It’s not hard to find former members of Congress prowling the halls of Capitol Hill on any given day. But most of them are doing work for well-heeled companies and interest groups.
That’s not the way the former Dayton congressman sees the world.
When he represented the Miami Valley from 1979 to 2002, Hall always had an interest in issues related to hunger. Since leaving Congress, he’s extended his humanitarian work to child labor issues in Africa — and that’s what brought him back for a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“He is all about feeding the hungry,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey. “He’s done that his entire career and his entire life.”
Once a key figure in the campaign against “blood diamonds,” Hall is now leading the charge to limit the mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, warning that the work is often done by young children in terrible conditions.
“I had a heck of a time convincing my wife that diamonds are not a girl’s best friend when it comes to blood diamonds,” Hall said, urging lawmakers to support a similar campaign on cobalt.
“We need to educate our consumers, and they need to ask the question, is this iPhone and this battery made with cobalt?” Hall told lawmakers. “That will stop it in a minute.”
Joining with Rep. Smith, Hall used his appearance to press for approval of the COBALT Supply Chain Act, a bill designed to block the U.S. sale of any Chinese goods which are made with cobalt refined in the People’s Republic of China.
‘I’m not retired from these issues’
First elected to Congress in 1978, Hall looked up at the dais during his testimony and quickly realized most of those current lawmakers never knew him as a member of Congress.
“As I look around the room, a lot of you weren’t even born then,” Hall chuckled.
But Hall’s resume spells out how much work he has done on issues like this. During his time in Congress, the Dayton Democrat chaired a special panel on hunger — and when that committee was eliminated in 1993, he went on a 22-day water-only fast.
No member of Congress has done any kind of hunger strike like that since.
“I love to work on issues that affect people, and I think it has a lot to do with my faith,” said Hall. “I’m not retired from these issues.”
Hall now lives in Florida, where he keeps an eye from a distance on what’s happening on Capitol Hill. It is not a political environment that appeals to him.
“There’s so many things in Congress that are so foolish and sometimes very stupid,” Hall said after his hearing testimony. “I want to work on something that helps people.”
The visit back to Capitol Hill clearly left Hall feeling invigorated.
“As long as people think I have a little bit of a voice, it’s like what Mother Theresa says, drop by drop. I’ll be back.”
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