[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF ACDI/VOCA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 25, 2013

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, it is my great pleasure to congratulate 
ACDI/VOCA on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. This outstanding 
organization was founded in 1963 with the mission of empowering people 
around the world to take advantage of economic opportunities and 
improve quality of life for their families and communities. To this 
date, ACDI/VOCA continues to fulfill this mission, as they help 
millions of individuals and families fight their way out of poverty. 
Their notable accomplishments include contributing to the launch of the 
Green Revolution in India, strengthening Ethiopian co-ops to bring 
their coffee into global prominence, and pioneering grassroots 
financial services across the former Soviet Union. With a staff 
comprised of 90 percent locally-hired employees, and working through a 
network of over 3,000 local partner organizations, ACDI/VOCA combines 
the best in international development expertise with powerful 
grassroots capacities to implement effective programming that has a 
real and sustained impact. Congratulations to ACDI/VOCA President and 
CEO Carl H. Leonard, as well as to the esteemed members of the Board of 
Directors: Mortimer Neufville (Chairman), Honorable Timothy J. Penny 
(Vice Chairman), Deborah Atwood, Dr. G.N. Saxena, Charles F. Conner, 
Kurt M. Ely, Jerry Fenner, Patricia Wilkinson Garamendi, William 
Harris, James. K. Hoyt, R. Bruce Johnson, and David Cobb. I commend 
ACDI/VOCA on their history of outstanding service and am confident that 
they will continue to make a difference in people's lives around the 
world long into the future.

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