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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; When the United States turned 200 years old on July 4, 1976, little Randa Fahmy added to the celebration by riding her red, white and blue bicycle around her Dallas Township neighborhood and shouting &#8220;Happy birthday, America!&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I was an incredibly patriotic kid,&#8221; Fahmy said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if anybody was listening to me, but I didn&#8217;t care.&#8221;</p><p>Eventually, many people would listen to Fahmy, who grew up to become an attorney, serve as the United States Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy under President George W. Bush, and establish a consulting firm that specializes in international business transactions and energy policy.</p><p>More recently, she launched Makeup America!, a cosmetic line that combines her patriotic enthusiasm and business sense with a desire to help the United States by &#8212; admittedly in a small way, $1 at a time &#8212; chipping away at the national debt.</p><p>When Fahmy was pedaling around her neighborhood 40 years ago, the national debt was in the $600 billion range. Today, it&#8217;s past the $20 trillion mark.</p><p>But Fahmy is determined to help. For each $17.76 lipstick or $13.76 nail polish Makeup America! sells, she will send $1 to the Treasury Bureau of Fiscal Services at the Department of the U.S. Treasury.</p><p>She chose those prices, by the way, to reflect the 13 original colonies and the year 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written.</p><p>&#8220;I hope to have quite a bit of sales by the end of the year,&#8221; Fahmy said, adding her lipsticks &#8220;look fabulous on everybody.&#8221;</p><p>Depending on the pH level in your particular body chemistry, the lip color enhances your appearance in a different way.</p><p>&#8220;The red looks red on me but might look coral on someone else or pink on another person,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;The blue might look lavender on me and darker purple or shimmery, pinky purple on someone else.&#8221;</p><p>The color &#8220;stays on forever,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It&#8217;s very long lasting.&#8221;</p><p>Fahmy credits her parents, retired Wilkes University professor Mahmoud H. Fahmy and Iran Fahmy, who emigrated to the United States from the Middle East more than half a century ago with instilling a love of country in their three children.</p><p>&#8220;My parents love America,&#8221; she said. &#8220;My dad says, &#8216;I am an American by choice.&#8217; They instilled in me an extra special love.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Here you have the freedom to do what you want to do,&#8221; she said, adding she has visited countries where that is not always the case. &#8220;You&#8217;re free as a woman to express your opinions, to raise a family, to have a career.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;As a kid, I was inspired by the American political system,&#8221; she said, recalling how she took a year off between then-Wilkes College and Georgetown Law School to work on Marc Holtzman&#8217;s bid for a Congressional seat.</p><p>Holtzman did not win the 1986 election, but Fahmy remained hooked on politics.</p><p class="n_ 2414 v19">She served as Counselor to United States Senator Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) for six years, helping draft legislation that dealt with immigration and terrorism. Later, President George W. Bush appointed her to the Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy post, where she helped develop international energy policy.</p><p class="n_ 2414 v19">&#8220;That a kid like me could grow up and work in the White House &#8230;,&#8221; she marveled, offering yet another reason to love America.</p><p class="n_ 2414 v19">Paying down the national debt would help ordinary Americans, especially women, Fahmy said, explaining it could ensure that money is available for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. It also would lower interest rates which would make it easier for college students and small business entrepreneurs to take out loans.</p><p class="n_ 2414 v19">As an entrepreneur herself, she decided her makeup would be made in America &#8212; the manufacturing facility is in Texas. It would be cruelty free, meaning it would not be tested on animals, and paraben free, which means it does not contain preservatives that are suspected of mimicking hormones.</p><p class="n_ 2414 v19">She sees lots of room to expand her product in the United States, where the beauty product industry continues to grow. &#8220;With all due respect to my beautiful sisters in France and South Korea,&#8221; she said, naming other beauty hot spots, &#8220;we could be the leader.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dallas Township native Randa Fahmy will sell her beauty products and donate $1 from each sale toward paying off the national debt.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/web1_randa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Dallas Township native Randa Fahmy will sell her beauty products and donate $1 from each sale toward paying off the national debt.  </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Randa Fahmy intends to chip away at national debt</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>TO PURCHASE</strong></p><p>Randa Fahmy&#8217;s makeup catalogue can be found online, and orders may be placed through <a href="https://www.makeupamerica.us/" target="_blank">www.makeupamerica.us</a>.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Area native launches patriotic makeup line to chip away at national debt