Today, former Congressman Tony Hall will be in Dayton, Ohio, with a Christian charity:

Dayton, Ohio. (Sept. 29, 2004) �€“ Tony Hall, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Agencies, has joined with international hunger relief organization Feed The Children to help children and families in the Dayton area today. Following a brief press conference at 10 a.m., two semi-tractor trailer truckloads of food and personal care boxes, as well as shelf-stable liquid milk, will be distributed to approximately 440 families at the Dayton Life Enrichment Center, 515 Irwin St. in Dayton.

Larry Jones, president and founder of Feed The Children also will be on hand for the press conference and distribution, as will Dayton Mayo Rhine McLin, State Rep. Fred Strahorn and a representative from U.S. Senator Mike DeWine’s office.

“For all of my travels to crisis areas around the globe, I always remember that there are people in need in my hometown. I will never forget that charity begins at home,�€� said Tony P. Hall, US Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and Agriculture and former Congressman. �€œSo when Larry Jones came to Rome for a meeting with the World Food Program, I asked if he would come back to Dayton with me for another food distribution. Here we are, demonstrating that there are still people whose yes means yes and who keep their word.�€�

Hall is the sort of upstanding guy that I think of when I consider Ohio. He represents the moral values I’ve supported all my adult life, privately and politically.

He was appointed to his current position in 2001.

Three times nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, U.S. Representative Tony P. Hall (D-OH) has been one of the leading advocates in Congress for hunger-relief programs. Now after 33 years of service as an elected official from Montgomery County, Hall has chosen not to seek re-election and accept nomination by President George w. Bush to serve as ambassador to the Rome-based United Nations organizations that deal with international hunger relief.

As ambassador, Hall would serve as the United States representative to the World Food Program (WFP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), all agencies of the United Nations which assist international hunger-relief efforts. The post has been vacant since former U.S. Senator George McGovern left it in October. The position requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

During a White House meeting, President Bush asked Hall to help draw attention to international food, hunger, and agriculture issues before they reach the crisis stage and to promote innovative hunger-related practices by private groups and governments.

Innovative practices is putting it mildly. He’s been fighting to feed the hungry in Darfur in recent months. But consider what he did last Friday:

Distinguished diplomats were reduced to eating handfuls of cold rice yesterday when the American ambassador in Rome threw a Thanksgiving reception designed to remind the corps diplomatique of the scale of world hunger.

Guests of Tony Hall, the US ambassador to the United Nations food agencies in Rome, were confronted with the reality of living off cups of rice. When they arrived for his party, they were asked to draw raffle tickets, placing them in three categories of wealth.

The richest were served with the customary gourmet meal. Others were handed portions of rice and beans. But there were strained smiles among those who drew the “poorest” tickets. They found themselves shut out of Mr Hall’s residence in the elite suburb of Caracalla and left in the darkness to pace the garden.

These diplomats were then presented with a few handfuls of cold rice. A leaflet explained they were representing the 60 per cent of the world’s six billion people who struggle to find each meal.

The meagre portion of rice would, added the leaflet, fail to supply the “minimum calories you require”. Confronted with this meal, many diplomats simply refused to eat. They were eventually allowed inside for the traditional feast.

Ohio should be proud of this guy. By any measure I’ve witnessed, he’s the best appointment President Bush has ever made. Hunger should never be a partisan issue. Feeding the hungry is simply a job we must all do. And Hall’s a sterling example of how it gets done.