An Interview with Tony Hall



Question: How has President Bush done on fighting world poverty? Answer: I've served under five presidents. He's the best. That always surprises people. But by far, he has given more food aid, more HIV aid and more development assistance, especially to Africa. He doesn't get any credit for this. He should.

An Interview with Tony Hall

'When you pray together ... you begin to trust'

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, May 6, 2006

Q&A WITH ...Tony Hall's new book Changing the Face of Hunger (W Publishing Group, $21.99) achieves the rare, perhaps unprecedented, feat of drawing blurbs from liberal comedian Al Franken and conservative columnist Cal Thomas.

"Tony Hall is a hero to the widest spectrum of Americans and citizens of the world, because of who he is and what he's done for the poor," Mr. Franken writes.

As a longtime Democratic congressman from Ohio, Mr. Hall made world hunger and poverty his focus, once fasting for 22 days to protest the dismantling of a House hunger committee. Mr. Hall continued to press for hunger relief in his just-completed term as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

Changing the Face of Hunger describes how Mr. Hall's born-again Christianity has informed his work, and prompted him to form close friendships and working relationships with Republicans such as U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia.

Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, Mr. Hall expects soon to be back in the fray, working for a nongovernmental relief organization. For now, he's on a book tour. He was in Dallas last month, doing broadcast interviews and speaking at Criswell College. That's where Staff Writer Sam Hodges caught up with him. Here are excerpts from their conversation.

In a highly partisan era, you have managed to make friends across party and ideological lines. How?

I learned, through association with a couple of Republican congressmen and a couple of Democratic congressmen. We would get together to pray. When you pray together and read the Scriptures and talk about your life, then over time you begin to trust each other. We decided to focus on those things that we agreed on, like family values, abortion, human rights, hunger, poverty. It worked fine. We passed a lot of legislation.

What should be done in Sudan's Darfur region, where civil war has left at least 100,000 civilians dead and driven nearly 2 million into refugee camps?

I've been there. The women can't go outside the camps at night or they get raped. If the men go outside, they're killed. These are people who were farmers and also pastoralists [tenders of grazing animals]. They want to go back and plant and get their livestock, if it still exists, but they can't because of the civil war, the corruption, the power, the people who control the guns.

It's a security problem, No. 1. And until it gets secure, nothing's going to happen there. It'd be great if the United Nations could go in there, if they [the Sudanese] would let us. It would be even better if the African nations handled the problem themselves and put their own troops in there, in a large way.

Of the international programs aimed at fighting poverty, which work best?

School feeding is a very good one. When we have school feedings, we get the kids back in school. They're learning, and they get lots of calories and nutrition they could never get at home. Some of these kids are lucky to get a meal every one or two days.

Immunization programs are very important. In sub-Saharan Africa, they don't have enough water, so digging wells is very important.

Another program that really works is teaching mothers how to read and write. They get very smart right away. They learn about nutrition, about breast feeding, about boiling water. The kids are healthier, the country prospers and the population goes down.

Why does the population go down?

The mothers see children as their social security. They know some of them are going to die, but they know some will live, so they have eight children and hope that some will be around to take care of them when they're old. But if you teach mothers to read and write, their kids are healthier, and they don't feel they have to have as many.

Is there one national success story you'd point to in Africa?

I can point to a lot of projects that are successful. And I can point to some countries that are doing better than others, like Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. But then I can point to countries that are in trouble, like Zimbabwe. This guy – [President Robert] Mugabe – he kicks all the farmers off and turns the farms over to his family. The first thing the family members do, they dig out the irrigation pipelines and sell them. That's why half the farms don't work. A country that used to feed all of southern Africa now has to be fed.

How has President Bush done on fighting world poverty?

I've served under five presidents. He's the best. That always surprises people. But by far, he has given more food aid, more HIV aid and more development assistance, especially to Africa. He doesn't get any credit for this. He should.

You come at hunger work from an evangelical Christian perspective, correct?

Yeah. I didn't grow up with it. I came to faith very late in life. I was about 37. I didn't come from a family that knew anything about it, or talked about it. None of my friends were believers. I had to go to the Congress of the United States to become a believer. It was in my first term.

How did it happen? Did somebody witness to you?

I had had pretty good success in my life, but I was getting tired of my ambition, my selfishness, my pride. I heard a couple of speakers. Chuck Colson was one of them. Then I went on a search. I searched for about a year and a half, then I went to Congress. A freshman Congress befriended me – a friend from here in Texas, [the late Democrat] Marvin Leath. He helped me a lot.

Is there one verse or story in the Bible that most speaks to you about hunger relief?

There are a couple of verses in Proverbs that I really like. In Chapter 14, God says if you are gracious to the poor "you honor me." And he says almost the same thing in Chapter 19, but in a different way. He says if you take care of the poor "you lend to me." That's pretty amazing.

Why have Democrats struggled with the evangelical Christian vote, and how can they do better?

They've always believed that you shouldn't have to talk about your faith. They've felt your actions speak to what kind of person you are. But they're finding out that the Republican Party has been pretty smart in the way that they've captured that [evangelical] vote. I've talked to Democrats, worked with them, told them, "You've got to start talking about ... [your faith], 'cause people want to know."

People say to me all the time, "How can you be a Democrat and be a Christian?" I don't try to get in an argument, but I might say something funny like, "When Jesus came into Jerusalem, did he come in on an elephant or a donkey?"

E-mail samhodges@dallasnews.com

When this story was posted in June 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

---

Chris Dodd considers run for the White House Senator Chris Dodd plans to spend the next six to eight months raising money and reaching out to Democrats around the country to gauge his viability as a candidate. Just how far Dodd can go depends largely on his ability to reach Democrats looking for an alternative to Hillary Clinton. PCOL Comment: Dodd served as a Volunteer in the Dominican Republic and has been one of the strongest supporters of the Peace Corps in Congress.

---

The RPCV who wrote about Ben Hogan Probably no RPCV has done more to further the Third Goal of the Peace Corps than John Coyne with the Peace Corps Writers web site and newsletter that he and Marian Haley Beil have produced since 1989. Now John returns to writing about his first love - golf in "The Caddie who knew Ben Hogan." Read an excerpt from his novel, an interview with the author and a schedule of his book readings in Maryland and DC this week.

---

---

The Peace Corps Library The Peace Corps Library is now available online with over 40,000 index entries in 500 categories. Looking for a Returned Volunteer? Check our RPCV Directory. New: Sign up to receive PCOL Magazine, our free Monthly Magazine by email. Like to keep up with Peace Corps news as it happens? Sign up to recieve a daily summary of Peace Corps stories from around the world.

---

Vasquez testifies before Senate Committee Director Vasquez testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on his nomination as the new Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture replacing Tony Hall. He has been the third longest serving Peace Corps Director after Loret Ruppe Miller and Sargent Shriver. PCOL Comment: Read our thanks to Director Vasquez for his service to the Peace Corps.

---

PC evacuates East Timor, hopes to return Volunteers serving in East Timor have safely left the country as a result of the recent civil unrest and government instability. Latest: The Peace Corps has informed us that they are monitoring the security situation on a daily basis and that it is the intention of the Peace Corps to return to East Timor if the security situation improves.

---

First Amendment Watch Maine Web Report hit with Federal Lawsuit Website wins trademark suit against Jerry Falwell

---

Interview with a Hit Man RPCV John Perkins says that for many years he was an "economic hit man" in the world of international finance whose primary job was to convince less developed countries to accept multibillion dollar loans for infrastructure projects that left the recipient countries wallowing in debt and highly vulnerable to outside political and commercial interests. In this exclusive interview for "Peace Corps Online," Colombia RPCV Joanne Roll, author of Remember with Honor, talks to Perkins about his Peace Corps service, his relation with the NSA, "colonization" in Ecuador, the consequences of his work, why he decided to speak out, and what his hopes are for change.

---

PC Program in Chad temporarily suspended Director Vasquez announced the temporary suspension of the Peace Corps program in Chad on April 14 and that all 29 Peace Corps volunteers have left the country. With a program dating back forty years (See Page 4 of the April 1966 "Peace Corps Volunteer"), RPCVs hope that volunteers can return to Chad as soon as the situation has stabilized. Congratulations to the Peace Corps for handling the suspension quickly and professionally.

---

Peace Corps stonewalls on FOIA request The Ashland Daily Tidings reports that Peace Corps has blocked their request for information on the Volkart case. "After the Tidings requested information pertaining to why Volkart was denied the position — on March 2 — the newspaper received a letter from the Peace Corps FOIA officer stating the requested information was protected under an exemption of the act." The Dayton Daily News had similar problems with FOIA requests for their award winning series on Volunteer Safety and Security.

---

PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

---

History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

---

PC announces new program in Cambodia Director Vasquez and Cambodia's Deputy Chief of Mission Meng Eang Nay announced a historic new partnership between the Peace Corps and the Kingdom of Cambodia that will bring volunteers to this Southeast Asian country for the first time. Under King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia has welcomed new partnerships with the U.S. government and other U.S. organizations.

---

Peace Corps suspends program in Bangladesh Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez announced the suspension of the Peace Corps program in Bangladesh on March 15. The safety and security of volunteers is the number one priority of the Peace Corps. Therefore, all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Bangladesh have safely left the country. More than 280 Peace Corps volunteers have served in Bangladesh since the program opened in November 1998. Latest: What other newspapers say.

---

Invitee re-assigned after inflammatory remarks The Peace Corps has pulled the invitation to Derek Volkart to join the Morocco Training Program and offered him a position in the Pacific instead after officials read an article in which he stated that his decision to join the Peace Corps was in "response to our current fascist government." RPCV Lew Nash says that "If Derek Volkart spoke his mind as freely in Morocco about the Moroccan monarchy it could cause major problems for himself and other Peace Corps volunteers." Latest: Volkart reverses stance, takes new assignment in Paraguay.

---

RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case.

---

Military Option sparks concerns The U.S. military, struggling to fill its voluntary ranks, is allowing recruits to meet part of their reserve military obligations after active duty by serving in the Peace Corps. Read why there is opposition to the program among RPCVs. Director Vasquez says the agency has a long history of accepting qualified applicants who are in inactive military status. John Coyne says "Not only no, but hell no!" and RPCV Chris Matthews leads the debate on "Hardball." Avi Spiegel says Peace Corps is not the place for soldiers while Coleman McCarthy says to Welcome Soldiers to the Peace Corps. Read our poll results. Latest: Congress passed a bill on December 22 including language to remove Peace Corps from the National Call to Service (NCS) military recruitment program

---

Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject.

Read the stories and leave your comments.