Club Presents Louis Stokes with its 21st Harold Hitz Burton Award

The Club presented its 21st Harold Hitz Burton Award to Louis Stokes at the offices of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey on October 6 accompanied by a complement of friends and colleagues. Louis Stokes was the first African-American elected to Congress from Ohio and served his district in and around Cleveland for 30 years. The text of the Award is added to the end of this story.

In addition, Mayor Jackson of Cleveland issued a proclamation that was read at the lunch.

Louis Stokes was in good form and high spirits, and graciously accepted the Award. He then talked about his many years of service in the Congress and his views on the approaching elections. In particular he talked about the race for his seat, vacated by the untimely death of Stephanie Tubbs Jones; the recently named Democratic candidate is Marcia Fudge, mayor of Warrensville Heights. Club members asked Congressman Stokes questions about the Congressional votes on the financial troubles “bailout bill,” then roiling the House; he said he would have voted for it.      

Louis Stokes is now Senior Counsel at Squire Sanders and serves on the boards of both private and non-profit corporations.      

Previous Harold Hitz Burton Awards have been presented to George Voinovich, Frank Lausche, Howard Metzenbaum, Chapman Rose, and Frances Bolton, to name a few. Following is the text of the Award presented October 6:      

“Cleveland Club of Washington, D. C.     

Harold Hitz Burton Award      
for      
Distinguished Public Service

Presented to 
The Honorable Louis Stokes            

For thirty years as a Congressman from Cleveland, Louis Stokes made outstanding contributions both to his District and to the Nation in the fields of civil rights, equality for all citizens, and social and economic justice. He fought for a fairer America in which persons lives could be brighter and the whole Nation thereby move forward to a better future.      

The first African-American elected to Congress from Ohio and eventually the Dean of the Ohio Delegation, Louis Stokes worked to improve Congress and to make a more open and accountable nation.      

After distinguished service in Congress, he has continued to work for social and economic justice, particularly in the field of health care for all Americans.      

Veteran, Representative, teacher, advisor to corporations and non-profit organizations, he has been a champion and epitome of public service, for all of which reasons he is saluted and honored by his fellow Clevelanders here in Washington, D. C., this 6th day of October, 2008.”

Books About Cleveland Neighborhoods

Member Gary Arlen has told us about books featuring Cleveland and its neighborhoods. Arcadia Publishing specializes in paperback books featuring scores of vintage photographs of American communities interwoven with ample text. Some of Arcadia's books feature Cleveland and neighboring communities, including Rocky River, Berea, Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Aurora, Canton, Akron and more. A search of the Web should bring you to the Arcadia Publishing website. The books sell for $20 to $25 and would make welcome gifts.

CLEVELAND PLUS Lauds Northeast Ohio

Carin Rockind, Vice President for Marketing and Communications for Cleveland-based Team Northeast (Team NEO), gave a spirited presentation about Cleveland Plus, the campaign to drive long-term strategic growth for Northeast Ohio, during a Club meeting at the offices of Jones Day on Capitol Hill November 15. Cleveland Plus is the effort to market the 16-county region that includes the major metropolitan areas of Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Youngstown as an optimal region for business, travel and living.

Ms. Rockind’s Power Point presentation and video outlined the Cleveland Plus effort that is being shown to the world. She pointed out that the region’s economy has been growing, even in manufacturing. It is also diversifying and becoming increasingly high tech, with major polymer companies, the Cleveland Clinic, biomedical companies, financial centers and more. She made the point that the area has 30 colleges and universities as well as a skilled and eager workforce.

Ms. Rockind told Club members that the effort to promote the region is the most sophisticated ever launched on behalf of the area and is receiving strong support from all the affected cities and counties.

She encouraged Northeastern Ohio people in the Washington area to be “ambassadors for the region.” One way to do so is visiting the Cleveland Plus website www.clevelandplus.com and signing up for its Pass the Plus newsletter, presenting stories of uplifting import in the region . . . . and then forwarding it to friends, families and colleagues so they also learn of the lucrative opportunities in Northeast Ohio.

Cleveland Plus can also send you hardcopy materials, bumper stickers and more that support the campaign.

Charley Vanik Story

Several Cleveland Club members attended the very touching service for Charley Vanik in the House Ways and Means Committee Room on Capitol Hill late last month. There was much singing and story telling during this tribute to one of Cleveland's most outstanding Congressmen.

Persons interested in a fine newspaper story by former Vanik staffer Bill Vaughn writing in a September issue of The Hill can find it online at http://thehill.com/op-eds/lessons-from-charles-vanik-no-need-for-money-in-politics-2007-09-18.html.

George Condon, Jr., Addressed the Club about the "Duke" Cunningham Scandal

George Condon, Jr., discussed the Randy "Duke" Cunningham case and Washington corruption. Part of the team of four who won the Pulitzer Prize for exposing Congressman Cunningham's acceptance of bribes in exchange for favors to defense contractors, Condon explained to Club members during an October 24 lunch at the National Press Club how Cunningham became embroiled in corruption. According to Condon, no Congressman in the nation's history has taken so much ($2.4 million) in bribery, not even excluding the horrendous Credit Mobilier scandal of the 1870s and figuring in inflation. The Cunningham misdeeds reached even into the CIA -- Dustin Foggo, the recently resigned executive director, is under indictment stemming from the Cunningham-related crimes.

Condon lay some of the blame of the scandal on the growth of earmarks, short entries into legislation that are generally not scrutinized or even read by Congressional committees, that favor companies or projects. Secrecy owing to defense- or war-related spending further obscures the earmarks and keeps them from public examination. Earmarks have grown from 10 when Ronald Reagan was first elected to more than 6,000 in 2006. Billions of dollars are at stake, and the potential for bribery is prevalent, Condon said.

Condon’s book on the scandal is called The Wrong Stuff: The Extraordinary Tale of Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the Most Corrupt Congressman Ever Caught (Public Affairs, 2007).