[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1925]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING ARNOLD X.C. PERKINS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BARBARA LEE

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 22, 2007

  Ms. LEE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the extraordinary 
career of Arnold X.C. Perkins. A longtime resident of California's 9th 
Congressional District, Arnold has served as the Director of the 
Alameda County Public Health Department since 1994. Throughout his 
career Arnold has been known for his unwavering dedication to promoting 
health and well being for all members of our community. This year 
Arnold celebrates his retirement after more than a decade of service to 
the county and many more years of distinguished work here in the Bay 
Area.
  Arnold holds a B.A. from San Francisco State University, his Teaching 
Credential from the University of California at Berkeley, and he 
completed Masters coursework at California State University, Hayward. 
Throughout the course of his distinguished career, Arnold has served 
our community as a high school teacher and principal; nonprofit 
organization executive director; family counselor and advocate; 
foundation program officer; college teacher and administrator; and 
restaurant owner and operator.
  Arnold came to the Alameda County Public Health Department in 1994. 
As director he has provided leadership and management of the 
administrative program and policy activities of the department, which 
has a budget of $105 million and over 500 employees, and serves a 
population of 1.4 million people. His professional expertise is 
supplemented by his diverse experience and deep commitment to building 
and maintaining the spirit of community.
  Under Arnold's leadership, the department has undergone a number of 
changes that are making its functions reflective of a broader vision of 
public health. Some of the milestones that have marked Arnold's tenure 
as director include, but are certainly not limited to, establishing 
Community Health Teams, through which the department deployed field 
staff in 10 neighborhoods throughout the county to provide individual 
and population based services; establishing the Legislative Council, 
which develops the Health Department's legislative platform and 
supports the implementation of new policy; and working with my office, 
the office of Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and many others to 
declare an HIV/AIDS State of Emergency in the African-American 
community. The AIDS pandemic is devastating African Americans and other 
communities of color, and women in particular in these groups. Arnold's 
leadership has been crucial in addressing these impacts here in Alameda 
County and making treatment, prevention and education available and 
accessible to those who need it most.
  In addition to his stellar work leading the Public Health Department, 
Arnold has been and continues to be heavily involved in a number of 
other boards and organizations here in the Bay Area and nationally. He 
has served the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a Member of the 
Advisory Committee for the National Center on HIV & STD Prevention as 
well as the Public Health Workforce 21st Century Taskforce. He has 
served as the President of the West Berkeley Health Center as well as 
the Chair of the Professional School of Psychology. Furthermore, Arnold 
has served with distinction as a board member within the San Francisco 
Foundation; the Family Violence Prevention Fund; Youth Radio; The 
Mentoring Center; United Way of the Bay Area, and many more 
organizations. Arnold has been recognized for his service with numerous 
awards from organizations such as the Center for Independent Living, 
the U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health, YMCA of the East Bay and Bay 
Area Strive for Five.
  Today the friends, family and colleagues of Arnold Perkins have come 
together to celebrate not only his retirement, but also his legacy of 
service and his permanent and positive impact on our community. On this 
very special day, I join all of them in thanking and saluting Arnold 
for his profound contributions to California's 9th Congressional 
District, our country and our world.

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