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Vilsack mum on next steps in Luncheon speech
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack declined to speculate on his future after President Barack Obama’s tenure ends early next year. “I don’t think anybody should be talking about what jobs are available or what’s going to happen after the election,” Vilsack said during a Luncheon Oct. 3. Vilsack, the only member of the cabinet to have served in the same position for the entire Obama presidency, said he would likely not run for Senate or any other legislative position. “I have been a Mayor, I have been a state Senator, I’ve been a Governor and now I’ve been a Secretary,” Vilsack explained…
Type: News
Former presidential transition officials cite need for money, time, experience in 'grueling' process
Thomas “Mack” McLarty, President Bill Clinton’s first White House Chief of Staff, called the process of presidential transitions “grueling” at a Newsmaker press conference Sept. 30. Other featured speakers included Clay Johnson, Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Transition executive director, and Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president and CEO. “What if you had less than 80 days to organize a company with 4,000 people that you needed to get in place for Senate confirmation, a four trillion dollar budget, two million civilian employees and a tremendously diverse set of activities and…
Type: News
National Press Club Book Rap reveals stolen art secrets, cultural impacts
The longtime director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore riveted a National Press Club Book Rap audience Sept. 27 with his journey of discovery into the netherworld of stolen art and its cultural impacts. Gary Vikan, director of the museum from 1994 to 2013, used his new book Sacred and Stolen: Confessional of a Museum Art Director, to describe “the messy underbelly of museum life: looted antiquities, crooked dealers, deluded collectors, duplicitous public officials, inside thefts and failed exhibitions.” Vikan, born in small town Minnesota and holder of a doctorate from Princeton,…
Type: News
Wolf Blitzer receives National Press Club Fourth Estate Award at gala
The National Press Club’s ballroom took on the trappings of the Situation Room on the evening of Sept. 20 as CNN’s Wolf Blitzer received the NPC's Fourth Estate Award in recognition of the political anchor’s 44-year-long career. Accepting the Press Club's highest honor at the close of the gala, Blitzer acknowledged that he occupies a place in the media landscape during a time when strong journalism is more important than ever. “Some of our colleagues have been brutally harassed and insulted by voters. Others have courageously risked their lives to tell stories of consequence, whether in…
Type: News
Campaign finance reporters discuss ways to uncover secret money
A growing share of the money influencing elections for federal, state and local office is going through groups that do not disclose their contributors, and Congress right now is movig toward requiring less disclosure rather than more, a panel of campaign finance reporters said at a Sept. 13 National Press Club program. “It has required us as reporters to develop new techniques to try to find this money,” Ken Vogel, chief investigative reporter at Politco, said at an event sponsored by the National Press Club Journalism Institute and the club’s Professional Development Committee. Vogel…
Type: News
Sen. Chris Murphy says tide is shifting toward gun safety measures
Senator Chris Murphy, a strong gun control advocate since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in December 2012, told a National Press Club Luncheon that "it's just a matter of time before the laws of this country catch up to the will of 90 percent of Americans." The Connecticut Democrat, who in June led a 15-hour Senate filibuster to force votes on two gun control bills, said Thursday that his action and a subsequent House Democratic sit-in over gun control "helped grow a political movement that is now more powerful than ever…
Type: News
NRCC chair says Republicans will retain House majority
National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Greg Walden of Oregon predicted that the GOP will maintain its House majority "in solid shape" at a Club Newsmaker Thursday. Walden took over the leadership of the House Republicans' fundraising arm after the 2012 elections and saw the GOP win a 60-vote majority two years later, its biggest since 1928. Walden said that many GOP-controlled districts where voters supported Democratic President Barack Obama over Republican challenger Mitt Romney are not in play because of Democratic “recruiting failures." When asked if his members were “…
Type: News
West Virginia lawmakers seek to protect retired miners' benefits
One day before some 10,000 retired coal miners and their supporters are expected to rally outside the U.S. Capitol, three West Virginia lawmakers called Wednesday for approval of legislation to protect the pensions and retiree health benefits of miners and their widows. Addressing a Club Newsmaker, Sens. Joe Manchin (D) and Shelley Moore Capito (R) joined Rep. David McKinley (R) in calling on Senate Republican leaders to move ahead with the legislation. According to the lawmakers, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said this summer that he would hold a vote by the end of…
Type: News
Former Senate Intelligence Chair Graham Seeks More 9/11, Saudi Disclosures
The public should pressure Congress for more disclosure about Saudi Arabian interaction with 9/11 hijackers, said former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham, D-Fla., Wednesday to a National Press Club Newsmaker audience. The U.S. House of Representatives, he said, must enable 9/11 victim families to sue Saudi entities suspected of complicity. “These almost 3,000 American victims and their families deserve justice,” said Graham. “They deserve the right, in a court of law, to present the evidence they have gathered, which is voluminous, that will link the kingdom and other…
Type: News
K-12 education forum examines policy and leadership consequences of fall election
The K-12 public education sector enjoyed about 10 years of an “era of good feelings” following enactment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, said recently appointed Maryland State Board of Education President Andy Smarick during Tuesday’s National Press Club Newsmaker forum on education issues, these days many stakeholders are questioning where public education authority should rest and shifting their thinking on key issues. As the nation moves into implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act(ESSA), signed last December by President Barack Obama, education has reached “a turning…
Type: News