The 2008 Elections: Balancing Promises and Policy on Trade and Security

WASHINGTON— Today, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars launches Wilson Center on the Hill, a nonpartisan forum that focuses on current issues related to international trade and security, sustainable development, and globalization, with an event titled "The 2008 Elections: Balancing Promises and Policy on Trade and Security."

"I am thrilled that the Wilson Center will be expanding its programming to Capitol Hill, taking the expertise of the Center and its programs to further Congressional debate," said Wilson Center President and Director Lee H. Hamilton, who served 34 years in Congress. "I am confident that both the Wilson Center and those on the Hill will greatly benefit from interacting in the coming years."

The Wilson Center on the Hill forum will sponsor 15-20 seminar programs each year on Capitol Hill featuring leading independent analysts and experts from the 22 programs of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The goal of the forum is to enhance policy discussions on the most pressing issues of the day by bringing the expertise of the Wilson Center directly to policymakers. This program is made possible by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Wilson Center on the Hill is led by Kent Hughes, director of the Wilson Center's Program on Science, Technology, America, and the Global Economy, and David M. Klaus, former president and CEO of the Congressional Economic Leadership Institute (CELI), who serves as the program's consulting director.

The inaugural Wilson Center on the Hill program will explore "The 2008 Elections: Balancing Promises and Policy on Trade and Security". The program features a leading election expert, nationally-recognized Republican and Democratic pollsters, and a national security scholar, discussing how the campaign trail debate on the Iraq War, international trade, and other security issues will affect U.S. policy. Speakers include Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report; Glen Bolger, managing partner, Public Opinion Strategies; Stan Greenberg, chairman and CEO, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research; and Robert Litwak, director of International Security Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center. The inaugural event will take place from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m. in Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, D.C. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds, engaged in the study of national and world affairs. The Center establishes and maintains a neutral forum for free, open, and informed dialogue.