Passed The Senate August 26, 1996 Secretary Of The Senate Passed: Fill & Download for Free

Question as written when answered"Has your support for Bernie sanders changed after his comment "This is the United States Senate… We just starve little children, we go bomb houses and buses of children, and give tax breaks to billionaires"?"I do generally support Bernie Sanders, in the sense that I see him as someone making positive contributions to American society. However, that support is solely personal, per the facts that Senator Sanders is not currently running for any national office, and that I am not a resident of Vermont, and, therefore, not a constituent of his.This general support has not changed in the slightest per the comments that Senator Sanders made on the Sarah Silverman show that are referenced in the question, for the following two reasons.Senator Sanders was joking, and I am willing to recognize that.Some people among any political figure’s political opposition are willing to take even obvious jokes, or satirical statements, and attempt to use those statements as ammunition against that political figure. My personal opinion is that this is very poor form. I have no interest in doing that, to anyone. It’s underhanded, and intellectually dishonest.“Sen. Bernie Sanders is taking heat for a joke he made during an interview with comedian Sarah Silverman.During an episode of her Hulu show, "I Love You, America," Silverman met with the 77-year-old Vermont independent she calls "the voice of the Millennial generation" in his Senate office in Washington.After Silverman yelled, "Bernie!" as the senator entered, Sanders urged her to tone it down."This is in the United States Senate," he said. "We do things very calmly."Later, Sanders continued: "And we can't even use dirty words. This is the United States Senate. We just starve little children. We go bomb houses and buses of children. And we give tax breaks to billionaires, but we don't use dirty words."Source: Bernie Sanders jokes that in Senate, 'we starve little children' on Sarah Silverman show2. Senator Sanders is not wrongI understand that certain Americans are offended by facts, but that doesn’t change the fact that many, if not most, Americans are not offended by facts. Why berate Senator Sanders for stating facts, especially since he did so in the context of joking?Senator Sanders said “We just starve little children.”Check.That’s a known effect of the economic sanctions that the United States has perpetrated on various countries in general, and Muslim-majority countries in particular.“The Economist this week describes the intensifying suffering of 75 million Iranian citizens as a result of the sanctions regime being imposed on them by the US and its allies [my emphasis]:"Six years ago, when America and Europe were putting in place the first raft of measures to press Iran to come clean over its nuclear ambitions, the talk was of "smart" sanctions. The West, it was stressed, had no quarrel with the Iranian people—only with a regime that seemed bent on getting a nuclear bomb, or at least the capacity for making one. Yet, as sanctions have become increasingly punitive in the face of Iran's intransigence, it is ordinary Iranians who are paying the price."On October 1st and 2nd Iran's rial lost more than 25% of its value against the dollar. Since the end of last year it has depreciated by over 80%, most of that in just the past month. Despite subsidies intended to help the poor, prices for staples, such as milk, bread, rice, yogurt and vegetables, have at least doubled since the beginning of the year. Chicken has become so scarce that when scant supplies become available they prompt riots. On October 3rd police in Tehran fired tear-gas at people demonstrating over the rial's collapse. The city's main bazaar closed because of the impossibility of quoting accurate prices. . . ."Unemployment is thought to be around three times higher than the official rate of 12%, and millions of unskilled factory workers are on wages well below the official poverty line of 10m rials (about $300) a month."Pervasive unemployment, inflation, medicine shortages, and even food riots have been reported elsewhere.That sanctions on Muslim countries cause mass human suffering is not only inevitable but part of their design. In 2006, the senior Israeli official Dov Weisglass infamously described the purpose of his nation's blockade on Gaza with this candid admission: "'The idea is to put the Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger." Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman justified the Iran sanctions regime this way: "Critics of sanctions argue that these measures will hurt the Iranian people. Quite frankly, we need to do just that."Even more infamously, the beloved former Democratic Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - when asked in 1996 by 60 Minutes' Lesley Stahl about reports that 500,000 Iraqi children had died as a result of US-imposed sanctions on that country - stoically replied: "I think this is a very hard choice, but the price - we think the price is worth it." So extreme was the suffering caused by sanctions in Iraq that one former UN official, Denis Halliday, resigned in protest, saying that the sanctions policy met the formal definition of "genocide":"We are now in there responsible for killing people, destroying their families, their children, allowing their older parents to die for lack of basic medicines. We're in there allowing children to die who were not born yet when Saddam Hussein made the mistake of invading Kuwait."Source: Iran sanctions now causing food insecurity, mass suffering | Glenn GreenwaldSenator Sanders said “We go bomb houses and buses of children.”Check.U.S. bombs, whether dropped by the United States, or by the nations we sell those bombs to, are responsible for the deaths of many innocent people, including children.One very recent example:“On 9 August, the US-backed Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen against a Houthi-led rebellion dropped a bomb on a school bus packed with children. According to reports, the excited kids had been on a school trip marking the end of their summer classes, and as they passed a busy marketplace, the bomb directly hit their vehicle.The results were horrific. Of the 54 people killed, 44 were children, with most between the ages of six ando 11. The pictures of the dead and injured children, some of whom can be seen wearing their blue Unicef backpacks, are beyond heartbreaking.And the tragedy in Yemen is unrelenting. Just this past Thursday, a mere two weeks after the school bus attack, Saudi-led coalition airstrikes killed yet another 26 children and four women fleeing the fighting in the western province of Hudaydah.”Source: US bombs are killing children in Yemen. Does anybody care? | Moustafa BayoumiSenator Sanders said “And we give tax breaks to billionaires.”Check.Candidate Trump promised tax cuts for the middle class. President Trump championed tax cuts for the wealthy, included himself - and he has been fully aided and abetted by the United States Senate in that endeavor.“The big winners in the GOP bill that the Senate passed early Saturday morning are corporations and the wealthy. Trump himself ― a self-proclaimed billionaire ― stands to gain millions through the elimination of certain taxes (though we don’t know exactly how much because Trump won’t release his tax returns).Far from being a middle-class tax cut, the measure is a massive corporate giveaway, a bill that recycles decades of Republican ideology on trickle-down economics and trusts that executives will hand over their new gains to average-income workers.”Source: Senate Passes Massive Tax Cuts For The Rich In Middle Of The NightAnd so, Senator Bernie Sanders is 3-for-3 in terms of the factual nature of what he jokingly said.Why is he getting in trouble for that?I thought most people wanted more politicians to tell the truth.

When I looked at your article, it seemed to have roughly equal numbers from both parties. So I wrote a quick program to count them up. You are correct that there are only 57 Democrats compared to 64 Republicans (all listed below).But I’m not convinced of your pattern. For one thing the list is not complete. For another, there’s a huge variation in charges. The first Republican entry, for example is 11 days in jail for DWI, while the first Democratic one is 3 and a half years in prison for bribery. I think a complete list, weighted for severity, would show about equal for both parties.I did a word count on the lists to get some crude idea of any differences between the parties. Here are the most common words excluding common English words that don’t convey much information, along with how often the words showed up for each party.Campaign violations seem equal, as does fraud. But Republicans seem much more likely to perjure and obstruct, while Democrats conspire. Republicans seems to get lighter penalties, more fines, jail, probation, resignation and suspended sentences; less prison and sentenced. Depending on your partisanship, you can assume Democrats commit worse crimes, or Republicans get lighter treatment from courts. There is a huge gender gap in federal crimes, but the Democrats are more equal than the Republicans.One surprise is only two from each party were pardoned, I had an idea that federal officials convicted of crimes had good chances of pardons. Also, four Democrats but no Republicans were re-elected.DemocratsAlbert Bustamante (D-Texas) was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to three and one-half years in prison. (1993) [69]Alcee Hastings (D), Federal District court judge impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate of soliciting a bribe (1989).[166] Subsequently, elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1992)Andrew J. May (D-Kentucky) Convicted of accepting bribes in 1947 from a war munitions manufacturer. Was sentenced to 9 months in prison, after which he was pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952.[143]Anthony Weiner (D-NY)[3] was convicted of sending sexually explicit photos of himself to a 15-year-old girl and was made to sign the sexual offenders register. (2017)[4]Austin Murphy (D-PA) was convicted of one count of voter fraud for filling out absentee ballots for members of a nursing home. (1999) [55]Bertram Podell (D-New York), pleaded guilty to conspiracy and conflict of interest. He was fined $5,000 and served four months in prison. (1974)[123]Carl C. Perkins (D-Kentucky) pleaded guilty to a check kiting scheme involving several financial institutions (including the House Bank).[58]Carroll Hubbard (D-Kentucky) was convicted of illegally funneling money to his wife's 1992 campaign to succeed him in congress.[59]Chaka Fattah (D-PA) was convicted on 23 counts of racketeering, fraud, and other corruption charges. (2016)[10]Charles Diggs (D-Michigan), convicted on 29 charges of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms which formed a kickback scheme with his staff. Sentenced to 3 years (1978) [110]Cornelius Gallagher (D-New Jersey) pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and served two years in prison.[130]Corrine Brown (D-FL) was convicted on 18 felony counts of wire and tax fraud, conspiracy, lying to federal investigators, and other corruption charges. (2017)[5]Dan Flood (D-PA) censured for bribery. After a trial ended in a deadlocked jury, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year's probation.[103][104]Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison, in 1995.[63]Daniel Brewster (D-Maryland) pleaded no contest to accepting "an unlawful gratuity without corrupt intent."[134]Darleen A. Druyun (D), Principal Deputy United States Under Secretary of the Air Force.[46] She pleaded guilty to inflating the price of contracts to favor her future employer, Boeing. In October 2004, she was sentenced to nine months in jail for corruption, fined $5,000, given three years of supervised release and 150 hours of community service.(2005).[47] CBS News called it "the biggest Pentagon scandal in 20 years" and said that she pleaded guilty to a felony.[48]Frank Ballance (D-NC) admitted to federal charges of money laundering and mail fraud in October 2005 and was sentenced to four years in prison. (2005)[40]Frank Boykin (D-Alabama) Was placed on probation and fined $40,000 following conviction in a case involving a conflict of interest and conspiracy to defraud the government. He was pardoned by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964.[137]Frank Brasco (D-New York) Sentenced to three months in jail and fined $10,000 for conspiracy to accept bribes from a reputed Mafia figure who sought truck leasing contracts from the Post Office and loans to buy trucks.[105]Frank M. Clark (D-Pennsylvania) pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion on June 12, 1979 and sentenced to two years in prison.[112]Frank Thompson (D-NJ) Sentenced to 3 years.[94]Frank W. Boykin (D-AL) was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest in July 1963.[135]Fred Richmond (D-New York) – Convicted of tax fraud and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months in prison. Charges of soliciting sex from a 16-year-old boy were dropped after he submitted to counseling. (1978) [109]Frederick W. Richmond (D-NY), Convicted of tax evasion and possession of marijuana. Served 9 months (1982) [102]Harrison A. Williams (D-NJ) Convicted on 9 counts of bribery and conspiracy. Sentenced to 3 years in prison.[89]Harry Claiborne (D), Federal District court Judge was tried and convicted of federal tax evasion; he served over one year in prison (1983). He was later impeached by the House, convicted by the Senate and removed from office (1986).[169]James M. Curley (D-Massachusetts) fined $1,000 and served six-months for fraud before Harry S. Truman commuted the rest of his sentence.[144]Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) pleaded guilty February 20, 2013, to one count of wire and mail fraud in connection with his misuse of $750,000 in campaign funds. Jackson was sentenced to two and one-half years' imprisonment. (2013)[18]Jim Traficant (D-OH) was found guilty on ten felony counts of financial corruption, sentenced to eight years in prison and expelled from the House of Representatives. (2002) [42]Joe Kolter (D-Pennsylvania) pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and sentenced to 6 months in prison.(1996)[64][65]John H. Hoeppel (D-CA) convicted in 1936 of selling an appointment to the West Point Military Academy. He was fined $1,000 and sentenced to 4–12 months in jail.[145]John Jenrette (D-SC) sentenced to two years in prison for bribery and conspiracy.[90]John M. Murphy (D-NY) Served 20 months of a 3-year sentence.[95]John V. Dowdy (D-Texas), Allegedly tried to stop a federal investigation of a construction firm. He served 6 months in prison for perjury. (1973) [121][122]Joshua Eilberg (D-PA) pleaded guilty to conflict-of-interest charges. In addition, he convinced president Carter to fire the U.S. Attorney investigating his case.[105]Laura Richardson (D-CA) was found guilty on seven counts of violating US House rules by improperly using her staff to campaign for her, destroying the evidence and tampering with witness testimony. The House Ethics Committee ordered Richardson to pay a fine of $10,000. (2012)[19][20]Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (D) National Security Advisor. Pled guilty to lying to the FBI. (2017)[1]Mario Biaggi (D-NY) Convicted of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gratuities he was sentenced to 2½ years in prison and fined $500K. (1987)[97]Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio) pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor campaign finance charge not related to the House Bank.[60]Matthew Lyon (Democratic Republican-Kentucky). First Congressman to be recommended for censure after spitting on Roger Griswold (Federalist-Connecticut). The censure failed to pass.[158] Separately, found guilty of violating Alien and Sedition Acts and sentenced to four months in jail, during which time he was re-elected (1798) [159]Mel Reynolds (D-IL) was convicted on 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. (1997) He was later convicted of 12 counts of bank fraud. (1999) Reynolds served his entire sentence stemming from the first conviction and served 42 months in prison for the bank fraud conviction at which point his sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton.[49] As a result, Reynolds was released from prison and served his remaining time in a halfway house.[50][51]Michael Myers (D-PA) Accepted $50K saying, "...money talks and bullshit walks." Sentenced to 3 years and was expelled from the House.[93]Michael Myers (D-Pennsylvania) Received suspended six-month jail term after pleading no contest to disorderly conduct charged stemming from an incident at a Virginia bar in which he allegedly attacked a hotel security guard and a cashier.[111]Nicholas Mavroules (D-Massachusetts) was convicted of extortion, accepting illegal gifts and failing to report them on congressional disclosure and income tax forms. Mavroules pleaded guilty to fifteen counts in April 1993 and was sentenced to a fifteen-month prison term. (1993) [67][68]Raymond Lederer (D-PA) "I can give you me" he said after accepting $50K. Sentenced to 3 years.[92]Richard T. Hanna (D-CA), convicted in an influence-buying scandal. (1974)[124]Richard Tonry (D-Louisiana) pleaded guilty to receiving illegal campaign contributions.[113]Robert Frederick Collins (D), Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, was convicted of bribery and sentenced to six years, ten months. (1991)[167]Robert Garcia (D-NY) sentenced to 2½ years.[98]Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) US Senator, drove his car into the channel between Chappaquiddick Island and Martha's Vineyard, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Kennedy pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and received a suspended sentence of two months (1969)[129]Thomas F. Johnson (D-Maryland) was convicted of conspiracy and conflict of interest regarding the receipt of illegal gratuities.[136]Thomas J. Lane (D-Massachusetts) convicted for evading taxes on his congressional income. Served 4 months in prison, but was re-elected three more times.[138] before his 1962 defeat due to re-districting. (1956) [139]Thomas Porteous (D), Federal Judge of the U.S. Eastern District of Louisiana was impeached, convicted and removed from office December 8, 2010, on charges of bribery and lying to Congress. (2010)[160][161]Wade Sanders (D), Deputy Assistant United States Secretary of the Navy, for Reserve Affairs, was sentenced to 37 months in prison on one charge of possession of child pornography. (2009)[43][44][45]Walter Fauntroy (D-District of Columbia) was convicted of filing false disclosure forms to hide unauthorized income.[61]Walter Nixon (D) Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi was impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate for perjury November 3, 1989.[168]William J. Jefferson (D-LA) was charged in August 2005 after the FBI seized $90,000 in cash from his home freezer. He was re-elected to the House in 2006, but lost in 2008. He was convicted November 13, 2009, of 11 counts of bribery and sentenced to 13 years in prison. (2009)[36] Jefferson's Chief of Staff Brett Pfeffer, was sentenced to 84 months for bribery. (2006) [37]RepublicansFrank Horton (New York politician) (R-NY) Pleaded guilty to Driving While Intoxicated (arrested at 105 mph) served 11 days jail(1976)[116][117]Albert Fall (R) Secretary of the Interior who was bribed by Harry F. Sinclair for control of the Teapot Dome federal oil reserves in Wyoming. He was the first U.S. cabinet member to ever be convicted; he served two years in prison. (1922) [150]Andrew J. Hinshaw (R-CA) US Representative was convicted of accepting bribes. He served one year in prison. (1977)[114][115]Bill Janklow (R-SD) was convicted of second-degree manslaughter for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. Resigned from the House and given 100 days in the county jail and three years probation. (2003)[41]Bob Ney (R-OH) pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements as a result of his receiving trips from Abramoff in exchange for legislative favors. Ney received 30 months in prison. (2007)[38]Bob Packwood (R-OR), 19 women accused him of sexual misconduct. He fought the allegations, but eventually, the US Senate Ethics Committee found him guilty of a "pattern of abuse of his position of power and authority” and recommended that he be expelled from the Senate. He resigned on Sept. 7, 1995.[52]Buz Lukens (R-Ohio) convicted of bribery and conspiracy.[57]Catalina Vasquez Villalpando, (R) Treasurer of the United States, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. (1992)[66]Charles Colson (R) Special Counsel to the President for Public Liaison, convicted of obstruction of justice. Served 7 months.Claude Allen (R) Director of the Domestic Policy Council, was arrested for a series of felony thefts in retail stores. (2006) He was convicted on one count and resigned soon after.[35]David Durenberger Senator (R-Minnesota) denounced by Senate for unethical financial transactions and then disbarred (1990). He pleaded guilty to misuse of public funds and given one year probation (1995) [70]David Safavian (R) Administrator for the Office of Management and Budget[27] where he set purchasing policy for the entire government.[28][29] He was found guilty of blocking justice and lying,[30] and sentenced to 18 months. (2008)[31][32]Dennis Hastert (R-IL) Speaker of the United States House of Representatives pleaded guilty in court for illegally structuring bank transactions related to payment of $3.5 million to quash allegations of sexual misconduct with a student when he was a high school teacher and coach decades ago.[11] (2016)Duke Cunningham (R-CA) pleaded guilty November 28, 2005, to charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion in what came to be called the Cunningham scandal and was sentenced to over eight years in prison. (2005)[39]Dwight Chapin (R) Secretary to the President of the United States, convicted of perjury.Earl Butz (R) United States Secretary of Agriculture. He was charged with failing to report more than $148,000 in 1978. Butz pleaded guilty to the tax evasion charge and was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation and was ordered to make restitution. He served 25 days behind bars before his release.[118][119]Edwin Reinecke (R-CA) convicted of perjury and sentenced to 18 months in prison as part of the Watergate investigation.Egil Krogh (R) United States Undersecretary of Transportation, sentenced to six months.Elliott Abrams (R) Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, convicted of withholding evidence. Given 2 years probation. Later pardoned by President George H. W. Bush.[86]Ernest K. Bramblett (R-California) Received a suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine in 1955 for making false statements in connection with payroll padding and kickbacks from congressional employees.[140]General David Petraeus (R)[8] Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. On April 23, 2015, a federal judge sentenced Petraeus to two years’ probation plus a fine of $100,000 for providing classified information to Lieutenant Colonel Paula Broadwell.(2015)[9]George V. Hansen (R-ID) censured for failing to fill out disclosure forms. Spent 15 months in prison.[101]George V. Hansen (R-ID) US Representative, first member of Congress to be convicted of violating a new 1971 campaign law requiring disclosure of financial contributions(1974)[132][133]Greg Gianforte (R-MT) pled guilty to charge of assault. (2017)[6][7]H. R. Haldeman (R) White House Chief of Staff, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.Harry E. Rowbottom, (R-IN) was convicted in Federal court of accepting bribes from persons who sought post office appointments. He served one year in Leavenworth.(1931)[147]Henry B. Cassel (R-Pennsylvania) was convicted of fraud related to the construction of the Pennsylvania State Capitol (1909).[153][154]J. Herbert Burke (R-FL) pleaded guilty to disorderly intoxication, resisting arrest, and nolo contendere to an additional charge of witness tampering. He was sentenced to three months plus fines.(1978)[108]J. Irving Whalley (R-Pennsylvania) Received suspended three-year sentence and fined $11,000 in 1973 for using mails to deposit staff salary kickbacks and threatening an employee to prevent her from giving information to the FBI.[105]J. Parnell Thomas (R-New Jersey): a member of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), was convicted of salary fraud and given an 18-month sentence and a fine, resigning from Congress in 1950. He was imprisoned in Danbury Prison with two of the Hollywood Ten he had helped put there. After serving his 18 months he was pardoned by Truman (D) in 1952.[142]James F. Hastings (R-New York), convicted of kickbacks and mail fraud, he also took money from his employees for personal use. Served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary. (1976) [120]James Fred Hastings (R-NY) Resigned on January 20, 1976 after being convicted of kickbacks and mail fraud. He served 14 months at Allenwood penitentiary (1976).[120]James G. Watt (R) United States Secretary of the Interior 1981–1983, was charged with 25 counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. Sentenced to five years probation, fined $5,000 and 500 hours of community service[84]Jay Kim (R-CA) accepted $250,000 in illegal 1992 campaign contributions and was sentenced to two months house arrest. (1992)[71][72][73][74]John Dean (R) White House Counsel, convicted of obstruction of justice, later reduced to felony offenses and served 4 months.John Ehrlichman (R) former White House Counsel, convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Served 18 months in prison.John Hicklin Hall (R) US District Attorney for Oregon appointed by President McKinley, convicted of not prosecuting suspects and then blackmailing them later during the Oregon land fraud scandal(1903)[157][81]John Hipple Mitchell Senator (R-Oregon) was involved with the Oregon land fraud scandal, for which he was indicted and convicted while a sitting U.S. Senator. (1905) [155]John N. Mitchell (R) former United States Attorney General, convicted of perjury.[126]John W. Langley (R-KY) Resigned from the US Congress in January 1926, after losing an appeal to set aside his conviction of violating the Volstead Act (Prohibition). He had also been caught trying to bribe a Prohibition officer. He was sentenced to two years, after which his wife Katherine G. Langley ran for Congress in his place and won two full terms.[148][149]Jon Hinson (R-MS) was arrested for having homosexual oral sex in the House of Representatives’ bathroom with a government staffer. Hinson, who was married, later received a 30-day jail sentence, and a year's probation, on condition that he get counseling and treatment. At the time, homosexual acts were criminalized, even between consenting adults. He then resigned his seat and began working as a gay rights advocate.(1981) [106][107]Joseph R. Burton Senator (R-Kansas) was convicted of accepting a $2500 bribe in 1904.[156]Lester Crawford (R) Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, resigned after 2 months. Pleaded guilty to conflict of interest and received 3 years suspended sentence and fined $90,000. (2006) [34]Lewis Libby (R) Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney (R). 'Scooter' was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Plame Affair on March 6, 2007 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $250,000. His sentence was commuted by George W. Bush (R) on July 1, 2007. (2007)[33]Mark E. Fuller (R) U.S. District Judge was found guilty of domestic violence and sentenced to 24 weeks of family and domestic training and forced to resign his position. (2015)[21][22][23]Martin B. McKneally (R-New York) Placed on one-year probation and fined $5,000 in 1971 for failing to file income tax return. He had not paid taxes for many years prior.[131]Maurice Stans (R) United States Secretary of Commerce, pleaded guilty to three counts of violating the reporting sections of the Federal Election Campaign Act and two counts of accepting illegal campaign contributions and was fined $5,000.(1975)[128]Michael Deaver (R) White House Deputy Chief of Staff to Ronald Reagan 1981–85, pleaded guilty to perjury related to lobbying activities and was sentenced to 3 years probation and fined $100,000 [87]Michael Grimm (R-NY) pleaded guilty of felony tax evasion. This was the fourth count in a 20-count indictment brought against him for improper use of campaign funds. The guilty plea had a maximum sentence of three years; he was sentenced to eight months in prison. (2015)[12][13]Michael J. Hogan (R-NY) was convicted of bribery and sentenced to a year and a day in a Federal Penitentiary.(1935)[146]Pat Swindall (R-GA) convicted of 6 counts of perjury. (1989) [99][100]Richard Kelly (R-FL) Accepted $25K and then claimed he was conducting his own investigation into corruption. Served 13 months.[91]Richard Kleindienst (R) United States Attorney General, convicted of "refusing to answer questions" given one month in jail.Rick Renzi (R-AZ) was found guilty on 17 of 32 counts against him June 12, 2013, including wire fraud, conspiracy, extortion, racketeering, money laundering and making false statements to insurance regulators. (2013)[17]Robert Archbald (R) U.S. Commerce Court Judge of Pennsylvania, was convicted of corruption in 1912.[152]Samuel B. Kent (R), Federal District Judge of the Galveston Division of the U.S. Southern District of Texas, was sentenced May 11, 2009, to 33 months in prison for having lied about sexually harassing two female employees. (2009) [165]Scott Bloch (R) United States Special Counsel. pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress for "willfully and unlawfully withholding pertinent information from a House Committee investigating his decision to have several government computers wiped ..."[24][25] On June 24, 2013, U. S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins sentenced Bloch to one day in jail and two years' probation, and also ordered him to pay a $5000 fine and perform 200 hours of community service.(2010) [26]Senior Federal U.S. District Court Judge Jack Camp (R) was arrested in an undercover drug bust while trying to purchase cocaine from an FBI agent. Judge Jack T. Camp resigned his position after pleading guilty to three criminal charges. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 400 community service hours and fined. (2010)[162][163][164]Spiro Agnew (R) Former Vice President of the United States, convicted of income-tax evasion.[127]Steve Stockman (R-TX) was convicted of fraud. (2018)[2]Trey Radel (R-FL) was convicted of possession of cocaine in November 2013. As a first-time offender, he was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250. Radel announced he would take a leave of absence, but did not resign. Later, under pressure from a number of Republican leaders, he announced through a spokesperson that he would resign. (2013)[14][15][16]Walter E. Brehm (R-Ohio) convicted of accepting contributions illegally from one of his employees. Received a 15-month suspended sentence and a $5,000 fine.[141]Wes Cooley (R-OR), was convicted of having lied on the 1994 voter information pamphlet about his service in the Army. He was fined and sentenced to two years probation (1997)[53] After leaving office, Cooley was convicted of income tax fraud connected to an investment scheme. He was sentenced to one year in prison and to pay restitution of $3.5 million to investors and $138,000 to the IRS.[54]William Lorimer Senator (R-IL), The 'blond boss of Chicago' was found guilty of accepting bribes in 1912.[151]

When I was in crises with my life and suicidal, I went to see the wisest person I knew at that time. He was a Korean I'd heard on a New years eve the year before. He was willing to let me come to his house and that evening changed my life forever. This is a little long but worth the read of this incredible man.Paull Ho Bom ShinShin was born in Japanese-occupied Korea in 1935.In this period, the Imperial Japanese Army discriminated against, tortured, plundered, raped, summary executed and mass murdered innocent Koreans. Major cultural genocides and war crimes committed by the Japanese include forced sex slavery and kidnapping of Korean females for the Japanese army, human experiments on live Koreans, burning down of Korean villages, banning of the Korean language and religions, complete censorship of media, unfair confiscation of land, food and cultural assets, forced name changes and Imperial education, which led to a strong rise in anti-Japanese sentiment and Korean nationalism that still persistent to this date in both South Korea and North Korea. In 1939 another decree "encouraged" Koreans to adopt Japanese names, and by the following year, it was reported that 84 percent of all Korean families had done so. During the war years, Korean-language newspapers and magazines were shut down. Japanese control of Korea was supposed to end with the surrender of Japan to the Allied forces in 1945 at the end of World War II.1939 "At age 4 my mother died and my father abandoned me. I don’t know where he went. He told me he'd be back and he never did. Having no choice, I made my way to my maternal grandmother’s home. In a country under the brutal Japanese occupation, it was especially difficult for Korean farmers because it was a very poor country in the first place. Food was hard to come by. I was an extra mouth to feed for already stretched resources. Even as a child of 4 years, I could feel a sense of discrimination from being abandoned, but I tried to overlooked that. Even when I wondered over to neighbors, they tried to hide their food from my eyes. I always wondered, why? It constantly made me feel so unwelcome."He remembered the first time he saw moving houses. He’d thought them so strange as he’d never seen anything like that before. Later of course, he was to find out they were trains."Two years later in 1941 when I was 6, I was playing outside. This is the kind of story I don’t like to tell because it is embarrassing. But because this talk is about adoption, I will tell it as a focus for you. I came home from playing outside and I saw an aunt in that grandmother’s house with a piece of yut. Yut is a sweet little candy-like rice cake with a stick of wood. She broke it into pieces and then distributed it to all the children in the family except me. As a 6 year old boy, when you look at a yut , of course you long for sweet stuff. I thought I wanted some and asked for it. My aunt said, “No!” but since I was hungry and yearned for that sweet yut, I went behind one of the children and snatched it away, then quickly ate it. For taking it and eating that little piece of yut, I was beaten so much that I was bleeding from my head and all over my body. That night I couldn’t stand it any more. When it became dark, I sneaked out of the back-door and I walked across to the train station. From there I followed the tracks and walked all the way to Seoul, the capitol city, which is about 25 km. Almost 16 miles. While walking, even at 6 years old, I wondered why we humans, in the biological sense of the word, call ourselves to be the highest creature, homo sapiens. Some of us do not have a place to go and are even unwelcome. Why is life unfair? What is life for? I thought about these things on that trip, but the conclusion I came up with is, Some day, some day, I’ll have enough yut to share with other people. That was the dream. I had when I was 6.""Coming into Seoul, the capital city, I couldn't find any yut or any means to find yut. Life on the street for a 6 year old in a Japanese military Occupied city with nothing, was very difficult. Can you even imagine how it was for me? First of all I was always hungry. Therefore my life consisted of standing on street corners begging for food to stay alive. I had no place to go that was safe so I had to find what shelter I could. I slept on street corners, train stations, bus depots – 'anywhere with a roof.' I didn't mind it in summer time, because it was warm, but in the winter time it was bitterly cold and difficult.”He said he still has vivid memories of those years: begging for food, eating scraps from tables, finding discards from the markets during the summer, and having to catch rats to eat during the winter. “You'll do anything when you’re hungry,” Shin, 71, said.“I remember times at night, crouching down in the street and looking up at the stars,” said Shin. "I would start tearing up and crying for my mother. I was so lonely." Sometimes he would go up to people on the street and ask them to tell him what certain words were in the news paper so he could learn to read. Most would just turn away in disgust.There was the time he tried to go to school to improve his situation. They kicked him out on first sight as he was filthy and unkempt. One winter, when he was 7, he was standing in the snow outside a school room window, peeking in to see what the teacher was writing on the board and learn what the other kids were learning. He wrote what he could on a piece of paper when a Japanese policeman saw him and chased him down. When he caught Paull, he hit him pretty severely to get him to confess what he was stealing. Finally the policeman looked at the paper and saw the copied notes. He felt guilty enough he took him to a place and bought him warm soup.During this time he tried to kill himself 3 times. “I didn't know what the point of my life was," he recalls. Shin stopped himself at the last moment each time, including once when he laid down on the tracks waiting for the train. When it got close, something made him not do it. The train roared by.At the age of 8, a street urchin friend of his who was in despair did let a train hit him. “When I saw his body parts scattered on those tracks I made a promise to myself: I’m not going to die, no matter what. I’m going to live, and I’m going to do something to make my life worthwhile.”Later he was begging at the train station from a bunch of soldiers. They convinced him to get on with them. He became a kind of mascot for 3 days, when suddenly the ride ended and had everyone gotten off. He started begging in the station like he'd always done in Seoul. The police arrested him for it. “You don’t beg in Russia,” Shin said. He’d taken the train to Siberia. They told him he had to go back to Seoul. He walked and sometimes was able to get on a train again.He survived on the streets almost a decade. Through World War II and the defeat of the Japanese as well as the occupation of transition armies.In 1945 The Korean Peninsula was divided into South Korea and North Korea.On August 6,1945, the Soviet Union declared war on the Japanese Empire and, on August 8, it began the liberation on the northern part of the Korean peninsula. As agreed, the United States got the USSR to halt its troops at the 38th parallel on August 26. It was agreed by the US and the USSR, but not the Koreans, that Korea would govern itself independently after four years of international oversight. Two major mistakes the Americans would make was: 1. Restore many Japanese colonial administrators and collaborators to their previous positions of power within Korea. And t2.refuse to recognize the existing political organizations that had been established by the Korean people. Which also meant the police. There were violent insurrections and protests. When the US forces sided with these former collaborators, it discredited the US in the eyes of many Koreans. The Americans did not want a communist government in South Korea, so they called for elections in all of Korea. Since the population of the South was double that of the North, the Soviets knew that Kim Il-sung would lose the election. South Korean President Syngman Rhee and North Korean General Secretary Kim Il-Sung were each intent on reuniting the peninsula under his own system.Korean WarBy June 1949, The U.S. occupation forces completely withdrew from Korea, leaving behind them a force of about 500 men as a U.S. Military Advisory Group to train the South Korean armed forces.In October 1949, the United States granted South Korea, military and economic aid for the fiscal year 1950, the first of a contemplated three-year program. In addition the U.S. Congress approved military aid in March.By June 1950, when the war broke out, South Korea had a 98,000-man force equipped only with small arms, which was barely enough to deal with internal revolt and border attacks.Paull was 15 when the Korean War came about. After it started, many residents of Seoul fled south to Pusan, after U.N. forces were able tosecure the area on the southern tip of the Korean Peninsula. Shin joined the exodus. He was almost halfway there when news arrived that Gen. Douglas Macarthur had captured Seoul. Shin headed back to the capital city.In their hasty retreat, both the U.N. forces and the Korean People’s Army had knocked out all the bridges crossing the major rivers. Walking north, Shin came upon a United Nations pontoon bridge crossing the Han River. Unable to cross (soldiers guarding the bridge gave priority to military vehicles), Shin begged the passing soldiers for food. "They gave me candy and biscuits." he recalled.Finally, one day a passing truckload of American GI’s literally scooped Shin up off the sidewalk. They were part of a U.S. Army medical unit. The soldiers instantly took a liking to Shin, offering him a job at their base and making him a houseboy for 7 U.S. Army officers. "My job was polishing their shoes, washing their clothes, and looking after the military personnel. I'd never gone to school nor had a home-cooked meal." For the first time in his life, Shin was able to bathe, wear clean clothes, and eat on a regular basis.In 1952, One of the discrimination issues came up when he walked in on Lieutenant Booth, sitting on his cot, crying. He happened to be African American. "I was afraid to see him cry so I ran. He called me and asked me to come. He asked me to sit next to his bed."Do you know why I’m crying?" I said "no sir I don’t know why." He pinched himself so hard and said, “Because of this! I had a chance to be promoted as captain for the last seven years but I’ve been passed over again." Discrimination was an issue that would come up again and again in Shin's life. "In Korea there was people discrimination too. If you have no family, no education, if you have no money, you're nobody. I was a nobody and they threw rocks at me calling me the beggar boy. They chased me and kicked me. I was used to this type of discrimination. Here in the United States we call it racial discrimination. In Korea we called it people discrimination."Even at the base, Shin felt alone in the world. Like before, there was no one he could talk to or be friends with. At night, he would sneak outside and look up at the stars again, crying, still thinking of his mother and why things had to be this way. One night, one of the officers from the base came upon Shin. He was alone on a hill, crying because he was so lonely. "When I opened my eyes, there was this tall American soldier standing before me. I told him to go away. He asked me again why was crying. I yelled at him to leave me alone.""I have three children in the United States and when they cry like you are, it hurts me inside.""I shouted at him to go away and then he hugged me so tight with his big, powerful arms." It was one of the U.S. Army officers he'd worked for, dentist, Ray Paull. "That was the beginning of my new life.” Through the remainder of the war, Shin and Paull developed a close, father-and-son relationship.Paull noticed that Ray acted somehow different than most of the other GI’s he finally asked him why. “It’s because of this!” he replied and tossed him the Bible."Read it and you’ll understand." Paull was too embarrassed to tell him he did not know how to read. so had to take a cross translation dictionary and start withTHE, then HOLY, then BIBLE. He ended up reading the whole book that way.When Shin was 16, Paull offered to adopt him and take him to the United States. Ray had to get special permission to adopt him but it wasn't official and there was a lot of red tape. "I took Ray’s last name as my first name and kept my surname for my genealogy purposes by mutual agreement."“But I was shocked,” Shin recounted. “He would take me, with a Korean face? Why me?” The Korean War ended on July 27th, 1953 when the ceasefire agreement was signed.Coming to America"When I left Korea in 1955, I spit on Korea. Old country, I will never see you again. Korea is the land of hunger, land of discrimination, land of war, land of poverty, land of no education. I wanted to become American, think like an American, act like an American. When I landed at the airport, I wanted to kiss the ground, but everything was covered in concrete."Shin then lived in Salt Lake City, Utah with his new parents and three younger brothers, changing his first name to the last name of his adoptive father. Relations were fine with his family members as he and his new brothers “played together and fought together,” he said. However, he also remembered “all white” 1950s Salt Lake City and the isolation, prejudice and discrimination he experienced during the course of some simple acts such as being refused a haircut. Despite his broken English and lack of any formal schooling in Korea, he was determined to become educated. He had some trouble getting in at first. "My father told me, Son, this is America. With your color you may have some problems. But if you set your mind to it, do whatever you want to do, you can do it."Education GEDWhen I first came to the United States, I was 18. Landing in the United States was an awesome experience for me. First night in America, after the evening meal, my father asked me, "Now son you are in America, what would you like to do?" I said, "Father, I would like to be educated." He said, "Good since you are 18, tomorrow why don’t you and I go to the High School?""I had to first make a confession to him. "Father I am sorry I cannot, for I have not gone to school in Korea." He looked puzzled and said, "not even grade school?"I said, "No sir. I have not."He said, "That’s ok lets go to grade school tomorrow."So we did and I was rejected by the principal, who said, "I am sorry, you are too old for this school. I am sorry."That was my first rejection. So my father said, "Lets go to middle school." Which we did. Again the principal, with the same characteristic smile, said, "I’m sorry."My heart was beating and my dad said, "Well, lets go to high school." Which we did. And the principal looked at me and he said, "You have no grade school, you have no junior high school., how can I take you I’m sorry."I didn’t’ know why all the Americans said, "I’m sorry." I thought that this was the only language they knew. As I heard that “I’m sorry,” I don’t know why I became so emotionally choked up. I just burst into tears and cried like a little kid.He said, "Why are you crying?" I said, "Sir, I came to this country to be educated, but I am afraid that the education has just become an impossible dream for me."He said, "do you really want to study that much?" I said, "yes sir.""In that case, “Good!” In America, for boys like you we have a special program called GED. If you study by yourself and pass the examination, you can get a General Equivalency Diploma, which is like a high school diploma, and go to the University. Would you like to try that?"I had no idea what GED was, but the thought of going to school excited me, so I said “yes, I would.”During the day he provided a special tutor for me, Mrs. Evans, who taught me English., Social Studies and History. At night time, my farther taught me about chemistry, math, and physics so I could get that GED. We went on from there until one or two or sometimes 3 o’clock in the morning. This is the kind of love I had. Fourteen months later, I passed the GED.College EducationMy first formal education in the United States was at BrighamYoung University. Paull went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science. Many years later when I finished my Ph.D., I was walking down the isle with the degree in my hand when my father started to cry. He was so proud of me and bawled like a little kid. This is what he said, "Thank you son for your accomplishments." Then with tears in my eyes I said, "Dad, I’m the one who should be thanking you. You’re the one who brought me out of no where, provided me a home, love and education, and above all, my right to be me! How can you thank me for that? The two of us then embraced while we continued to shed tears.In 1957 and 1958 I was in Japan studying. One day I was walking through the down town street in Yokoyama, and a gentleman came out. He says, "Aren’t you a Korean Gook?" What could I say? I said “yes!” Without saying a word, he went to the backyard and brought out a big German Shepherd then released him to bite me. That dog bit me so much I was bleeding all over. After being bitten by the dog, I once again asked myself the questions, "Why? Who am I? Is it that because of my national identity I had to be bitten by a dog in Japan, and in Korea I had to be discriminated against because of social conditions?"U.S.Army,In 1958 I was drafted into the US Army taking basic training in Fort HoodTexas. Weekdays, we spent time on the base. Weekends, we liked to go to a nice restaurant for civilian food. One day some white friends of mine and I got on a bus and went to a city called TempleTexas. WE wanted to experience fine cuisine. We saw a nice restaurant and started to walk in there. My friends all walked in and I wanted to enter, but I wouldn’t; because on front of the door it said, "For Whites Only." I paused and raised the question, "what am I doing? I can’t go in." I hesitated and my buddies said, "Come on Paull, you are in the army. We’re all together." So, they dragged me inside. The restaurant was about the size of this place here. We were sitting in the corner and sure enough the manager saw me. He was exceedingly upset. He ran towards me and yelled, "What are you doing here?" Without waiting for my answer he picked me up with two hands and walked all the way across the restaurant with everyone in therestaurant watching me. He kicked the front door open and threw me out. It hurt my seat as I hit the concrete. I went back to the base and cried all night. When I woke up in the morning, I was like a wet noodle. I thought about it somewhat and offered a secret prayer in my heart. This is what I said, "Someday I will serve you. Someday I will serve you." Because through my experiences, one thing I learned in the United States - you can transform negativism into positive affirmation. It wasn’t easy, but I took the negative experiences and changed them into positive experiences. I served for two years in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany.University of Pittsburgh, master’s degree in public and international affairs.University of Washington, master’s and a doctorate.While at the University of Washington in the Korean Studies Program, Shin rediscovered himself. “I had terrible feelings. I felt rejected by Korea,”he said. “When another Korean person would come up to me, I felt embarrassedbecause I didn’t know how to speak and read Korean.” Through the Korean Studies Program at UW, Shin was able to rediscover the country of his birth — something he has always been grateful for.Many years later, when the program faced the budget-cutter’s axe, Shin led the effort to not only fund it, but also set up a permanent endowment so the program could continue as a vital link between the two countries.After teaching in Hawaii for a few years, Shin decided to move back to the Pacific Northwest. Shin is now fluent in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin) and German.College TeachingIn 1969, he took a job at ShorelineCommunity College as a professor of history and East Asian civilization. He taught there for more than 26 years. The prayer I offered, “someday I will serve you" caused me to go back to school after my military duty. I have been teaching college for the past 31 years. I just retired two years ago. I thought about what can I do to minimize some of the obstacles and problems we as immigrants and adoptees have in the mainstream of the country. I wanted to help in someway to minimize that problem. Actually what came to my mind was, yes, I have taught 31 years. Yes, I have had 27,000 students that I have experienced the honor of teaching, but I still was not making an immediate and direct impact. Life in the United Stateshad not been altogether that easy. All the love and care and the sense of belonging that I experienced not withstanding. People would constantly ask me, "are you Chinese?" I said “No!” "Are you Japanese?" I said, “No!” "Then who are you?" I replied, "I’m an American." "No, no, no, they’d say, “Where do you come from?" It doesn’t matter how you try. Somehow as a Korean, I experienced some disadvantages.Discrimination is rampant in America too. America in the 1950’s and Americain the 1990’s are similar.FamilyHe married an American woman and found they were unable to have their own children. Paull and Donna adopted two children.In 1972 his dad told him he needed to go back to Koreaand look up his biological father. Paull was very upset about this and virtually refused. His dad said it was vital and bought him a ticket. He had never wanted to set foot in Korea again. He went back to Korea in 1974 and found his father. The man had remarried and had five children. Paull was pretty upset about it all. they were alleducated laborers and quite poor. What he wanted to know from his father is why. Why did he leave him all those years ago. His dad basically said he knew he could take care of a and he hoped somehow he would survive. With this answer, it softened Paull's heart. He eventually brought all five of his halfsiblings back to the states starting in 1975 and every other year thereafter till they all were here. They in turn brought their children which are now all college-educated. Eventually he brought his biological father who died in 1995.Paull's adoptive father Ray passed away in 1986. In 2008 he still chokes up when he talks about him as he says he misses him every day.He says there are over 50 people at Christmas now. An amazing change from that lonely boy on a hillside so long ago.PoliticsWhen I thought about politics it seemed beyond me. How can I, with a face like mine, run for an office and expect to be elected? I thought about it and thought about it, but I could not work up my courage to do anything. The past 20 years, in the 1970’s and 1980’s I was an advisor on international trade to four governors. In 1987 on the way home from China on a trade mission in the airplane my governor said, "Paull with all your economic savvy and understanding of Americawhy don’t’ you run for an office?" I was gratified he asked me. But I said, "Me? this color? How could I? No thank you!" But the more I thought about it, the more the idea appealed to me. But I was scared. Let me tell you ladies and gentlemen., it took me over four years to overcome that fear. And finally in 1992, I decided I would try. I think it was Roosevelt who said you have nothing to fear but fear itself.In 1976 PaullShin got involved in politics when Gov. Dan Evans called on Shin to help himincrease trade with Koreaand Japan. Through many changes of administration in the governor’s office, Shin served as a trade ambassador to the state, a role in which he continues to this day.By 1987, both parties were actively recruiting him to run for office. Secretary of State Ralph Munro tried to get him to run as a Republican, while Gov. Booth Gardner tried to get him to run as a Democrat. Gardnerwon out.One of his first acts as a legislator was to sponsor a bill to substitute the term “Asian” in place of “Oriental.” According to Shin, 16th-century British dictionaries defined Oriental as people from east of London, with “flat noses, fish eyes, roundfaces, black hair, short, suspicious, fascinating, wondrous, and not to betrusted.”Shin also doesn’t like the phrase “America is a melting pot.” His preferred metaphor is “a beautiful piece of tapestry. There’s a white thread here, a black thread, a brown thread, a yellow thread, a green thread, all different threads together. A single thread by itself is weak, but together, they make a strong and beautiful piece of tapestry.” But, I had this fear. So I ran for the state representative position. And to my amazement, I got elected against a fourth term incumbent. The night of the victory, something happened to my life. The press! American friends and Korean constituents came up and congratulated me. But about midnight, two second generation Korean American students came to me. They said, “We came to thank you.” And they started to cry. I said, “Why are you crying? This is a time for celebration.” They said, “Because our mom and dad came here, we were born here, we grew up here, but because of our color, we grew up with a stigma. We did not know what to do or where to go. What you did tonight, gives us a role model. Because you could do it, we will try also.” You know the three of us embraced together and cried for a long time because they had experienced the same fear that I had.Not too long ago in our state, a young adoptee 16 years of age, had adoptive parents who got divorced. He didn’t’ know where to go to. As a result, he committed suicide. He left behind these simple words "Who Am I?" And he took his life. And I try to empathize I try to see what he must have felt inside while committing such an act. May I say to you. You are born in Korea and you come to theUnited States, adoptee or not, the fact that you and I have this Korean blood we cannot change. We cannot eradicate that. We have to make what we can, the best we can. First of all you have a loving family. But, what you are going to become, that is up to you.I know there are problems, sometimes people look at you differently and ask you odd questions. Even in politics I had this experience. More than I care to remember, I was called a Jap. Many, many, times I was called a Chink, many times. In one case, I had a person came and talk to me. He said, "All you Orientals are everywhere. Why don’t you go home?" You know, I got upset. I was extremely angry. I didn't know what to do. I was about to punch him. But, can you imagine the front page of newspaper the next day, “candidate beats constituent.” Then I thought about it a little bit and I decided to use humor. So I said, "You know, I am glad that you told me a place to go. But this is my home. What do I do? I have been in this country for 44 years. I have been teaching your children in college for 31 years. I have been in the US Army. My wife was born here. My children were born here. My grandchildren were born here. I have been paying taxes for 42 years and I have been in the state legislature. Where do I go? This is my home?”When he heard that, he was very apologetic. He felt some remorse about saying what he had said. When I saw that change in his complexion, I thought, Ah, this is my chance. I said, “You know, my understanding is that this is a land made of immigrants. I will tell you what, since your ancestors came first, why don’t you go first and I will follow you.” I was afraid of what I had said. But, he looked at me and he came and hugged me. He said, “Buddy, I will support you!” And he became my friend. He even campaigned for me. Because in him was a heart of gold. But to find that heart of gold, he needed some experience.In 1992 Shin was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives.Since joining the Legislature, Shin has been one of its strongest advocates for education and trade. He is currently vice president pro tem of the Senate, chair of the Higher Education Committee, and past chair of the Economic Development, Trade, and Management Committee. Representing the 21st district (comprising Edmonds, Mukilteo, Woodway and portions of Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace),In 1994 he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and in 1996 he ran for lieutenant governor, losing both bids by slim margins. In 1998 he made the step up to the Washington State Senate, where he still serves today.Shin has served as a volunteer interpreter for the Washington state governor’s office on its trips to Asia since 1975. He is now a frequent delegate on Gov.Christine Gregoire’s trade missions that have included trips to Taiwan, Chinaand South Korea.One of his proudest accomplishments, according to Shin, was the passage of SB 5166 during the 2007 Legislative session. This was a bill establishing Jan. 13 as Korean American Day, making Washington the first state in the nation to recognize Korean Americans in an honorary state holiday. The date is significant: on Jan. 13, 1903, the first Korean immigrants arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii. Now, native Koreans and Korean Americans comprise Washington’s third-largest ethnic population. The holiday not only celebrates the contributions made by Korean Americans, but also honors veterans of the Korean War.AmbassadorTwo years ago I was a candidate to be a US ambassador to South Korea. Out of about 27 candidates, I made it to the three finalists. The interview was in the white house for about four hours. They asked me questions on foreign policy, history, nuclear weapons, and national security measures. But one of the questions that the state department personnel asked me was "Dr. Shin, Suppose you become an ambassador to South Korean and there is a conflict between Korea and the United States which side would you take? I didn’t know what to say. Of course I could have said the Untied States. Then they may ask what about your Korean side? I thought about it a long time. I don’t know exactly how to say it I gave a little silent prayer and this is what I said to him. You know I am sure glad that you asked me that question. Let me tell you how I feel inside of me.. This is how I feel.America to me is my father land. This land gave me family, home, love, education and the right to be me. Renee Descarte of the 17th century said, "I think therefore I am." America provided an education for me to think, therefore I know who I am. Therefore America is my fatherland. Koreaon the other hand is my motherland Korean gave me my life, my blood, and my heritage. You asked me a question. As a son, which side would you take? I looked him straight in the eye as I answered his question. Which side would you take? There is no answer. And my answer to him was what I as a son what is for my mom and dad to get along most beautifully. This what I want and this is my answer. And from that interview, I was elevated into the three finalists. I did not make it, but you know what, you are going to made it next time.. Because we are always building bridges to that final analysis.Keeping activeOutside politics, Shin has remained active since retiring from Shoreline Community College. He serves on the board of the Edmonds Community College Foundation. He and his wife, Donna, have two children — both of whom are adoptees — and five grandsons. Now in his 70s, Shin remains engaged and committed. He flies around the world, mostly to South Korea and Japan, to teach and give lectures, sharing his inspirational story with adoptees and people of Korean descent.On a rainy-sunny-rainy January day in Olympia, there’s not an inch to be found on the steps and landings inside the Capitol Rotunda. A diverse crowd of dancers, bands, Korean War veterans, and Korean American families spanning generations are there to celebrate Washington’s first Korean American Day. Among the crowd is Sen. Paull Shin, looking around in joy and astonishment. For someone from such inauspicious beginnings, it’s a happy place to be.This is compiled from a number of articles and things I remember he told me.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paull_Shin