June 12, 2015 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E891 skills along with discussing the ideas of indi- of the Building Industry Association of the San an audio/visual library, the Kiwanis Club of Au- vidual freedom, a strong national defense, free Joaquin Valley in 1986 and was inducted into rora Children’s Library, and a Teen Space with enterprise, and traditional values. It is ex- the California Housing Foundation Hall of a state-of-the-art media studio. These new re- tremely important for young people in the Fame in 1988—the first inductee to come from sources will allow the Aurora Public Library to United States to learn about the virtues of the Central Valley. He was also awarded the continue its mission and serve the new needs these ideas. Oscar Spano Lifetime Service Award in 1988 of our community. I join with the students’ families and friends by his local building industry association. Congratulations to the City of Aurora and in wishing these young conservative leaders a In his spare time, Tony enjoyed traveling, the Aurora Public Library on the opening of successful conference, and excellent time in playing sports and cherished his time with the new facility. The Richard and Gina Santori our nation’s capital. family and friends. He was a devoted husband Library will no doubt inspire future generations f to Alice, his bride of 72 years; a loving father to become lifelong learners. HONORING THE LIFE OF ANTHONY to his sons, Gerald, Ronald, Anthony Jr., f ‘‘TONY’’ GIANNETTA James, Michael and John; and the kind and THE FUTURE OF U.S.- generous grandfather of 12 grandchildren and RELATIONS 10 great-grandchildren. Tony’s favorite memo- HON. JIM COSTA ries included celebrating the holidays in his OF CALIFORNIA home as well as gathering for Sunday pasta HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF NEW JERSEY lunches, a tradition he shared with his family. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Friday, June 12, 2015 Mr. Speaker, it is with great respect that I Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues in the House of Represent- Friday, June 12, 2015 honor the life of Anthony Dominic ‘‘Tony’’ atives to join me in honoring the life of An- Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, Giannetta, who passed away on May 30, thony Dominic ‘‘Tony’’ Giannetta, a Central Zimbabwe is a country the size of the state of 2015, at the age of 94. As the founder of Hall- Valley pioneer and influential figure in the Cali- Montana, with a population of nearly 14 million mark Homes, Tony helped expand the Cali- fornia home building industry. people. However, its mineral wealth gives it an fornia home building industry and devoted f outsized importance. The southern African na- much of his life to maintaining it. His kind tion is the world’s third largest source of plat- heart, talent, and contributions to the Central OUR UNCONSCIONABLE NATIONAL inum group metals and has significant re- Valley will be greatly missed. DEBT serves of nickel, gold, chromium and dozens Tony was born on November 7, 1920, in of other metals and minerals. Significant dia- Fresno, California. Raised in Fresno, Tony HON. MIKE COFFMAN mond reserves were discovered in 2006. Cur- graduated from Edison High School. He mar- OF COLORADO rently, about 40 percent of the country’s for- ried Alice Therese Baraldi on November 22, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES eign exchange is earned from the export of 1942, and shortly thereafter the two moved to these metals and minerals. Friday, June 12, 2015 Marysville, CA, to fulfill Tony’s duties in the It was the abundance of such mineral re- United States Army. After the war the couple Mr. COFFMAN. Mr. Speaker, on January sources, and their exploitation, which has driv- moved back to Fresno, where they settled and 20, 2009, the day President Obama took of- en the relationship between the West and raised six sons. fice, the national debt was Zimbabwe. Since its colonization by Cecil During the late 1940’s, Tony began his ca- $10,626,877,048,913.08. Rhodes’ British South Africa Company in 1889 reer in the home building industry as a car- Today, it is $18,152,758,342,047.24. We’ve on behalf of Great Britain, the area once penter. In 1951 Tony and John Mortillaro added $7,525,881,293,134.16 to our debt in 6 known as Southern Rhodesia has experienced formed the Quality Homes Construction Com- years. This is over $7.5 trillion in debt our na- a tumultuous history. The white minority pany, which merged with the Cetti Brothers tion, our economy, and our children could gained self-governance in 1922, and a 1930 Construction Company a year later. Under the have avoided with a balanced budget amend- Land Apportionment Act restricted black ac- Hallmark Homes name, the company devel- ment. cess to land, making many Africans laborers oped 27 subdivisions and built more than f and not land owners. In 1964, the white minor- 4,500 homes in the Fresno, Clovis, and ity government unsuccessfully sought inde- Madera areas, in addition to the construction RECOGNIZING THE OPENING OF pendence from Great Britain, and then unilat- of many commercial projects. This made Hall- THE RICHARD AND GINA erally declared independence a year later mark Homes one of the largest regional build- SANTORI LIBRARY OF AURORA, under white rule. This move sparked inter- ers for three decades, and it marked the asso- ILLINOIS national outrage and economic sanctions, and ciation of the name Tony Giannetta within the that regime was never widely recognized by home building industry. In fact, the two be- HON. BILL FOSTER the international community, though the sup- came synonymous in Fresno. OF ILLINOIS port of white-ruled South Africa enabled the Tony was a member of the Building Industry IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES government to limp along. Association of the San Joaquin Valley, and Friday, June 12, 2015 Meanwhile, black opposition to minority rule, served as president in 1967, 1979, and 1980. which began in the 1930s, erupted into a gue- He acted as a Director to the California Build- Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to rilla war in 1972. Attempts to end the conflict ing Industry Association and was a life director celebrate the opening of the Richard and Gina diplomatically failed until the 1979 talks bro- to the National Association of Homebuilders Santori Library of Aurora, Illinois. kered by Great Britain resulted in British-su- who on February 15, 2008 acknowledged him Since its founding in 1838, the Aurora Pub- pervised independence elections. The winner as a 50 year member, and he served on var- lic Library system has nurtured education in of those elections was , leader ious committees for the California Building In- our diverse community and has instilled a love of the Zimbabwe African National Union, or dustry Association including its Legislative of reading for generations of Aurorans. By es- ZANU, who at age 91 continues to rule this Committee, Executive Committee, Insurance tablishing locations throughout the city, devel- country, in large part through intimidation and Committee, and Long Range Planning Com- oping bookmobiles and robust outreach ef- manipulation of elections. mittee. forts, the library has made educational re- As a hero of the independence and majority As a Fresno native, maintaining community sources accessible to all Aurorans and been a rule movements, Mugabe has enjoyed the involvement was important to Tony. In partner- strong contributor to community growth. support of many other African leaders, who ship with the Construction Department at Fres- With the opening of the new library in down- have considered him an honored elder and no City College, Tony provided work experi- town Aurora, the Aurora Public Library has have generally declined to join in international ence training for students in the building in- embraced the challenges and opportunities of efforts to sanction his government. This has dustry. He was also instrumental in creating the next century. The building will feature a placed the United States in an awkward posi- the National Association of Home Builders- ‘‘Makers Space’’ on the first floor with a 3D tion, with limited African support for political Building Industry Association student chapters printer, laser cutter, vinyl cutter, plotter printer, and economic reforms in Zimbabwe. at Fresno City College and California State computers with CAD, CAM, Adobe Cloud and Although many observers have credited the University, Fresno. other creation software for students and com- Mugabe government with productive manage- For his contributions to homebuilding and its munity members to experiment and train with ment until fairly recent years, there were polit- community, Tony became a lifetime member modern manufacturing tools. It will also feature ical problems from the beginning of his rule.

VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Jun 13, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 0626 Sfmt 9920 E:\CR\FM\A12JN8.012 E12JNPT1 emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with REMARKS E892 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks June 12, 2015 For example, Mugabe fired fellow independ- and citizens with necessary household items tion processes. The country’s commitment to ence leader in 1982 and then was yet another milestone in Zimbabwe’s eco- democratic governance has been further launched a campaign to suppress what his nomic collapse. By 2006, year-on-year infla- placed in question due to a series of repres- government called a rebellion by pro-Nkomo tion exceeded 1,000 percent. Devaluation of sive laws preventing freedoms of speech, as- forces. The Mugabe regime has been accused the currency and the subsequent use of for- sociation and movement. of killing thousands of ethnic Ndebele citizens eign currency are credited with eventually pre- As if the government’s repressive tactics are over the next few years to end the supposed venting a complete economic collapse. rebellion, assisted by military advisors from Zimbabwe and the United States have had not troubling enough, political jockeying in East Germany and North Korea. a tempestuous relationship since that southern Zimbabwe, including the recent dismissal of Once one of the leading industrial nations in African country emerged from white minority Vice President , places the suc- Africa, Zimbabwe began a long economic rule. Part of the problem has been resentment cession to President Mugabe in doubt, which downward spiral in the late 1990s. Squatters, by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and puts U.S. policy in question. Last week’s hear- with the support of the Zimbabwe government, his closest advisers against the United States ing examined current U.S. policy toward seized white farms they claimed had been sto- for not supporting their liberation movement, Zimbabwe and the prospects for an enhanced len by white settlers in the past. Despite gov- the backdrop to which was the geopolitical relationship depending on events that have ernment assurances, these farms were not conflict between the Soviet Union and the not yet taken place. transferred to black farm workers, but rather to United States. Another part of the problem has Of course, in foreign policy, one cannot wait cronies of the Mugabe government who been the justifiable public criticism of repres- until a crisis materializes in order to create a lacked agricultural experience. Both whites sive political policies by the Mugabe govern- planned response. A leader nearing the cen- and blacks in Zimbabwe acknowledged that ment by successive U.S. administrations. Con- tury mark, presiding over a fractious political the land policies had been unfair, but the man- sequently, the minimal communications be- scene in a country that has experienced polit- ner of addressing this problem led to serious tween our two governments has contributed to ical and economic turmoil creates a situation economic problems for the country. suspicions and an inability for U.S. officials to in which planning for a positive outcome to re- Agricultural production fell, and the manu- reach out to cooperative Zimbabwe officials. gime change must be devised. facturing sector, heavily tied to agriculture, Successive elections have been the subject also diminished. Efforts to squeeze currency of opposition and international criticism for the Zimbabwe is a country rich in both natural for shrinking national reserves from busi- lack of political space allowed to those who and human potential. Once the resentments of nesses, coupled with the disastrous require- would challenge the ruling ZANU party. Ar- the current old guard have passed and demo- ment that businesses use the fictitious ex- rests, incarcerations, torture in custody, beat- cratic governance can be established, U.S.- change rate, caused retailers to lose money ings at public rallies and demonstrations and Zimbabwe relations can become what they with each sale. The effort to close the many disappearances of government opponents have never been: harmonious and mutually vendors who supplied tourists with souvenirs have denied legitimacy to the Zimbabwe elec- beneficial.

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