House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, found another reason to shed tears on Tuesday, this time to acknowledge the generosity of the Taco Bell Foundation’s gift of $30 million to help adolescents successfully graduate from high school. The event on Capitol Hill featured the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America – and a cameo by Boehner.
Boehner’s emotions flowed as he was speaking of the Boys & Girls Clubs. He said through tears, “Some of you know how I am about these things. We need to do a better job at educating more American kids. We live in America, for goodness’ sake.”
Former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland, who has long been speaking on behalf of the Boys & Girls Clubs, said of Boehner, “He’s so sweet.” She added, regarding Congress, “These people are dealing with so much on a regular day-to-day schedule.” She paid tribute to Congress for “carv[ing] out this space in their heart” to help America’s youth, concluding, “You’ve got to respect those people who are in politics.”
Lee Mitchell, who owns a Taco Bell and is also the vice chairman of the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens, said, “We’re concerned about a lot of issues that are associated with small business because Taco Bell is made up of franchisees, they’re small-businesspeople.” FRANMAC, the Franchise Management Advisory Council, which comprises Taco Bell’s franchisees, works with TACO PAC, which leans heavily toward Republicans. For the 2014 campaign, TACO PAC has donated $71,000 to 48 GOP candidates and $6,000 to two Democrats.
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