FREMONT, CA: The Indo-American community had a very close and intimate discussion with Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi in Fremont and Milpitas on September 13. A large range of issues affecting the community were taken up with him.

The meeting was spearheaded by Jeevan Zutshi, founder of Indo-American Community Federation on behalf of the Federation of Indo-American Associations of Northern California, the oldest umbrella organization of Indo Americans in California. Amongst prominent leaders supporting the meeting were Dr Romesh Japra, Yogi Chugh, Dr. Bhupinder Bhandari, Chandru Bhambra and Dhaval Brahmbhatt. Also, in attendance were County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, Former Mayor Gus Morrison, School Board member Lara York and Vice-Mayor of Fremont Bob Weicowski.

The Lieutenant Governor was given a tour of India Community Center in Milpitas where he interacted with ICC President, Naren Bakshi, and other trustees like Talat and Kamil Hassan, Godhwanis and others. Later a dinner was hosted by Dr Jacob Eapen, Member of Washington Hospital Board at his Fremont residence. Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi began by talking about 9-11 and said 'six years ago, our nation experienced the horror of a terror attack now forever etched in our memories.

Our homeland came under attack from fanatics who loathe America's commitment to liberty, freedom and justice for all. "September 11, 2001, was perhaps the greatest assault the soil and psyche of America has ever experienced. It was a horror that took the lives of thousands of men, women, and children and savaged our nation.

"Today, we honor the memories of those lost in this most terrible attack; their families, children and other loved ones who remain. We also honor all who have risked their lives in the rescue operations and those who continue to protect our nation in the struggle to end global terrorism.

"It is my most sincere hope for our world, that someday soon we will eliminate the fervent hate and hostility that divides us and destroys so many lives; and prevents us from building a world of hope and opportunity for all. "America must lead the world in creating a society where no child goes to bed hungry, where no parent watches their child die of disease unnecessarily and where we no longer take up arms as a means to settle our differences.

"As we join together today to remember that tragic day, let us hope and pray for a new day, a new time, when all the world's people will come together to end hatred and poverty and conflict, and let America lead the way."

The Lieutenant Governor praised the 'Unity Dinner' celebration immediately after 9-11 by Indo-American Community Federation headed by Jeevan Zutshi and said that he has never missed that annual event in the past six years and is eagerly waiting for the next annual event on March 21, 2008. The Lieutenant Governor discussed health care, global warming and need for making high-speed rail a reality in California.

"More than six million of our fellow Californians live without health insurance, struggling each day to survive, teetering on the brink of financial ruin. Amongst a very broken health care system, California's community clinics and health centers are our golden safety nets ensuring affordable health coverage for all Californians -- providing preventative primary care service to more than 3.5 million low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients each and every day throughout our great State.

I urge all Californians to join me in praising and thanking California's Community Clinics and Health Centers for the hard work they do to keep California healthy," Garamendi said. Talking about global warming, John said "If I ask this audience to raise their hand if they believe that we are increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, I suspect that everybody here would raise their hand. The next question I'm going to pose is "Do believe that the increase in carbon dioxide is changing the climate of this globe?"

The final question will be "Do you believe you have a role in solving that problem?" It's going to be interesting to see how many hands are raised when I ask that set of questions of people in the energy industry. We have an extraordinary challenge that we must meet.

The United States has an energy policy that is destined to destroy much of what we like about California and much of what we depend upon here in the state. In fact, the American energy policy is responsible for an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which means trouble for California.

It is estimated that the snow in the Sierra Nevada will be decreased by 30-70 percent, that the capacity of our reservoirs will have to be more efficiently managed in preparation for greater floods coming from the rivers, and that the levee system in the Central Valley and other places will be insufficient to deal with the increased flood flows.

If you love tropical diseases, you're going to love California in the future. The state's public health is going to be at greater risk from diseases, which will move into the state as the disease vectors from the warmer climates find a warmer California. We have a whole series of climate change-related problems."

"The Governor's office has indicated that several criteria are essential to make high-speed rail a reality in California: (1) we must have a strong federal financial commitment; (2) California must develop a public-private partnership to attract private capital; and (3) state and local governments must participate. These are the essential ingredients to the success of high-speed rail in California."

"I applaud the legislature and the Governor for supporting high-speed rail in California by providing the funding to allow vital planning to continue and help to keep the overall project moving forward," John Garamendi said.

"California demonstrated vision and leadership in overcoming political and financial obstacles to build the Central Valley Project, the State Water Project, the Golden Gate Bridge, the great university systems and much more. Let's add the California high-speed rail system to the long list of world-class projects."