Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, you have been doing a wonderful job up there today.

Madam Speaker, I rise today for the 180th time in the last few years to challenge the Congress and the President to end the destructive, violent, senseless military occupation of Iraq.

A generation ago, Madam Speaker, Democratic and Republican Presidents alike entangled the Nation in a foolish and unnecessary war. Even after a decade, and thousands upon thousands of American casualties in the jungles of Vietnam, our leaders could not bring themselves to publicly admit what most Americans knew; that the United States was asking its youngest and bravest to risk life and limb on an unwinnable mission.

Today, our President is repeating this American tragedy. President Bush said that his goal is to win in Iraq. But he has offered no clear idea of what he means by this or how it is achieved. He just knows he doesn't want to lose.

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that the United States cannot win in Iraq; that the only question is how best to exit. Iraq is mired in a civil war, and even though we helped ignite it, we have very little influence on its outcome. You can't expect American soldiers as brave, as intelligent, and honorable as they are to solve a religious and sectarian conflict that stretches back centuries.

Whether we stay or leave, the Iraqis will be the ones to decide their own fate. Yet President Bush is sending 20,000 more American lives into mortal danger, and spending $100 million a day just to avoid the humiliation of admitting that his policy has been fundamentally flawed from the very beginning. I think most Americans would prefer the wounding of Presidential pride to the wounding of thousands more of their countrymen and women.

That is why I joined my distinguished colleagues, Ms. Waters and Ms. Lee, yesterday in introducing the first comprehensive legislation that will quickly, within a 6-month time frame, end the occupation and bring our troops home.

In addition to military withdrawal, the Bring Our Troops Home and Solvency of Iraq Restoration Act would accelerate training of a permanent Iraqi security force during the 6-month transition. It would authorize, only upon the Iraqi government's request, a 2-year U.S. support for an international stabilization force, which would be combined with economic and humanitarian assistance.

Our bill would also prohibit the construction of permanent U.S. military bases in the country; ensure Iraqi control over its own oil supplies; and guarantee full health care funding, including mental health, for U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts.

It is not enough to stand up and speak out against the President's new escalation plan. I am concerned not just about the 21,000 soldiers that are already being deployed as an add-on to this occupation, I am losing sleep over the 130,000 who are already there. I want to see them returned, and I want to see them returned safely to their families. It is not just the President's escalation of this policy that is unconscionable, it is the policy itself.

That is why our new bill is the answer. That is why it is time to end the occupation now. I fear that in 3 months he will ask for yet another chance to make his plan work and ask more American families to sacrifice. He will tell us once again that he must win. But, really, it will be about saving face, running out the clock until January 2009 when he can make this some other President's problem.

Our more than capable young men and women in Iraq have shown great courage, and it is time that our leaders in Washington showed some courage of their own and stopped trying to defend the indefensible. It took a long time to muster that courage in Vietnam. It is time we have that courage here.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the College Student Relief Act, which over the next five years will cut the student loan interest rate in half for undergraduate students with subsidized loans. And, I take exception to this Republican rhetoric about what the Democrats could have done under Republican domination.

Madam Speaker, Since 2001, tuition and fees have increased by 41 percent, after inflation, at four-year public colleges and by 17 percent (after inflation) at four-year private colleges.

Now, we have a chance to act; otherwise financial barriers will prevent more than 4 million students from attending a four-year college and more than 2 million from attending any college in the coming decade.

That would be a crisis for millions of hard-working families--but it also would be a crisis for our country's ability to compete in the 21st century economy.

In his article, ``It's a Flat World, After All,'' Thomas Friedman argues that America's historical economic advantages have disappeared because ``the world is flat, and anyone with smarts; access to Google; and, a cheap wireless laptop can join the innovation fray.'' No matter where they live in the world.

This means we must invest more in our most valuable resource--our people--and this bill would do just that.

For example, this bill will save the average student borrower who starts at a four-year college in California next year nearly $2,500 over the life of a loan--and will save the same student who starts in 2011 nearly $5,000 over the life of a loan.

Those savings are necessary to make a difference in the lives of millions of Americans and in the life of our country as to success over failure.

I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, earlier today, I joined with my good friends, distinguished colleagues and fellow Californians, Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, in introducing landmark legislation that would bring our troops home from Iraq within a 6-month time frame.

The Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Restoration Act is the first comprehensive legislative proposal to end the military occupation and provide a framework to help bring stability back to Iraq.

One week ago, when he addressed the Nation, President Bush demonstrated to the world that he continues to remain blind to the realities on the ground in Iraq. Instead of putting forth a plan that will withdraw our troops, the President is increasing our military presence, escalating the number of troops by over 20,000. What President Bush fails to grasp is that our military presence is only fueling the insurgency, plunging Iraq further into chaos and civil war.

Mr. Speaker, the November elections showed just exactly how fed up Americans are with the President's failed Iraq policy. It is time now to honor that mandate. It is now up to the Congress to catch up with the will of the people.

During his weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush challenged those of us who disagree with him to offer a plan of our own. Today, we have taken up his challenge.

The Congress has already appropriated funding that will support our troops and keep this occupation going for at least another 6 months, possibly longer. That funding, instead, should be used to finance an aggressive withdrawal plan that brings our troops home to their families; and our bill would do exactly that.

Our plan will also withdraw all U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq within 6 months from date of enactment.

It will prohibit any further funding to deploy or continue to deploy U.S. troops in Iraq. The bill does, however, allow for funding to be used as needed to ensure safe withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel and contractors. Funding may also be used for the increased training and equipping of Iraqi and international security forces.

Thirdly, it accelerates during the 6-month transition training of a permanent Iraqi security force.

And fourth, it authorizes, if requested by the Iraqi government, U.S. support for an international stabilization force. Such a force could be funded for no longer than 2 years and be combined with economic and humanitarian assistance.

It guarantees full health care funding, including mental health for U.S. veterans and military operations in Iraq and other conflicts.

In addition, Mr. Speaker, the bill would rescind the 2002 congressional authorization for the war in Iraq, prohibit the construction of permanent U.S. military bases in the country, and finally, ensure that the U.S. has no long-term control over Iraqi oil.

We believe that the oil in Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people, and we believe that when this oil goes into the world marketplace, the international marketplace, the U.S. will certainly have access to our share.

Mr. Speaker, excluding the veterans' benefits, our plan will cost the American people pennies on the dollar compared to continuing the occupation of 2 more years in Iraq. It will save lives, bodies and minds, and it will give Iraq back to the Iraqis.

The Bring Our Troops Home and Sovereignty of Iraq Act is an important step in regaining our country's credibility in the region and throughout the world, and it provides the President and Congress with a comprehensive strategy for responding to the majority of Americans who want our troops to come home.

Madam Speaker, the fabric of our lives and the lives of all Americans has been shaped indelibly by the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King had just 39 years to teach our country the way to achieve racial and economic justice through peace and nonviolence. Although his life was short, his legacy--the rich vision of social justice he inspired--is alive and well 40 years after his death. It is with great pride that I take part in this celebration today, to pay homage to his memory.

Dr. King was a leader who focused his efforts on improving the lives of the disadvantaged in our society. He knew that we must be forever attentive to the least privileged, for they are the measure--the only measure that matters--of the depth of our compassion and the strength of our laws.

We still have much to learn from Dr. King, as the dreams he envisioned for our grandchildren still resonate in today's America: equal opportunity, freedom from oppression, justice for all. The eloquent cadences of his ``I

Have A Dream'' speech left a lasting impression on America, and we cannot afford to forget his words. For Dr. King's dream, his concrete vision for the future, has yet to be realized. I look forward to working with my colleagues in this Congress to further the realization of his goals and his strong vision.

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, along with Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, I will be introducing the Bring the Troops Home and Iraqi Sovereignty Restoration Act.

This bill fulfills the voters' November 7 mandate to the Congress. It ends the occupation of Iraq and, at the same time, it strengthens the Iraqi government, and it also meets the needs of our returning troops.

It will, one, bring our troops home; two, it will expedite the training of Iraqi security forces; and three, if invited by the Iraqis, work with the international community to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, while four, fully funding the commitment we have made to our returning soldiers for full health care benefits, physical and mental.

The situation in Iraq, Mr. Speaker, gets worse every day, and it is clear that we cannot provide security to Iraqis in the middle of a civil war. We need to bring our brave and capable men and women home to safety and to their families, and we need to help the Iraqi people regain their sovereignty.

President Bush does not have a plan to bring our troops home. In fact, if anything, he is escalating this occupation with absolutely no end in sight. Our standing in the region and our standing around the world is at an all time low, and this administration has all but given up on diplomacy.

We can no longer wait for the Commander-in-Chief to come up with a plan. We are in the fourth year of this occupation. We have waited long enough. That is why I will introduce the Bring the Troops Home and Iraqi Sovereignty Restoration Act tomorrow.

Whether my colleagues voted to support the invasion of Iraq or not, they can now unite behind a comprehensive plan, a plan to bring peace and stability to the region.

One of the most important elements of this bill is to live up to the promises made to those who have put their lives on the line for this President's fiasco in Iraq.

Our most solemn obligation is to the men and women who have been placed in harm's way. To fulfill our obligation, we must bring them home to their families, while, at the same time, guaranteeing physical and mental health care for all U.S. veterans of military operations in Iraq and other conflicts around the world. It is the least we can do. It is the least we can do to show the gratitude of a grateful Nation.

I urge my colleagues to stand up for our troops, stand up for Iraqi sovereignty. Cosponsor the Bring the Troops Home and Iraqi Sovereignty Restoration Act.

Mr. Speaker, one learns the useful lesson of ``strength in numbers'' from an early age, but it seems some of us could use a refresher. The more people you have on your side, the better the chances of success.

Well, there are approximately 43 million Medicare beneficiaries in this country--more than enough, I'm sure, to throw some considerable weight behind the drug price negotiations we're debating today.

Now let's make one thing clear. The only real beneficiaries of the Medicare modernization act were the insurance companies and the drug companies whose profits continue to soar.

Meanwhile, seniors who have worked a lifetime to earn the peace of mind our drug program should be have been sacrificed for handouts to these industries. Furthermore, they remain responsible for paying a majority of their often astronomical prescription drug costs.

Well today the tides are turning. I'm proud to join my colleagues in support of this long-awaited, urgently needed measure that will finally bring seniors savings on their prescription drugs.

On behalf of beneficiaries in Marin and Sonoma counties, I urge you to support the seniors in your districts, by voting for H.R. 4.

Mr. Speaker, I'm so pleased to have another opportunity to support this stem cell research bill today. But let me say that we cannot allow this crucial legislation to once again come so close, only to--in the end--be kept so far from those who would benefit from its outcome on a daily basis.

Change does not come easily. This is a big step in providing America's world-class researchers with the resources they need to make a difference in the lives of those with serious illnesses. But let us take a moment to weigh the kind of change in federal policy it would take to provide researchers with access to new embryonic stem cell lines, with the kind of change a person faces when he or she hears the words Parkinson's, or diabetes, or spinal cord injury.

The debilitating symptoms of these diseases can alter the course of a person's life--not to mention their family's--and change their day-to- day lives in ways it is impossible for most of us to even imagine. I ask you to take a moment to think of the changes you would have to make to accommodate a chronic illness in your life.

Our scientists and researchers need new cell lines so they can move beyond the contaminated, and often unusable, lines that were in existence before 2001. Let's transform the way we experience disease in this country and take the first step today by supporting H.R. 3.

Mr. Speaker, last night we heard from a President who plans to continue in the wrong direction, believing that our military can solve a political quagmire; but every day that we are there, our military presence makes the situation worse.

Mr. Speaker, sending more troops will only fuel the insurgency. We don't belong there, and our brave and capable troops need to come home.

I ask you: How can we believe a President who had already sent troops to Baghdad before his speech and he didn't mention it? Unbelievably, he is sending troops, and of course he didn't mention this, that don't have the most advanced armor.

But, Mr. Speaker, while the President was giving his remarks, the U.S. military was attacking the Iran consulate, the consulate in the Kurdish region of Iraq. As yet, their consul has not heard why from the United States. The President didn't tell us about that attack.

It is troubling and it is sad that the President has misrepresented so many facts about Iraq. It seems he can't distinguish between what he wants to believe and what is real. What he is calling sectarian violence is really civil war.

He supports the Iraq Government against the death squads when he knows full well that the death squads are embedded in the Iraqi Government. He claims that he is following the Iraq Study Group's recommendation to get a win when the study group has said there is no way to win and that the only question is how to best leave.

The President wants a win. To that end he is sending 20,000 more Americans into harm's way and spending $100 million a day to get that win. In 3 months, don't kid yourself, he will be asking for more to get a win. This is immoral.

What the President doesn't realize is that America wins when we follow our ideals, which means we fight for freedom when our freedom is at stake and we only ask American troops to lay down their lives when our country is in danger, not to give the President a win.

Again, Mr. Speaker, let me repeat, there is no military solution to this political problem. The United States is not going to determine the fate of Iraq; only the Iraqis will determine their fate.

First, I would like to thank the Congresswoman from California for her leadership tonight with this special order and also her leadership of the Out of Iraq Caucus.

I will echo, to save time, every single word that has come out of the mouths of my colleagues this evening. But there is one thing we have not talked about that, every single time I am interviewed, somebody says: But Congresswoman, what will happen to the Iraqi people if the United States leaves?

My answer is asking them a question right back: Have you not paid attention to what is happening to the Iraqi people right now with our very presence?

It is my opinion, and my belief, and I know that I am right, when the United States Army military leaves Iraq, the insurgency will calm down. The United States then is responsible to work internationally to help Iraq rebuild its country, invest in its infrastructure, invest in its economy, invest in its education and help their people with getting their feet back on the ground.

And I will end by just saying this. The United States is not going to determine the fate of Iraq. Only the Iraqis will determine their fate.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor beloved teacher Paula Stonitsch of Petaluma, California, who passed away December 13 at the age of 90. Mrs. Stonitsch was that special kind of teacher who, like many wonderful educators across the country, is remembered for a lifetime by the children she inspired.

For over 40 years, Paula taught at Petaluma High School where my four children--and many others--learned to care about their government and to understand how it works. Her own children were also in her classes, where she reminded them that they must earn their grades like everyone else. She also taught night classes at Santa Rosa Junior College, SRJC.

Born in San Francisco in 1916 to German-speaking immigrants who had high ambitions for their children, Paula Girbony went on to attend UC Berkeley, majoring in German and history, graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana, and earned a teaching credential at UC Berkeley.

In 1941 she married Gottfried Stonitsch of Petaluma, whom she had met through friends of relatives there. She moved to Petaluma to join him and began teaching German and American history at the high school in 1951 and German classes at SRJC in the 1960s. In 1962, Paula Stonitsch won a Fulbright Exchange Teaching Scholarship which enabled her to teach for a year in Germany where she conducted her classes in German. She retired from Petaluma High School in 1990 but continued teaching at the JC until shortly before her death.

As the founder of a group called the Nut Ladies at St. John Lutheran Church in Petaluma, Paula was also known for her energies in supporting the church. Her group picked and sold walnuts, with the proceeds benefiting St. John.

Paula is survived by daughters Elizabeth Ravenscroft, Adrienna Rodgers, and Erika Stonitsch and sister Gisela Krueger.

Madam Speaker, teachers like Paula Stonitsch offer a rare gift to our young people, a gift that truly gives back to our country as these students grow up to become our citizens and our leaders. The generations of Petaluma children who were fortunate enough to study with her will never forget the lessons she taught and the pride they learned.

Mr. Speaker, 40 years ago, I was a single mother with three small children; and although I was employed, I was forced to go on welfare. I know what it is like to try to get by on a paycheck that is not enough to meet ends.

Like my experience, today there are many, many Americans who are working so hard who are earning the minimum wage who are still coming up short. And, Mr. Speaker, the majority of these Americans are women and most of them have children. They put in a full 40-hour work week. They still live below the poverty line.

This is absolutely unacceptable, because in a prosperous Nation like ours it should be a violation of a person's civil rights not to provide adequate compensation for their work.

Mr. Speaker, we must ensure that working people earn enough to care for themselves and their families.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2 and support the millions of working Americans who so desperately need a raise in the minimum wage.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House passed H.R. 1, a bill instituting the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. I am proud that the Speaker made this her first priority. It was an important first step. It was a step to strengthen America's security.

Another step we can take to provide security to Americans at home and abroad is to bring our troops home from Iraq. It is what I have been saying for several years now. In fact, this is my 176th 5-minute special order on Iraq. And it is what the American people demanded on November 7.

From the very beginning, our presence and continued occupation has brought strong opposition and violence to Iraq. The Vice President promised we would be greeted as liberators, that the troops would be hailed with cheers and flowers. Instead, the sad thing is our troops are being greeted with snipers, with rocket-propelled grenades and with roadside bombs.

Tonight, the President will announce an escalation in the occupation. He wants to send over 20,000 more troops to Iraq. In fact, we have learned just today that those troops are already arriving in Baghdad. He wants to put over 20,000 more troops in harm's way. And for what?

Tonight, the President will not announce an exit plan. Tonight, the President will not talk about benchmarks. Tonight, what the President will do is support more of the same. This is just ``stay the course.'' Let's call it what it is: an escalation.

A majority of Americans support bringing the troops home. In fact, a recent poll showed that a majority of men and women in uniform support an end to this occupation. And yet the President wants more troops and refuses to put forth a plan to end our military presence there.

Well, the American people and the Congress have waited long enough, Mr. Speaker, for the Commander in Chief to do his job. So, on Friday, the Progressive Caucus and the Out of Iraq Caucus will host a forum with former

Senator George McGovern and Dr. William Polk on one such plan. This is a unique opportunity for Members to discuss available options. I encourage my colleagues to join us at this forum on Friday, day after tomorrow, at 9:30 in the Cannon caucus room.

We know there is no quick solution to put Iraq and the region back together again. But until we start to seriously consider the plans out there, we are stuck with President Bush's escalation and status quo. And you know what? Because I respect the troops and I respect their families so very much, I refuse to ``stay the course.''

So I tell the President: No, no to escalation. I tell the President: No, no to the status quo. And I say: Yes, yes to strengthening our Nation by protecting those who have already given so very much and bringing them home to their families.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Elizabeth Terwilliger, one of Marin County's most beloved heroines, an environmentalist who instilled a love of nature in children of all ages. ``Mrs. T.,'' as she was known to all, died on November 27, 2006, at the age of 97.

Her enthusiastic and interactive teaching style made learning about nature especially entertaining and instructive for children and adults alike. This included President Reagan who, along with an audience at a White House Volunteer Action Award ceremony, flapped his arms like ``Mr. Vulture'' under her guidance. Her irresistible style ranged from mimicking animal behaviors to demonstrations with taxidermied animals, some of which had come via her own freezer. In her trademark straw hat, she led field trips until she was 85, where her call of ``Something special!'' alerted eager participants to yet another marvel of the natural world.

Mrs. T's long-time passion for the environment had burgeoned when she started hiking to avoid housework in the 1960s. From that, she became committed to inspire the people of the Bay Area to care for the natural world as she did. ``People take care of what they love,'' she claimed.

This mission began with including other housewives, and then their children, on her hikes, as well as leading field trips for her children's schools and clubs. By the late 60s, she was leading volunteer trips 5 days a week for teachers and wildlife organizations and, in 1970, created Terwilliger Nature Guides with other volunteers. In 1975, the Elizabeth Terwilliger Nature Education Foundation was formed; it later merged with the California Center for Wildlife and became WildCare, an organization which today teaches 40,000 Bay Area school children annually.

``WildCare is honored to follow directly in Mrs. T's adventurous footsteps,'' said Executive Director Karen J. Wilson.'' We are all fortunate that her enthusiasm and energy will live on in the generations of children she has inspired. To underscore her Bay Area legacy, WildCare recently named our San Rafael facility in her honor-- we have become the Terwilliger WildCare Center.''

She was also a tireless advocate for the environment and open space. Her mark is everywhere in Marin County from the establishment of the Butterfly Grove at Muir Beach to creation of countywide bike paths to preservation of Angel Island and countless other conservation efforts.

Born in Hawaii in 1909, Elizabeth Terwilliger attended the University of Hawaii, and then came to the mainland to earn a master's degree at Columbia University and a nursing degree at Stanford. She met her future husband Calvin, an orthopedic surgeon, at Stanford, and they married in 1939. They moved to Marin in 1946. Calvin passed away in 1990. She is survived by their daughter Lynn Ellen, their son John, and grandsons Dana, Ryan, and Sean.

Elizabeth Terwilliger earned numerous well-deserved accolades and awards, but her true legacy is the contagious passion she inspired in children and adults. Everywhere we see people living her watchword, ``This is my country. Wherever I go, I will leave it more beautiful than I found it.''

Madam Speaker, Mrs. T. truly left this country beautiful, and we thank and honor her for her for it.

Mr. Speaker, first of all, congratulations for being up in that chair.

I rise today to unwaveringly support the Speaker of the House, who has said that she opposes any escalation of the occupation of Iraq, that she opposes sending more combat troops into a situation in Iraq that is so, so messy.

The Speaker represents an overwhelming majority viewpoint among the American people. Indeed, Mr. Speaker, she is Speaker today because the American people overwhelmingly rejected the Bush occupation policy, a policy that has already claimed over 3,000 American lives, cost us hundreds of billions of dollars, ignited a bloody civil war, and diminished our national security.

But President Bush is stubbornly and desperately clinging onto an ideological vision that has been completely discredited. He is not listening to the new Congress. He is not listening to the American people. He is not listening to the Iraq Study Group. He is not even listening to his military commanders, who have advised against an escalation.

Even the most hawkish observer imaginable, Oliver North, has come out against an escalation in a recent column entitled: ``More Troops Equals More Targets.''

This occupation takes a more disastrous turn with each passing week, but the Bush administration not only is sticking to its failed policy; it is investing even more in that policy.

Our military presence, from the very beginning, hasn't brought peace and freedom to Iraq. It has been a catalyst for greater violence and disorder. It hasn't defeated the insurgency. It has been what has motivated the insurgency. It hasn't solved problems in Iraq. It has exacerbated them.

So what is the White House's solution? Send more troops and put more Americans in harm's way, even though the American presence destabilized Iraq in the first place. Escalation defies common sense, Mr. Speaker. It is

completely incomprehensible. The President of the United States has a unique take on an old proverb. He believes that if you find yourself in a hole, the solution is to keep on digging.

Here in Congress, however, we want to stop digging. On Friday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Out of Iraq Caucus will co- host a forum featuring former Senator George McGovern and Mideast expert Dr. William Polk. They will be discussing their plan for ending the occupation, as outlined in their recent book, ``Out of Iraq: A Practical Plan For Withdrawal Now.''

We will also be joined by leaders from the military, and from diplomatic and intelligence communities, who will offer their expertise and input in a dialogue with Senator McGovern and Dr. Polk.

It is time for a 180-degree turn in the U.S. policy toward Iraq. It is time for the Congress to act out the mandate it received from the American people in November. It is time to get down to business and figure out how to extricate ourselves from Iraq, end the occupation and bring our troops home.

Madam Speaker, I, along with my colleague Congressman Mike Thompson, rise today to honor Ben Stone, who recently completed 20 years of service as head of the Sonoma County Economic Development Board. Under Ben's quiet but dynamic leadership, the Economic Development Board (EDB) has successfully implemented programs that have more than met the mandate of the County Board of Supervisors to enhance economic development by concentrating on new and innovative programs that enable businesses to remain competitive in a changing economy.

Ben came to Sonoma County from the Seattle area where he had been a county administrator in Port Angeles, Washington, a consultant with Arthur Andersen & Co. and a Special Projects Director with Scafco Corporation. He graduated from Whitman College in Walla Walla and received his masters of Public Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Ben tells the story that, after coming to Sonoma County, he was informed that a decision had been made to close the EDB. However, he commenced creating programs atypical of economic development, which bolstered the local economy, and, 20 years later, the EDB is thriving under his leadership.

With the help of a small staff and interns, Ben has developed a number of award-winning programs in concert with local private and public sectors. Many of these programs have been successfully transitioned to community-based organizations.

Among them are the Sonoma County Tourism Program, which served to increase tourism 31 percent; two technology groups (SofTech, a trade group, and the North Bay Techonology Roundtable, a policy group); Youth Business Week; the Business Environmental Alliance; the North Bay WorId Trade Association; the Small Business Center now operated by Santa Rosa Junior College; a home-based business project; and a business crime prevention program. Ben's office still operates the Sonoma County Film Commission.

Ben also initiated a broad-based strategic planning process resulting in the formation of bachelors and master's degree programs in Engineering Science at Sonoma State University, a new cooperative agricultural marketing program, and an economic research program. An EDB forum, the Business Regulatory Roundtable, involving elected officials, regulatory agencies, and business executives to improve local regulatory processes, resulted in Northern California's first multi-agency Permit Assistance Center.

By creating the Economic Development Board Foundation, the EDB is able to support

research projects, bring expert speakers to discuss aspects of the economy at local presentations twice annually, present an annual State of the County program, and recognize local business men and women at the annual Spirit of Sonoma County Awards program.

Ben developed one of the most visited websites in the County. The EDB pages contain all the research reports, information on upcoming events, the latest initiatives sponsored by his office, and the first live web cast of the State of the County event. In addition, Ben helped establish the California-Swiss Foundation, the World Affairs Council, and has been on the boards of the Sonoma County Museum, the Sonoma County YMCA, and presently is a member of the President's Council at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Some form of the Economic Development Board has been a part of Sonoma County since the late 1950s. If you wanted assistance from Ben in the early days of his 20-year tenure, your first task would be to find his office, which moved four times in the first 10 years before finding a home on College Avenue in Santa Rosa. His long-time friends particularly recall his small office on Cleveland Avenue piled with filing boxes that a visitor clambered over to reach his desk.

A wall of certificates and plaques now greets visitors to his office, including a Grand Prize for Excellence from the California Association of Economic Development; four Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties; and six Innovation Awards from the National Association of Development Organizations.

Madam Speaker, we want to honor Ben Stone today for his 20 years of service to Sonoma County and the Economic Development Board. He has made many friends in the many communities he serves and is always willing to give a boost to new arrivals or make that important contact for someone who needs assistance. As Ben always says to others, we wish him many more ``Onward and Upward'' years at the Sonoma County Economic Development Board.