Pete Sessions: “First, I congratulate the Senator very much on this renewal idea and community empowerment. I had the opportunity to…”

“First, I congratulate the Senator very much on this renewal idea and community empowerment. I had the opportunity to serve as a U.S. attorney and be a coordinator of a communities-based revitalization program known as Read and See in Mobile and Martin Luther King Jr. neighborhoods--a great neighborhood that declined dramatically over the years. What we did first was we had a big town meeting, a community meeting of the leaders and the people who live there. We broke up into discussion groups and we listed priorities. All 10 groups listed priorities that they thought their community needed most. First, I remember distinctly that every group listed crime. They wanted a safer neighborhood for their children and their families to live in. They listed programs where they wanted their churches to be stronger in helping kids. As I recall, I can't think of a single one that listed a preferential contract for businesspeople as a need for that community. Is that what the Senator was saying and suggesting, that we really need to deal with deeper problems than the kind we may be so politically engaged in now?”