Conference History

Click here to download the program of events from the 2009 conference.

Transforming Campaign Promises into Policy Reality

March 20, 2009

Location: Cannon House Office Building

A More Sustainable Future: Energy Independence and Environmental Leadership
After gasoline prices in the U.S. reached record highs. Just a few months months later, oil prices dropped dramatically and the economy went into a steep decline, lessening the feeling of urgency to find alternatives to oil in addition to pushing energy efficiency much lower on the priority lists of most Americans. Despite the depressed economy, or perhaps because of it, it is important to maintain a discussion about energy efficiency in the US, about pursuing renewable energy sources, and about addressing the challenges of global climate change.
	Moderator	Ed Goldstein	Georgetown Public Policy Institute
	Panelists	Myron Ebell	Director of Energy and Global Warming Policy, Competitive Enterprise Institute
		Julie Falkner	The Nature Conservancy
		Erich Pica	Friends of the Earth
		Lynn Schloesser	Legislative Counsel, Eastman Chemical Company

Homeland Security Priorities in Transition
Since its creation, the Department of Homeland Security has only ever been under the leadership of President Bush. When President Obama was inaugurated he became responsible for the first every transition in the Department’s history. The first ever change in leadership at DHS brought the potential for a change in the priorities and strategies of DHS. Although many of President Obama’s priorities in Homeland Security are the same as those of this predecessor, the way in which he goes about achieving these goals may be very different.
	Moderator	Gary Shiffman	Senior Vice President and General Manager of Risk Management Solutions at L-3 Communications Services Group
	Panelists	Mackenzie Eaglen	Senior Policy Analyst, The Heritage Foundation
		P.J. Crowley	Senior Fellow and Director of Homeland Security, Center for American Progress
		David Brent Buckley	Deloitte Consulting
	Closing	Michael Chertoff	Former Secretary of Homeland Security

Keynote Address
	Dr. Jared Bernstein	Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden

Reforming American Public Education: Ensuring Competitiveness in a Global Market
	Moderator	Nada Eissa	Professor, Georgetown Public Policy Institute
	Panelists	Phyllis Eisen	President, Eisen Group
		Robert Muller	Founder and CEO, Practical Strategy
		William Gormley	Dean, Georgetown Public Policy Institute
		Robert Lerman	Senior Fellow, The Urban Institute

Future Projections
	E. J. Dionne	Columnist, The Washington Post

The Tools Needed to Build Universal Health Care: A Problem or a Solution for the State of the Economy?
U.S. spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation - $2.4 trillion in 2008 alone. In a time when 46 million Americans, or 16% of the U.S. population, remain uninsured with even more individuals underinsured, it is clear that there is a pressing need for health care reform. Though the issue of health care reform has proven to be somewhat of a politically polarizing topic, there are cost containment and performance enhancing components that reform advocates on both the left and right agree should be incorporated into the grand vision of reform. However, there are both fiscal and social costs of these investments. How will we identify and justify return on investments in light of such daunting initial investments coalesced with the current economic recession?
	Moderator	Barbara Schone	Professor, Georgetown Public Policy Institute
	Panelists	Thomas Daschle	Former U.S. Senator, South Dakota
		Judy Feder	Georgetown Public Policy Institute
		Charles Kolb	President, Committee for Economic Development
		Christopher Jennings	Former Senior Health Care Adviser to President Bill Clinton