Kaltura Video
What's gone wrong in Washington, and why it doesn't have to be this way
Date & time
Sep 19, 2013,
4:00-5:30 pm EDT
Location
Free and open to the public
Join the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks
Book signing and reception
A public reception and book signing will immediately follow the program and take place in the Rackham Lobby. Copies of Senator Snowe's new book, Fighting for Common Ground will be available for purchase and signing by the author.
Join the conversation on Twitter: #policytalks
From the speaker's bio:
Long respected internationally as a voice of reason and thoughtful, pragmatic legislating, Senator Olympia Snowe stunned political observers when she announced she wasn't running for a fourth term in the Senate. Her statement that she no longer believed that government could be changed from the inside affirmed the feeling of millions of Americans that the system has gone seriously awry – and is at a tipping point for the very future of our country.
But as Senator Snowe made clear, she was not leaving the Senate because she ceased believing in its power, or because she no longer loved the institution -- but precisely because she does. Her powerful message, delivered now as an outsider with insider knowledge, centers on how we reached this point and why we do not have to accept polarized partisanship as the "new norm" by offering concrete ideas on how we can return the Congress to its past ability to reach consensus. With more than three decades of policy experience and knowing how Washington does – and doesn't – work, Senator Snowe has keen and contemporary insights on what Congressional initiatives to look for in the coming year.
Senator Snowe is prepared to discuss the impending debt ceiling debate and lack of permanency and predictability on key issues. She can describe how the Congress is likely to continue lurching from deadline to deadline – unless the Senate decides that it will change course from the hyper-partisanship and return to fulfilling its promise as the institution best positioned to rise to meet our greatest challenges to creating an economic revival.