WENDELL CUTTING

Wendell Cutting is the District Chief of Staff to Congressman Duncan Hunter, he is responsible for district offices and staff and is the Congressman’s representative and spokesperson when the Congressman is in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Cutting is a former teacher and school administrator and served as the Mayor of the City of San Jacinto. He spent many years in the Middle East and Asia building and operating a successful business that by the time he returned permanently to the United States, had over 2,500 employees in 12 countries. He returned to the U.S. in 1990 to handle foreign policy, defense and economic issues for the Republican Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives with special responsibilities for Middle East and Arab affairs.

Mr. Cutting is the volunteer Vice-President for Rescue Task Force, a non-profit, all volunteer, international relief agency founded in 1988.

During the war in Kosovo, Mr. Cutting made two trips to Albania (the second trip included being among the first civilians into Kosovo) where he set up a distribution system for incoming relief supplies and delivered tons of supplies to the region and refugee sites. In 1999 he spent time in slum areas of southern Thailand teaching residents hygiene and ways to prevent dengue fever. While in Thailand, he also counseled cancer victims and their families. Traveling by bush planes and dug out canoes, he has delivered many emergency response teams deep into the jungles of Honduras’ Miskito coast to provide medical care, water pumps and hand tools to forgotten disaster victims who has never before has contact by outsiders. He has built and equipped a medical clinic in this remote jungle area where native tribes people have never before received any medical care.

Mr. Cutting is also engaged in delivering large quantities of food and medical supplies to various Mexican orphanages, clinics, and hospitals. This past year in El Salvador, he worked with refugees from the civil war and helped put in water wells in settlements without water while providing books & materials and roofs for schools. He is currently building a suspension footbridge over a river separating a settlement from their school. Several children are drowning each year trying to attend the school.

Mr. Cutting returned to El Salvador immediately following the January 2001 earthquake where he set up a distribution system for relief supplies into remote areas as well as distributed medical supplies food blankets and tents in remote areas that were hardest hit.

He recently returned from Pakistan and the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where he set up a distribution system for relief supplies for Afghan refugees. While there he provided immediate assistance to a pro-American, anti-Taliban tribe and helped to stop the delivery of goods to the Al-Queda network of terrorists.

In 2000, Mr. Cutting was honored by the El Cajon Rotary Club when he was presented their “Service Above Self Award” and then was surprised when the Club announced that the perpetual Award would hereafter be designated the “Wendell Cutting Rotary Service Above Self Award.” He was recognized for his service with the “President’s Award” by the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce for the year 2000 and was recently named the “El Cajon Citizen of the Year” by various service organizations and churches. He is a recipient of the “Lifetime of Achievement Award” by the East County Economic Development Council.