E1454 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks September 10, 2012 

In 2011, the power of such documentation 

was confirmed when three women received 

the Nobel Peace Prize. One was Leymah 

Gbowee, whose story of pushing for peace in 

Liberia might have been forgotten if not for the 

documentary ‘‘Pray the Devil Back to Hell.’’ 

Similarly, the Women PeaceMakers Program 

in San Diego records the stories that are overlooked or neglected in the media and in history books. 

To date, the program has documented the 

stories of 35 Women PeaceMakers from 30 

countries. This year it has selected four more 

women, from Colombia, Kenya, Nepal and the 

Solomon Islands, to reside for two months on 

the campus of the University of San Diego 

and have their stories recorded by professional writers and a documentary film team. 

The location of the university, overlooking San 

Diego’s Mission Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is 

an idyllic one for rest and reflection for women 

who often face violence on a daily basis, and 

who must struggle for space and security to 

do their work for peace. 

The process of reflection that the women 

undertake as they share their stories, contemplating their motivation to become leaders, 

and why the initiatives they developed were 

successful teaches them how to be more effective peacebuilders when they return to their 

countries. 

It is not only the professional writers, however, who get to hear the women’s stories and 

learn of their methods of building peace. Members of the local community, as well as students and professors at the University of San 

Diego and neighboring schools and colleges, 

have the opportunity to attend the Women 

PeaceMakers’ lectures and other public 

events, and those events are often streamed 

live online for national and international audiences as well. Last year, the university received the Senator Paul Simon Spotlight 

Award from NAFSA: The Association of International Educators, in recognition of the 

Women PeaceMakers Program and its success in internationalizing the campus. 

Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & 

Justice and the University of San Diego on a 

momentous 10th year of the Women PeaceMakers Program. 

f 

IN RECOGNITION OF PLAINFIELD 

MAYOR SHARON ROBINSON-BRIGGS 

HON. FRANK PALLONE, JR. OF NEW JERSEY

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, September 10, 2012 

Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 

congratulate Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs 

as she is honored by the New Jersey State 

Conference of the NAACP at its 2012 Annual 

NJ NAACP State Convention. As the NJ 

NAACP celebrates African-American mayors 

throughout New Jersey, Mayor RobinsonBriggs should also be recognized as the first 

female Mayor of the City of Plainfield. 

Serving as mayor of the City of Plainfield 

since 2006, Mayor Robinson-Briggs has committed herself to the residents of Plainfield by 

creating a Welcome Desk at City Hall, a Community Garden for the city and a Feed the 

Children program to provide groceries to local 

families. She has established herself as an 

advocate for the community of Plainfield and 

all of the residents of New Jersey, participating in several organizations, including the 

NJ State NAACP Executive Committee; the 

American Cancer Society; the American Diabetes Association; and the NJ Sharing Network, which strives to promote organ and tissue donation. She is also an exemplary leader, having served as past president of the 

Plainfield Board of Education and past president of the Plainfield Area NAACP. 

Mayor Robinson-Briggs has been commended by several organizations for her efforts on behalf of the residents of Plainfield 

and New Jersey. The State NAACP, as well 

as the Plainfield Area NAACP and Regional 

NAACP, have honored her with Certificates of 

Achievement. The YMCA of New Jersey also 

decorated Mayor Robinson-Briggs with the Minority Achievement Award. Her dedication to 

the community is demonstrated in her many 

accomplishments. 

Mr. Speaker, once again, please join me in 

honoring Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs as 

the NJ State NAACP gathers to celebrate its 

annual convention. It is my hope that my colleagues will join me in thanking her for her 

leadership and service to the City of Plainfield. 

f 

IN HONOR OF MS. MARGARET 

‘‘PEG’’ BARKER 

HON. ROBERT E. ANDREWS OF NEW JERSEY

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, September 10, 2012 

Mr. ANDREWS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to 

honor Ms. Margaret ‘‘Peg’’ Barker for her tireless service to Maple Shade Township, New 

Jersey. Ms. Barker was a pillar of her community who ceaselessly worked to end adult illiteracy and protect the natural resources of 

Maple Shade Township. 

Ms. Barker was a tireless advocate for literacy. As the founder of the Maple Shade 

Friends of Literacy organization, she tutored 

international residents so they could learn to 

read and write in the English language. Ms. 

Barker volunteered a majority of her time 

teaching English because she viewed books 

as a window to knowledge and satisfying curiosity. She wanted other residents to have the 

ability to enjoy reading and writing as much as 

she did. 

However, Maple Shade Friends of Literacy 

was only the beginning of Ms. Barker’s service 

to her community. She was a member of several town planning committees and various environmental committees that were dedicated to 

improving the lives of residents in Maple 

Shade. As a member of the Pennsauken 

Water Shed Committee, Ms. Barker volunteered her efforts protecting the environment 

by making sure that the water shed was safe 

for fellow residents. Furthermore, on her own 

time, Ms. Barker volunteered by mapping and 

marking every storm drain in the town of 

Maple Shade in order to protect turtles. Ms. 

Barker was dedicated to protecting the environment, but also extended her services to 

help the residents of Maple Shade in any way 

she could. 

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Barker’s endless commitment to Maple Shade Township should not go 

unrecognized. I join the township and all of 

South Jersey in paying tribute to this exceptional woman. 

SUPPORT OF THE BETTER 

BUSINESS BUREAU 

HON. JAMES P. MORAN OF VIRGINIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Monday, September 10, 2012 

Mr. MORAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in 

support of the nation’s Better Business Bureaus (‘‘BBB’’; originally known as Advertising 

Vigilance Committees). 

The BBBs came into being at the annual 

meeting of the Associated Advertising Clubs of 

America in May, 1912, following an editorial in 

Printer’s Ink magazine challenging false and 

misleading advertising. The first such Vigilance Committee was organized later that year 

by a group of industry leaders in the fight for 

truth in advertising and selling. 

BBBs are private, non-profit organizations 

collectively constituting the United States’ oldest and largest grassroots business self-regulatory organizations and pre-date the creation 

of the U.S. government’s Federal Trade Commission by two years. Today, they consist of 

116 independent BBB offices serving every 

market area in the United States, an additional 

10 international offices serving Canada, and a 

national coordinating office located in Arlington, Virginia. 

Over the past 100 years, BBB’s have 

sought to foster an ethical marketplace where 

buyers and sellers can trust each other—advancing marketplace trust by creating communities of trustworthy businesses, setting standards, encouraging and supporting best practices, celebrating marketplace role models, 

and denouncing substandard marketplace behavior. 

Throughout the 1920s—at a time when pernicious investment frauds and schemes threatened to undermine public trust in securities 

markets—BBBs across the country served the 

nation as a de facto securities regulator until 

the creation of the Securities and Exchange 

Commission in 1934. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the nation’s BBBs were 

nearly alone in their fight to promote ‘‘Truth in 

Advertising’’ and protect the public from the 

myriad frauds and schemes that preyed on the 

nation’s beleaguered consumers. During the 

1940s, BBBs conducted a relentless effort to 

educate and protect families on the home front 

from a number of war-related schemes and 

provided major technical assistance to the 

U.S. Government’s efforts to coordinate war 

relief. As U.S. and Canadian soldiers returned 

from the war, and throughout the dramatic 

economic expansion of the 1950s, BBBs 

helped educate veterans and their families on 

a wide variety of marketplace trust issues— 

significantly expanding ‘‘truth in advertising’’ 

review, consumer complaint handling and the 

availability of consumer information—all at no 

cost to North American taxpayers. 

The BBB system responded to the challenges of the consumer revolution of the late1960s by merging activities of its National 

BBB and its Association of BBBs—under the 

leadership of businessmen Henry Ford II and 

Elisha (‘‘Bud’’) Gray II—into a single, international organization—the Council of Better 

Business Bureaus. In the period following the 

creation of that new coordinating body, the 

BBB system: 

Launched its National Advertising Division 

and National Advertising Review Board (in a 


smartinez on DSK6TPTVN1PROD with REMARKS