda, to join us here to express his own experiences of his work here in Congress and how his Peace Corps experiences may have reflected upon his work. Mike, if you'll join us.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Sam, if there was wisdom it was because you suggested it. Don't run off. I would like to ask you a couple of questions about your service. Sam, the President's words were very touching to me, and I know they were to you, because we were part of the Peace Corps, and we still are, not so much because of our role here in Congress, but rather because once you are a Peace Corps volunteer you never leave the service of peace. Talk to me about where you served and the work that you did as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Before you arrived here, you spent many years in the California legislature, where I had the privilege of working with you. You started the discussion about your own Peace Corps experience by answering the call to action, President Kennedy's very famous call: Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. I know that for you and for myself, and even more so for my wife Patti----

Mr. GARAMENDI. I have a great example of this. A television reporter, a cameraman in the San Francisco Bay area, is about to retire; and every time I see him, he says, I'm going to go in the Peace Corps. And I say, have you gone online, peacecorps.gov, to put your application in? He says, no. And I said, well, the next time I see you, I want you to tell me that you have your application in. He wants to take his knowledge of reporting and television camera work overseas to work with countries that are developing their own media for the purposes of providing that foundation for a democratic society. And he would be terrific. He's a great reporter.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker and Members of the House, 9 days ago there was a frenzy of budget cutting here on the floor, and we are going to resume that process probably tomorrow. I would urge caution for all of us. The unintended consequences of those budget cuts will come back in many, many ways to harm this Nation. It was estimated that the CR that was voted out of this House 9 days ago would reduce employment by over 800,000 in the next 6 months--not a good result. We have to think long term here. We need to be wise. Definitely we have to deal with the deficit, and we shall. But we must not do so at the expense of jobs and employment today or at the future opportunities. And specifically, I speak to the issue of research, development and demonstration. There are enormous cuts in that budget in the area of energy research and other necessary research that this country has to have if we are going to stay ahead in the race for the economy and for the future.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. I don't know if anybody has noticed what has gone on in Mexico recently. The previous speaker just spoke of the drug wars that are going on. It's a known fact that much of the equipment that's used to carry on those wars comes from the United States and is smuggled into Mexico. This is a very sane and necessary attempt to slow down the availability of high-caliber, high-capacity automatic weapons that are smuggled into Mexico. It makes no sense not to know what's going on, because this is dramatically affecting the border States and American citizens who happen to be in Mexico.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Chairman, I'm from California so forgive me, but I also was the Deputy Secretary at the Department of the Interior in the mid-nineties, and we set up a program called the Appalachia Clean Streams Program to deal precisely with the issues that have risen over the years from the pollution and contamination from the various coal mines, including mountaintop removal. This effort underway by the Department is to deal with the ongoing problem. The continuing problem, mountaintop removal in mining, does contaminate and does destroy streams. I could not believe the clarity of the water in the streams when I visited West Virginia. They would make the swimming pools in Los Angeles envious. Nothing was alive, nothing at all, because of the contamination from the mines. I just ask for the opportunity to go ahead.

Mr. GARAMENDI

Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Chair, the issue before us is whether the IRS should be able to enforce the laws, in this case the health care laws. During the first decade of the 2000 period, there was enormous Medicare fraud going on. In the health care bill, additional agents were added to the IRS and other agencies to enforce the Medicare laws against fraud. This provision would defund that and make it impossible to enforce the laws and prevent Medicare fraud. A very bad idea. I urge a ``no'' vote on the amendment.

Mr. GARAMENDI. I thank the gentlelady for yielding. Mr. Chairman, when you take a look at what is happening here, the effort to repeal, to kill, to stop the Affordable Health Care Act is an assault on the American public, and it would give back to the insurance industry their opportunity to deny benefits, to deny coverage. It is hard to understand how in this period of time when we should be talking about building jobs that our colleagues would put before us legislation that would, in fact, destroy over 800,000 jobs and destroy the opportunity for millions upon millions of Americans to have health care that they could afford. For small businesses to be able to provide the health care to their employees and to receive a reduction in the costs of that health care, it is hard to understand why they would be doing this when we need jobs, when we need health care. When you look across the broad impact of H.R. 1, it is an assault on the working men and women of the poor in this country. When you take a look at the tax proposals put forward by the Republicans, it is to benefit the high and the mighty and the wealthy to the detriment of the working men and women and the poor of this country. This is flat-out class warfare against the working men and women of this country. Plain and simple. If you remove health care, you remove their ability to get health care, and you remove their ability to be healthy and to work. If you remove the clinics, you remove their opportunity to get health care. If you cut back on Medicare and Medicaid, you remove their ability to have health care. It is an assault on the working men and women, on the elderly and the poor in this Nation. That's what it adds up to.