Experts including former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and retired U.S. Sen. Bill Frist are set to speak at the 2013 Domenici Conference at New Mexico State University in September.
The conference, which always tackles the most timely public policy issues, will focus this year on the future of American energy, U.S. foreign policy in China and the Middle East, and health care reform.
Set for Sept. 18 and 19 at the Las Cruces Convention Center, 680 E. University Ave., the Domenici Conference is now in its sixth year. The Domenici Institute, which hosts the conference each fall, is named after New Mexico's longest-serving U.S. senator, Pete V. Domenici. The institute was established with the goal of continuing Domenici's legacy of service to the state of New Mexico and the nation by providing unique learning and policy research opportunities.
"Over the past six years, this conference has established itself as the premier public policy conference in our region," said NMSU President Garrey Carruthers, who also serves as director of the Domenici Institute. "It's because of the personal involvement of Sen. Domenici that we are able to bring in such high-quality speakers, year after year."
The conference will open with a look ahead to what the world of 2020 might hold from NMSU's own Lowell Catlett, a Regents professor and dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. Catlett is internationally known for his unique perspective of emerging technologies and the impact of future technologies on careers, lifestyles and the economy.
The afternoon of Sept. 18 will be devoted to discussion of energy policy in America, hosted by NMSU College of Business distinguished alumna Julie Dill, president and CEO of Spectra Energy Partners.
Dill will host and moderate four afternoon sessions that include a talk from Guy Caruso, former administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration and a senior adviser for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who will outline strategic priorities for U.S. energy policy.
A discussion of the pros and cons of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking - a method of oil and natural gas extraction that has raised concern about its possible environmental impact ¬- will follow. Marianne Walck, director of the Geoscience, Climate and Consequence Effects Center at Sandia National Laboratories, and Norm Warpinski, a technology fellow at Pinnacle, a Halliburton company, will explore both sides of the issue.
Former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, now a partner in an international law firm specializing in the intersection of law, business and public policy, will discuss energy security in North America.
The conference's first day will wrap up with a showcase of student and faculty enterprises in energy, followed by a reception at the Convention Center.
On Sept. 19, retired U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will outline some of the key challenges of health care reform. Frist began his career as a heart and lung transplant surgeon and has been a leading voice in the debate over health care policy, having served on the Senate's Health and Finance committees. Today, Frist is focused on health reform, the basic science of heart transplantation, global health policy, K-12 education reform, economic development in low-income countries, health care disparities, and medical mission work in Sudan.
New Mexico native Joshua Cooper Ramo, a former foreign editor and senior editor of Time magazine, will share his insights on U.S.-China relations. Ramo is currently vice chairman of Kissinger Associates, an international investment and government relations consulting firm. He joined Time magazine in 1996 as the youngest senior editor in the magazine's history.
A Mandarin speaker who divides his time between homes in New York and Beijing, Ramo has been called "one of China's leading foreign born scholars," by the World Economic Forum. He served as China analyst for NBC's Beijing Olympics coverage and shared in a Peabody and Emmy Award for his commentary at the opening ceremony.
The morning sessions will close with a talk on U.S. foreign policy as it relates to the ongoing political upheaval in the Middle East from former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, who currently serves as a foreign policy senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit public policy think tank. He is a contributor to FOX News Channel and his op-ed articles are regularly featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times.
After lunch, Gov. Susana Martinez will give remarks on state issues. This will be the fourth consecutive year that Martinez will address the conference.
The 2013 Domenici Public Policy Conference costs $50 to attend. Online registration for the conference begins Aug. 1 at domenici.nmsu.edu. The event is free to university students. For more information or to receive an invitation by mail, call the Domenici Institute at 575-646-2066.
This project is partially sponsored by the Department of the Army, Office of the Surgeon General. The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. government and no official endorsement should be inferred.