ARCHIVE
Capitol Hill Workshop
The 99th Congress - Archive Edition
December 3-5, 1985
The Department of Transportation Presents
Capitol Hill Workshop (99th Congress)
Held at The Capitol Hill Club.
Capitol Hill is a mosaic of democracy in action: Complex, compelling, competitive. The interrelations between the U.S. Congress and Executive Branch agencies is often mystifying and ever-changing. Since the first Capitol Hill Workshop was sponsored for the Department of Transportation, the 96th, 97th and 98th Congress have passed. The saga on Capitol Hill continues to be crucial, vital, and fascinating. Government agencies, business, industry, labor lobbyists and consumers alike look to Congress for support, for problem solving, for budgetary assistance, and for a measure of leadership.
The roots of democracy are everywhere to be seen on Capitol Hill. Congress represents the will of the people and disburses the purse strings of the nation. Grasping the essence of these realities has become a necessity for federal executives and managers if they are to effectively perform their managerial responsibilities. Thus, to understand where the country is headed, it is necessary for responsive federal managers and executives to learn as much as possible about our national lawmakers and the institution they serve.
This three-day workshop will probe with greater depth into what is happening in Washington than daily press accounts and television footage offer. Today, grasping the complexities of Congress is especially difficult. A major national debate is forming over the issue of our growing national debt and the potential overhaul of our Byzantine tax code. From "Star Wars" defense to tax reform, thee has not yet emerged a clear-cut consensus as the proper course of action. From now until the mid-term election in 1986, the agenda of the U.S. Congress will be crucial in determining what course the U.S. will take for the remainder of the century.
The Capitol Hill Workshop is designed to cover these and other issues of significance to the participants through speakers and topics who have either special subject expertise and/or special knowledge of Transportation and its concerns. How the Congress responds to the demands of the 1980s at a time of economic uncertainty, and heightened global tensions, will help determine the nation's welfare and its security and will fix the role of the United States in the international community for the immediate future.
Speakers & Topics
The Evolution of Power in Congress: Walter Oleszek, Specialist in American Government, Congressional Research Service
Congress - Then and Now: A Personal Perspective: Wilbur Mills, Former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; Currently practicing law in Washington, D.C.
Congress and Transportation: Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute; Adjunct Professor, Johns Hopkins University.
The Role of the National Security Council: Lawrence J. Korb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management and Personnel
Viewing the Presidency from Capitol Hill: Rep. Dick Cheney (R-WY), chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee and the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee; Former Chief of Staff under President Ford
Future Problems Awaiting Congress: Robert F. Delaney, President, the RFD Group
Congress and Its Role in foreign Affairs: Robert S. Wood, Chief, Department of Strategy, U.S. Naval War College
The Budget and the Deficit: Myths and Realities: Allen Schick, Professor, University of Maryland, Author of Congress and Money
Congress and the Domestic Agenda: Cokie Roberts, Correspondent, National Public Radio
The New Congress: Policies Toward the Middle East: Bernard Reich, Professor, George Washington University; Board of Governors, Middle East Institute
