Tony Hall was a Congressman from Dayton, Ohio, for 24 years and served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture from 2002 to 2006.
Graphic: For those who won’t get the opportunity to attend your speech, what is the essence of what you hope to communicate?
Tony Hall: I think the essence of it is really “Do the thing that’s in front of you. Mother Theresa told it to me once. I got to spend a lot of time with her. One time I visited her in Calcutta and in the afternoon she took me down to an area of Calcutta that was extremely busy, with people living on the street. I thought I knew something about hunger and taking care of people. There were just masses of people living on top of one another. And I said to her “I’m supposed to know something about this, but I’m not even sure where to start to take care of this problem.” She didn’t say anything to me. She got some men to pick up a man who was lying in the street — he was just in terrible shape — she took him home and began to wash him off and take care of him like she always did. She came back to me later in the afternoon and said, “not everybody can come to Calcutta like you. I want you to always remember to do the thing that’s in front of you. “ She always did the thing in front of her and always one at a time — pretty much right out of Matthew 25. I thought that was a pretty good message. You don’t have to go to Los Angeles to look for poverty, hunger or people that are in trouble. Look around: it’s right here; on your campus; in Malibu; people hurting. Do the thing that’s in front of you.
G: How would you explain the deeper significance of the symposium title “Borders of Faith”?
TH: I think in the Middle East the answer is not just politicians trying to work together to solve these problems. I think you’ve got to bring all the religions together — especially the principle three: Christians, Jews and Muslims. And I think you have to build relationships with one another where, over time, those people begin to trust one another, and when you do that, you can begin to make something happen. Religious leaders can’t solve the problems for you — they can’t create peace — but you can’t have peace without them. For 2,000 years we’ve been trying to solve a peace problem in Israel and the Middle East with politicians, and you’ve got to have more than that. You need to bring the whole faith community into it, and from what I understand, that’s what Pepperdine is trying to do with this.
G: In your time as a Congressman and Ambassador, what did you learn that you are now applying in your initiatives?
TH: I think collaboration is very important — you have to work together, you have to bring everyone into the same room, and you can’t go it alone. So many times, people try to go it alone or as one organization, they try to handle the problem and they can’t handle it because it’s too big. When you try to solve a problem like hunger or homelessness, you have to bring in all aspects: non-profits, government, corporations, individuals, universities and work it out together. That’s how you solve problems.
G: What do you think is the most important current issue in the fight against world hunger?
TH: Lack of political will. We don’t have the will to end it. We have the ability, we have the knowhow — we know what to do, we just don’t have the political will to do it. We need elected officials that really want to take it on as an issue, and make it their issue and really do something about it. It’s never been a high priority issue for them, so as a result it always gets pushed off. It might be out of 20 issues, 13 or 14. It’s never the number one issue, but this is an issue we can solve.
G: So, when there is an ongoing debate over whether to continue aid and welfare for American citizens, how do you think you can get congress to continue working to sponsor international aid?
TH: It’s a tough issue, but as I read the scripture — and there’s over 2,500 verses in the Bible that deal with it — God says “Feed the people.” Whether it’s women and children, orphans and widows, poor people, elderly people — it doesn’t say “I just want you to feed those people in the United States.” You feed them overseas, too. And you feed the alien, and you feed the people in Sudan and North Korea and the Congo. You do your best to help them. I take the scriptures very seriously, and I think that’s what God wants us to do.
G: You serve on the board of advisors for Opportunity International. What role do you see microfinance playing in solving global economic justice and poverty issues?
TH: I think it’s important because microcredit is one of the keys to getting people back on their feet. To get people to start their own businesses, to give small loans, to provide financial services to the poorest of the poor: something banks really do not do. Microcredit really works. Opportunity International and groups like them provide an invaluable service, especially to women. And, 98 percent of the loans are paid back — most banks would like to have that kind of record. It produces a lot of jobs, it increases the gross domestic product of the country, and increases the wealth of the family of the individual.
