Last night @60Minutes did segment on a college I attended that has only 26students doing manual labor on a cattle ranch while studying great books. Deep Springs College. This improbable place is where my journey to Congress began. My story and photos I’ve never shared belowTHREAD
I applied to Deep Springs without my parents knowing. My sister told me about a school next to Death Valley where students ride horses, hire professors, and run admissions to select next class of students. 13 students get accepted a year for 2yrs. Everyone goes for free.2/15
The school is premised on the belief that education isn’t just in the classroom. I learned as much from operating the dairy (milking cows, churning butter, making yogurt/ice cream) and growing our own vegetables as I did studying history, philosophy and literature.3/15
School is run by the students in a democracy. We gather Friday nights in the boarding house to introduce resolutions and proposals to govern our community. We learn to build coalitions and support amongst the students. Been student run for over 100 yrs.4/15
Deep Springs is different from other schools in that it has a clear mission to train students to be of “Service to Humanity.” We as students talked about the idea of “service” all the time. What it meant to be of service. But I learned it in a life changing way on Sept 11. 5/15
Sept 11 2001: I woke up before the sun to harvest late season tomatoes and vegetables from the garden. When I got to the boarding house for breakfast, another student told me about how a plane hit the World Trade Center. We assumed it was small cessna-like plane by accident.6/15
When I learned what happened, I wanted to go home to NJ immediately. I was so angry and being in the middle of the desert on a cattle ranch on the other side of the country was awful. I felt disconnected, and for the first time, the physical isolation finally came down on me.7/15
A few weeks later I took some time to go to NYC and walked around the perimeter of Ground Zero. I snapped this photo as I saw the rubble with my own eyes and the incredible people conducting the recovery. I thought about staying to help and never going back to Deep Springs.8/15
Ultimately, I did return to the desert valley. I realized I needed more training and that it’s better to act out of purpose rather than anger. Deep Springs trained me to use “service to humanity” as my guiding principle and to dedicate my life to stopping preventable deaths.9/15
Deep Springs demonstrates the power of education, but also the need for education to teach more than books. I learned not just knowledge, but how to engage and interact with the people around me. How to communicate effectively and how to work as a team.10/15
I also learned how to solve problems and find solutions creatively. I learned to build a fence with just bailing wire and a leatherman. Fix tractors and irrigation lines. If I didn’t know how to weld, I needed to learn. 11/15
Most importantly, I internalized what it means to be of “service to humanity.” What I learned was that service requires a simple yet profound recognition that we are members of a community. We have responsibilities to each other that require mutual respect in order to work.12/15
But it isn’t just “service to each other” or “service to community”. Service to humanity requires a recognition that we are a part of something bigger, we are connected to one another, and we should never let political identity or other divisions cloud our shared humanity.13/15
Someone once asked me what impact Deep Springs had on my life. I said the highest compliment I could give is that Deep Springs is the only place I’ve ever been in my life where I could say that I would be a completely different person had I not been there.14/15
I arrived at Deep Springs only thinking about what’s best for me, but I left the valley committed to foreign policy and public service. I never would have become a U.S. Congressman were it not for Deep Springs and the beautiful lessons of service I learned in the desert.END
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This is the most telling photo I’ve seen — Trump/Vance berating a wartime leader fighting against invasion directly in front of a bust of Churchill. It looks like Churchill is seated in the back, watching Trump kill the very US-Europe alliance that Churchill helped forge. THREAD
Why was the Oval Office exchange so humiliating to watch? It’s because every American alive today was born after the Greatest Generation led America’s rise to global leadership. What we saw yesterday was a surrender that could very well lead to American decline. 2/10
What we saw was a retreat from three basic pillars of American leadership: reliability, values, and impact. These are pillars that have been built over generations - from Americans landing on the beaches of Normandy onwards. 3/10
As Trump and Musk gut USAID today, I think back to my first day ever working for the US gov, showing up at the Reagan Building to start at USAID. Shame on them for demonizing Americans who are serving our nation, often in difficult and dangerous places. THREAD
We can have a policy debate about how much to spend internationally or what programs to fund, but their hate and paranoia towards other Americans go much deeper. I’m proud I worked at USAID. 2/8
I worked in USAID/Africa bureau where we helped rehabilitate former child soldiers in Uganda, helped with an emerging famine in Malawi. Trump admin complains about China’s growing influence in Africa but then shuts down one of our best tools to fight this. 3/8
I just talked to the family of Officer Brian Sicknick, who was killed on Jan 6. He grew up in NJ, served his nation, but was assaulted and killed. His assailants sentenced to prison until pardoned by Trump. Let us lift up Sicknick’s name and memory: THREAD
Officer Sicknick’s family’s pain today was so deep. That Trump used his first hours in office pardoning so many involved in that attack on the Capitol including the two of the assailants that attacked Officer Sicknick. It was a betrayal. 2/7
Let’s lift up Officer Sicknick’s name. Let’s remind everyone that an officer was attacked and killed that day. Sicknick laid in state in the Capitol Rotunda, honored by our nation as lawmakers from BOTH sides of the aisle, and now those who killed him are free. 3/7
I’ve been asked what it means to be 1st Korean American Senator. On this Korean American day, I want to share a photo of the home where my mom grew up during Korean War. America opened its doors and helped her become a nurse. Last week she stood with me as I was sworn in. THREAD
And it isn’t just my mom’s story. Over 120 yrs since the first Koreans came to America. Now there are 2 million Korean Americans. 24 million Asian Americans. Asian Americans are not monolithic.
I of course do not speak for all, nor is my story and experience reflective of all. 2/10
In fact I’ve struggled with my identity over my life. At times I resisted the label Korean/Asian American and snapped back with “I’m just American.”
I never would have imagined that Korean culture would become hugely popular between BTS, Squid Game, Korean BBQ, K-dramas etc. 3/10
Many in north/central NJ are worried about odor/taste of water coming out of the tap. As a father of two boys, I absolutely understand your worries. I talked with heads of NJ Dept of Environmental Protection and American Water.
Here are 4 key questions I asked: THREAD
IS THE WATER SAFE?
DEP/American Water report that water is well within NJ standards, which are some of the strictest in nation. They test for 100s of kinds of metals/ chemical compounds. Results are either non-detection or very low and far below levels of health concerns. 2/10
DO WE KNOW SOURCE OF ODOR/TASTE?
I completely understand if that explanation of water safety is not totally reassuring to those of you that smell/taste something wrong. You have a right to be concerned. Absolute key is identifying what is the compound that is causing the odor. 3/10