Domenici: Cooperation key in health-care reform debate

LAS CRUCES – Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said Wednesday successful health-care reform will hinge on a key factor: cooperation.

“If you start it out with a bipartisan approach – where you put a committee together and you didn’t present a Democrat bill to be worked on by Republicans – you let the joint bipartisan staff start writing it, and joint bipartisan members to start working on it, I believe it would be a completely different bill than what we’re talking about,” said Domenici, speaking to a small group of reporters at New Mexico State University.
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• Visit NMSU’s “The Pete V. Domenici Legacy” website at http://domenici.nmsu.edu/.

U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown and former Mexican Ambassador Benito Andión will speak at the 2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference, Sept. 16 and 17, at New Mexico State University’s Corbett Center. They will join U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman James Cartwright and a number of other prominent speakers for the two-day event.

The yearly conference, hosted by NMSU’s Domenici Institute, brings together some of the best minds in the country to focus on significant national issues.

Udall will speak during the conference’s opening session, along with former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and NMSU Interim President Manuel Pacheco.

Napolitano will address homeland security and the U.S./Mexico border during the first evening of the conference, with Andión providing Mexico’s perspective the following morning. Andión is currently the Mexican Foreign Ministry’s coordinator of international cooperation and security, and has served Mexico in diplomatic posts around the world since 1976.

Landrieu and Brown will each address the conference Thursday morning.

Landrieu is the first woman from Louisiana elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate. She co-authored the 2006 Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, a bill that expanded oil and gas production in the Gulf Coast and shares the revenues with Louisiana to restore and protect the eroding wetlands along its coast.

Brown is currently a professor of political science and the president emeritus of the University of Colorado. Brown served Colorado in the U.S. Senate and five consecutive terms in the U.S. House, representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.

Cartwright will follow Landrieu and Brown, delivering a luncheon address on national security.

David Walker, former director of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary “I.O.U.S.A.,” will speak about the U.S. economy and the national debt.

Other conference speakers include Alex Flint, senior vice president at the Nuclear Energy Institute, Donald B. Marron, president of Marron Economics, and Ellen Ruff, Duke Energy’s president of the Office of Nuclear Development.

Former U.S. Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Garrey Carruthers, NMSU’s vice president for economic development and director of the Domenici Institute, will speak during “An Evening with Pete,” a friendly conversation with the former senator about his career and his insights on issues of today.

Anyone wishing to attend the conference must register. Conference registration costs $25 and is available online at http://domenici.nmsu.edu. Student registration is free. For more information, call the Domenici Institute at (575) 646-2066.

Sen. Chris Dodd and former Sen. Pete Domenici discuss the U.S. financial crisis during the 2008 Domenici Public Policy Conference at New Mexico State University. (NMSU Photo)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright and former Sen. Pete Domenici himself are just a few of the speakers lined up for the 2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference, Sept. 16-17, at New Mexico State University’s Corbett Center.

This is the second year of the conference, hosted by NMSU’s Domenici Institute. Named for New Mexico’s longest-serving senator, the institute brings together some of the best minds in the country to focus on significant national issues. This year’s topics will include the U.S. economy and national debt, homeland security and the U.S./Mexico border, national security, and nuclear energy.

“For this conference, we are specifically targeting issues with a real impact on people across the country,” said Garrey Carruthers, NMSU vice president for economic development and director of the Domenici Institute.

Napolitano will headline the session on homeland security and the U.S./Mexico border the first evening. The following day, Mexico’s perspective on the issue will be covered.

Cartwright will speak during the session on national security along with former U.S. Congresswoman Heather Wilson. Wilson is also a former member of the National Security Council.

David Walker, former director of the U.S. Government Accountability Office will speak about the U.S. economy and the national debt. Alex Flint, senior vice president at the Nuclear Energy Institute, will speak about nuclear energy.

“We encourage everyone to participate in this event, said Ann Morgan, project manager for the Domenici Institute. “The public often doesn’t have a chance to see and hear from this many people who create and influence policy in our country.”

As in last year’s conference, students from universities around the state, including NMSU, New Mexico Tech, the University of New Mexico, Eastern New Mexico University, Western New Mexico University, Northern New Mexico College and New Mexico Highlands University will have a chance to interact with the conference speakers and ask about their views at the conclusion of each session.

Conference registration costs $25 and is available online at http://domenici.nmsu.edu. Student registration is free. For more information, call the Domenici Institute at 646-2066.