Senior citizens discuss healthcare with Neil Lanakila Senior Center invited Neil to speak and to answer questions about the healthcare reform. Seniors also received a summary of healthcare legislation that Neil provided. He also met up with one person in the audience who shared Neil's taste for aloha attire in the photo below, second row, right. (Photos/Randy Obata)
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Meeting with Hawaii's agriculture leaders The University of Hawaii Agricultureal Leadership Program met with Neil on Sept. 24, 2009. The group was comprised of representatives of Kauai Coffee, Kamehameha Schools, Syngenta Seeds, Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company, Kahuku Farms, Asia Pacific Flowers, the Hawaii Farmers Union, Kahanu Aina Sprouts, the Hawaii Fish Company, Ponoholo Ranch, Monsanto, and Donna Ching, the Program Coordinator for the UHAgricultural Leadership Program. (Photo/Gabriela Overdorff)
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National honor awarded to Neil The association representing nearly 45,000 current and former National Guard officers awarded Hawaii Congressman Neil Abercrombie the Harry S Truman award at a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee on Sept. 12, 2009. It’s the highest recognition conferred by the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) and honors Neil's tireless support of Guard members. Read a news release about the award.
Neil says it was a poignant moment as he walked to the stage, warmed by a standing ovation that included a Hawaii contingent waving the Hawaiian flag to say 'mahalo' to their Congressman. Once on stage to accept the prestigious award, Neil gazed across the convention hall, searched the crowd for the Hawaii group, and waved his Hawaiian flag to acknowledge the tribute.
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Teach For America On Sept. 4th, Neil visited Aiea Intermediate School where corps members of "Teach for America" are helping low-income students--and their school--to excel. The federal program addresses inequities in national education by recruiting top college graduates to teach in fields such as math and science in schools with many students from low-income households. (Photos/Randy Obata & Amy Asselbaye)
Aiea Intermediate students (above, left) were ready with lots of questions as they discussed a number of issues with Neil. Justine Fonte (above, right) was recruited by "Teach for America." One of her math classes posed with Neil (below).
Seventh-grade student Danielle Hershey (above, left) had a question for Neil, as Ms. Fonte and student Vanceston Bradbury-Montira listen (above, right).
Kelly Mumme (above, left), a second-year corps member of "Teach for America," introduces Neil to her class at Aiea Intermediate. Neil (above, right) fields a student's question and stands with Ms. Mumme's class (below).
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Waikiki seniors hear Neil speak on healthcare The Waikiki Community Center invited Neil to speak to senior citizens about healthcare reform on Sept. 4th. (Photos/Randy Obata)
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Tele-town hall meeting on healthcare AARP Hawaii invited Neil and Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii to discuss healthcare reform with thousands of AARP members across the state—via telephone—during a “tele-town” hall meeting on Sept. 1, 2009. (Photo/Randy Obata)
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Promoting job opportunities A workshop called "Federal Jobs 101" was presented by Neil, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Hawaii State Office of Community Services, on September 1, 2009 in Honolulu. The workshop was held for providers of employment services in the public and private sectors and to provide information about the federal job application process. (Photo/Terry Visperas)
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Educating our children
The Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii opened its new Hawaii Multimedia Center at their Aliamanu Clubhouse on August 31, 2009 with a traditional Hawaiian ceremony featuring the untying of a maile lei stretching across the facility's entrance. The $400,000 center is funded by a U.S. Department of Education Special Project Grant secured by Neil. The center features 21 new IMacs with 24 inch screens, the latest professional multimedia software, video cameras and other equipment. In addition to the comprehensive after school program already offered at the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii Aliamanu Clubhouse, the center will open up a whole new world of media learning opportunities at its Aliamanu Middle School location. It will offer members programs in animation films, music videos, public service announcements, commercials, movies, and much more. (Photos/Amy Asselbaye & Randy Obata)
Below, left to right: Aliamanu Middle School Principal Robert Eggleston, Neil, Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii Executive Director David Nakada, and Walter Guild, member of the club’s Board of Directors untie a maile lei to mark the grand opening of the Multimedia Center.
Below, left: Neil looks in on two club members who previewed their video projects on one of the center’s new IMacs. Below, right: Neil records an interview with Erinne Del Rio in the center’s studio.
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Opening doors of opportunity Honolulu resident Paige Heckathorn spent the summer as an intern in Neil’s district office before heading back to her studies at Boston College. She’ll eventually work her way back close to the congressional scene when she spends part of her winter and spring next year in the Washington Semester Program at American University in Washington, D.C. (Photo/Terry Visperas)
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Speeding up promised benefits to FilAm vets Neil met with Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki during a visit to the Spark Matsunaga VA Medical Center on August 21, 2009 about the plight of Filipino veterans who have not received promised compensation for their World War II military service. "Secretary Shinseki and I discussed ways to speed up the process, including the hiring of additional claims processors and creation of separate procedures for Filipino Vets who are U.S. Citizens," said Neil. (Photo/Dave Helfert)
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Leading the way for healthcare reform
Neil convened his Healthcare Advisory Task Force for the first time on August 10, 2009 in Honolulu to advance work on healthcare reform. Community leaders on the task force spoke directly with one of the top healthcare experts in the Obama Administration, Neera Tanden, a Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sibelius in the Department's Office of Health Reform. Neil established the group, after holding two community healthcare forums in Honolulu as a way to help shape reform legislation so it addresses Hawaii’s unique healthcare problems and challenges. (Photo/Randy Obata)
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Supporting job training Neil was among the featured speakers at this year’s graduation ceremony for the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Apprentice Program, which is a time of great pride particularly for the graduates and their families. Neil’s been a constant supporter of job training and education that helps Hawaii’s young people to enter the workforce and to support growth in the local economy. One of those highly successful, federally-funded job training programs is the Pearl Harbor program. It’s vital to the Navy's and nation's strategic interests in the Pacific and provides rewarding careers with Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, the largest single industrial employer in the state. (Photos/Terry Visperas)
Below, left: Graduates and their families attended the apprentice program’s ceremony at Pearl Harbor on August 14, 2009. Below, right: Neil and Senator Daniel Inouye congratulate one of the outstanding graduates.
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Native Hawaiian groups applaud Neil An Associated Press news report on the 8th Annual Native Hawaiian Conference in Honolulu on August 25, 2009 said a crowd of more than 1,000 gave Neil a standing ovation for his “fiery address” on the Akaka bill, which is pending in Congress. AP quoted Neil: “Make no mistake about it: The entire fate of the Hawaiian people is going to be decided in the next 10 years. We will never, never have an opportunity again to have a president of the United States and a Department of Justice that’s on our side.”
Below: Neil with Uncle Mervin of Molokai at the Native Hawaiian Conference.
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Economic recovery projects progressing
The economic recovery package approved by Congress and signed by President Obama. So far, Hawaii is receiving more than $1.3 billion, including $300 million for education, $262 million for Defense Department projects, $198 million for health and human services, and $184 million for transportation projects throughout the state. One of the latest examples in Hawaii is the work that has begun at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. An Aiea, Hawaii company has begun repair work at a U.S. Navy wharf for submarines docked at Pearl Harbor. It’s the Navy engineering command’s first project, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which was awarded on April 24 to Healy Tibbitts Builders, Inc. for $10.6M under a multiple award construction contract to repair Wharf Sierra 1. (Navy Photo)
Below: Healy Tibbitts' dual cycle floating crane, the Weeks 544, extracts a concrete pile as part of the demolition and removal of Wharf Sierra 1's existing fendering system. This work is being executed to prepare the site for installation of a brand new fendering system which will support berthing activities for fast attack submarines.
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Assessing Hawaii’s energy needs Tesoro Hawaii officials briefed Neil on their company’s current and future efforts to address the state’s energy needs. The meeting was held at Tesoro’s Kapolei refinery. (Photo/Randy Obata)
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Abercrombie initiative helps Hawaii’s economy Legislation written by Neil to create public-private partnerships for construction of military housing has been helping to drive Hawaii’s economy. The legislation is building and renovating thousands of military homes in places like Schofield Barracks, Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe, Hickam Air Force Base, Aliamanu Crater, Manana Navy Housing in Pearl City, and Radford and Halsey Terrace near Honolulu International Airport. The long-term development of these projects is worth billions of dollars to Hawaii’s economy over the next 50 years, the length of the public-private partnerships, because of construction and related business activity that’s needed to support the ongoing management and maintenance of the housing units. The projects also help ease the local housing crunch by reducing competition between military and civilian families seeking rental units. (Photos/ Amy Asselbaye & Randy Obata)
Below: Neil visited Aliamanu Crater in August to check on the progress of one of the military housing construction projects by Actus Lend Lease.
Below: Another new phase of military housing at Hickam Air Force Base was dedicated in August.
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Preserving Hawaii’s history Neil spoke at a colorful ceremony that officially reopened Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Hall on August 8, 2009. The hall closed three years ago to undergo its first major renovation in over a century. The project included restoration of the hall’s structure and tapped the expertise of Hawaiian scholars, cultural practitioners, and artists. Bishop Museum says "the result is a state of the art museum that embodies a Native Hawaiian world view, layered in meaning and authentic in voice. Hawaiian Hall will offer visitors deeper insights into Hawaiian culture and access to a record number of the museum’s treasured collections, together with Hawaiian interpretation and perspectives."
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Updating senior citizens Neil regularly speaks to senior citizens about Medicare and other issues that impact them. In August, he spoke to an audience at Kahala Nui retirement community in Honolulu and met with staff members, too. (Photo/Terry Visperas)
