Cole on Congress with guest Mark Shriver

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Washington, D.C. – Congressman Tom Cole (OK-04) recently filmed the first episode of his television and web show, Cole on Congress for 2017. This month's program featured an interview with Mark Shriver, the President of Save the Children Action Network. An advocate for charity and service, Shriver has been behind the movement to ensure that each child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early learning programs and to end maternal and child deaths worldwide.

In 2003, Shriver joined Save the Children as the Vice President and began the agency's early childhood development, literacy and health initiatives. With his leadership, those initiatives expanded to 220 schools in 17 states, which has benefitted more than 165,000 children. He became President of Save the Children Action Network in 2014.

The son of Sargent Shriver and Eunice Kennedy, he recently became an author and has penned two books – the first, a memoir of his father, "A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver"; the second, "Pilgrimage: My Search for the Real Pope Francis."

"I've had the honor to work with Mark in the past on a number of initiatives, but he truly is a champion for quality education and the well-being of our children and their futures," said Cole. "There is no one else that works harder for our youth than him. I've admired his dedication and compassion for this bipartisan cause, and I truly enjoyed our in-depth conversation on how Congress and charity can work hand-in-hand to put important issues like childhood education and health on the national stage."

A member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994-2002, Shriver spoke of how his time in public office can reflect outside of that role:

"Obviously elected office is a huge responsibility. You have to have good people, and they're like you – they care about folks and they want to make a commitment to those that don't have a voice in the political process. But I think you can also make a commitment and contribution outside the political arena, in the sense of not being elected."

Further, Shriver spoke on his experience to re-discover his father's life and to deeply study the life of the Pope. On the Pope, Shriver said:

"He's a pilgrim. Like all of us, I think longing for that connection to God. And learning everyday how to do it a little bit better."

Shriver stressed the importance of how even the smallest amount of federal support can make an impact on a child's life, and how the work of Save the Children can affect all parts of the nation, even in Moore, Oklahoma:

"We're so proud to be in Oklahoma. We were in Moore after the tornados hit there. We do disaster response all across the country, as well as long-term early childhood education programs."

To watch the full show of Congressman Cole's conversation with Mark Shriver, please click here.