Karen Bass first Black woman to lead California legislature
Jason Lewis/Special to the NNPA from the Los Angeles Sentinel
Issue date: 6/1/08 Section: Politics
"We are a $94 billion tourism industry and the nation's top travel destination. Millions of visitors come here every year to enjoy 1,100 miles of coast and 300-foot redwood trees.
"The laptops on our desk should remind all of us that the California visionaries, who founded Silicon Valley in a garage, have changed the way the world lives, learns, and leads. Thanks to California you can find anything you could possible want on Google ... and then when you get tired of it you can turn around and sell it on Ebay.
"Our 80,000 farms and ranches produce more than $30 billion worth of goods. We export more than $10 billion of those goods, 350 commodities in all, everything from almonds and artichokes to turkeys and tangerines.
"California is a giant of a state, but we are a giant in crisis. Over the last two months I have visited with business leaders in the Silicon Valley who are relocating overseas, I've met with farmers in the Central Valley who can not afford to plant crops, resulting in the abandonment of the workforce in nearby small towns. I have visited schools and met with teachers and school board members in San Diego and Norwalk where teachers received layoff notices. I have met with students who are saddled with debt when they finish college. We should be able to provide more opportunity than that for the next generation.
"California is a giant in crisis, and now it is up to us to solve that crisis. It is up to us to take the fear out of California's future."
Speaker Bass ended her speech by saying, "Thank you members. Let's get to work."
"The laptops on our desk should remind all of us that the California visionaries, who founded Silicon Valley in a garage, have changed the way the world lives, learns, and leads. Thanks to California you can find anything you could possible want on Google ... and then when you get tired of it you can turn around and sell it on Ebay.
"Our 80,000 farms and ranches produce more than $30 billion worth of goods. We export more than $10 billion of those goods, 350 commodities in all, everything from almonds and artichokes to turkeys and tangerines.
"California is a giant of a state, but we are a giant in crisis. Over the last two months I have visited with business leaders in the Silicon Valley who are relocating overseas, I've met with farmers in the Central Valley who can not afford to plant crops, resulting in the abandonment of the workforce in nearby small towns. I have visited schools and met with teachers and school board members in San Diego and Norwalk where teachers received layoff notices. I have met with students who are saddled with debt when they finish college. We should be able to provide more opportunity than that for the next generation.
"California is a giant in crisis, and now it is up to us to solve that crisis. It is up to us to take the fear out of California's future."
Speaker Bass ended her speech by saying, "Thank you members. Let's get to work."
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