Colleagues Celebrate Life, Legacy Of Robert Byrd

Legislators and Presidents gathered in West Virginia Friday to honor the memory of recently deceased Senator Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history.

“He was a Senate icon, he was a party leader, he was an elder statesman and he was my friend,” President Barack Obama said from the West Virginia Capitol’s north plaza, the site of the memorial service.

Byrd, who died early Monday morning, served three terms in the House of Representatives in the 1950s. In 1958, he was elected to the Senate, where throughout his career he assumed the roles of Majority Leader, chairman of the Appropriations Committee and President Pro Tempore, leaving him fourth in line for the Presidency. He was well known as a firery advocate for his state and secured his constituents with an unprecedented level of federal funds.

Earlier in his life, the West Virginia Democrat was briefly a member of the Ku Klux Klan and filibustered against the Civil Rights Act in 1964. However, as his career progressed Byrd reversed many of his positions and expressed shame over both periods in his life.

“He was a country boy from the hills … of West Virgina and he was trying to get elected. Maybe he did something he shouldn’t have done, [but] he spent the rest of his life making it up,” former President Bill Clinton said. “That’s what a good person does.”

In the 2008 Democratic Primary Byrd endorsed Obama over then Senator Hillary Clinton.

A number of those in attendance touched warmly upon Byrd’s command of history and literature.

“He had an incredible, prodigious memory,” Vice President Joe Biden, who served 35 years with Byrd in the Senate, said. “I remember one time sitting with the queen of England … and he recited the entire lineage of the Tudors and every year each one had served.”

Added Biden, “She sat there and I thought her bonnet was going to flip off her head.”

Byrd’s declining health relegated the Senator to the sidelines for much of the last year. However, on Christmas Eve the wheelchair bound Byrd was brought into the upper chamber to deliver a decisive vote to pass health care reform.

Also in attendance for Friday’s memorial service were Senate Majority and Minority Leaders Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the widow of deceased Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass) Vicki Kennedy.

On Thursday, Byrd laid in repose in the Senate chamber for six hours. Starting Monday, his Senate desk was draped in black and adorned with a pot of white flowers and his personal copy of the constitution. Byrd was 92.

Nations Pledge 5.3 Billion To Haiti Fund

New York — Governments from around the world exceeded expectations in their pledges to support the Haitian post-earthquake reconstructions today, as 5.3 billion dollars were promised over the next 2 years, and 9.9 billion earmarked for the next 10 years.The Haitian government was hoping to raise 3.9 billion dollars in order to begin the initial rebuilding process slated for the next 18 months.

“This signals a new level of global commitment, coordination and cooperation” said Co-chair of the conference Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her closing remarks at the conference. “We have the chance not only to contribute to Haiti’s progress but to demonstrate that the international community can achieve a new level of effectiveness and impact to test new approaches, use new technologies , engage one another to build stronger ties between our countries and people.”

Earlier in the day, the Secretary of State announced that the US would pledge 1.15 billion dollars over the next two years, the largest single contribution by any donor country. “This money will go towards supporting the government of Haiti’s plan to strengthen agriculture, energy,health, security and governance.” said the Secretary of State.

The 27 member states of the European Union also pledged approximately 1.5 Billion over the same period of time.

“This is extraordinarily significant, we have all done this together, Brazilians and Argentines leading MINUSTAH (United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti ), the US and Canada and Mexico , all the Caribbean and Venezuela and Cuba. The only thing we all agree on is Haiti”, joked former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations Special Envoy to the country and co-chair of the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Committee.

But Haiti’s history of endemic corruption has raised doubts about whether or not the Haitian government will be able to ensure the money is well spent. Several NGO’s and members of civil society have recently criticized the Haitian government’s proposed plan for not having enough safeguards against corruption, accusations President Clinton tried to downplay.

“The Haitian government have not objected to transparency they just dont want it to interfere with their empowerment.So what we have done is settle on a model that is more or less like what we did during the tsunami.” said Clinton “It will be an open process and one I think will work very well.”

Powerful Tandem Urges Passage Of Global Health "Bill"

By Sofia Sanchez
University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Former President Bill Clinton along with Microsoft CEO Bill Gates testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday in favor of legislation that would increase support for President Barack Obama’s Global Health Initiative (GHI).

The President’s FY2011 budget calls for $9.5 billion to be designated for the GHI. Although this number would make the U.S. the world's largest contributor financially to fighting global health issues, it may not be a realistic endeavor for the administration to take on right now.

Clinton and Gates recognized the country has a tight budget to work with next year, but stressed the importance of adequately funding the GHI.

“It is a very good bill, and I think it is the next logical step,” said Clinton. "But it reflects the budget constraints under which Congress labors.

The GHI would focus on worldwide HIV/AIDS prevention, family health, life-saving vaccines, science and technology innovation and tackling poverty.

Clinton said developing nations need to be able to get on “their own two feet, and move away from being dependent," in order to address their own health needs.

“24 percent of the world's health care problems are in Africa and only three percent of medical personnel are [there],” said the former President.

However, recruiting and training medical personnel in developing countries is one of the goals within the GHI. “Its purpose is to help the world’s poorest people lift themselves out of hunger and poverty,” said Gates, who recently reclaimed his title of world's richest man.

President Clinton's Wonderful Example

I've gone hot and cold with President Clinton. I loved him when he came into office, supported him throughout the Monica Lewinsky crisis and became upset with him when he left office for not pardoning my friend Webb Hubbell. Although I was disappointed with him for the Monica crisis, I am now amazed at the work he is doing for the world. Like most human beings, he is a mixed bag. Like many of us, his weakness is also his strength. This week, President Clinton's weakness for women of all kinds showed up as his great strength. His Clinton Global Initiative, which took place in New York, focused on the needs of women and a commitment to empower girls around the world.

The best thing about his annual conference is that those attending must make a public commitment as to what they are willing to do for others. It is a commitment of time, money and resources. During the five years of his annual conferences, people and organizations that have attended have committed billions of dollars.

The facts that President Clinton presented are not pretty. "Women perform 66 percent of the world's work and produce 50 percent of the food, yet earn only 10 percent of the income and own 1 percent property," he said. It turns out that when women receive pay, she will reinvest 90 percent back into her family, compared to men who only reinvest 35 percent. This fact became crystal clear to me when I visited the slums of Kenya in 1994 and saw shacks with no running water and no electricity. One large shack, which functioned as the local bar ,was filled with all male drinkers in the middle of the day. The women were washing at the well, and the men were drinking.

For every year of education, residents of the third world increase their earning power by 10 percent. Paul Farmer, a doctor who has built clinics around the world, said that more than one billion people lack safe drinking water, two billion people lack basic sanitation and women represent two-thirds of the world's illiterate.

These facts mean that just a little bit of empowerment can mean a huge difference in people's lives, especially women. Amazing results have occurred with President Clinton's Initiative through small programs which were created by people with an idea and mission. I met many individuals this week who were moved to do something and did not wait for a large organization to send a pitch letter. These people just saw a need and began a small organization to make something happen. The creativity and the business models presented were not charity as much as they were empowerment and sustainability.

All for Africa is a Non-Government Organization, or NGO, that I invested in because they have a business model for investing in the continent. Using a large donated track of land in Ghana, it plants palm trees. It take three years for the plants to produce palm oil, and after the initial investment by a non profit for the planting and care of the trees they produced the equivalent of that investment for the next 25 or 30 years. Their theory is that many mission-minded people can raise the money to build a school or orphanage but do not have the money to sustain it.

There are handicraft cooperatives that train women to make baskets and bead jewelry and then work with stores such as Macy's to sell the work. This allows small groups of women to market and merchandise their work in a broader world market. Shoe4Africa began by sending shoes to Africa so women could begin to run. They organize races and have used their contact with women to promote AIDS education and awareness. Something simple such as Sustainable Health Enterprise provides access to eco-friendly sanitary pads. That reduces pelvic disease and increases school attendance, which increases economic growth. Other programs train nurses and increase the number of women attending college with a major in business. Every one of these programs gives the women a hand up not a hand out, as former President Clinton says. It is a far cry from the foreign aid that many of us grew up with.

The Clinton Initiative is making a huge difference in the lives of women and girls. It proves that our personal difficulties can turn into our greatest assets, and President Clinton is a wonderful example of how that can work. It is a testament to his life and work.

Notes From Clinton Global Initiative Opening Session On Women

Former President Bill Clinton today kicked off the Clinton Global Initiative Plenary Session on Women. He entered to Also sprach Zarathustra, the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. He started by giving some facts and figures about Sub-Saharan Africa and HIV, saying that getting HIV is like walking along and then suddenly having a concrete block dropped on you. He said these girls and young women are the best ambassadors because even though they have been sexually abused they refuse to live their lives as victims.

Clinton said that women do 66% of world’s work, but they produce 10% of the world’s income and own only 1% of the world’s property. 40% of the three billion people who work are women and 70% of agricultural labor is performed by women, but women lack independence. He also said that investing in women’s health could increase productivity in Africa by fifteen billion dollars per year.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a commitment to Rwanda and talked about how women have been active there. Bloomberg said he is involved in Southern Sudan and Congo, working with an organization called Women for Women. It is an attempt to get women to contribute to their countries.

President Barack Obama's Ambassador At-Large for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer, said that empowering women combats extremism.

Ambassador Robert Zoellick said that he is trying to help with the Adolescent Girls Initiative, an organization that hopes to work with 3,000 girls and mentor them to make sure that education is connected to a job.

Zainab Salbi talked about wars and children. She said 80% of refugees in the world are women and children. Even after rape these women succeed because they have children. They are the ones who are keeping the children going to school. The only group of people who are keeping a society going are women, and they do not have a seat at the table and they are not being heard.

Rex Tillerson from Exxon Mobil talked about technologies. He said low technologies can impact on a local level. He said they are working on what types of technologies work.

Edna Ismail was the first nurse practitioner in Somalia. She said they do not even need advanced technology. The age that a woman marries and nutrition are important to overall health. Genital cutting information is not reaching the grandmothers and people who have kept this tradition. Senegal has passed a law outlawing this, but a law does not change behavior on a village level.

Diane Sawyer asked what the biggest failure was, and Zainab Salbi asked said it was a challenge. But girls at the age of nine get cows as a dowry. She said you must be able to educate women so that there is incentive for women to be educated so they are more valuable to the family than cows.

There are a million young women in the sex trade. The United States passed one of the first laws to prevent human trafficking. It is hopeful because the business community is getting involved. One cent of every development dollar goes to girls.

Some programs make the payments directly to women, such as incentives to go to school. Must turn incentives so that the legal structure reflects the situation.