Brookings S.D. (KELO AM) - Former U.S. Senate leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott will participate in the inaugural lecture of the Daschle Dialogues at 7 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Larson Memorial Auditorium Concert Hall in the Performing Arts Center at South Dakota State University. Veteran national correspondent and SDSU alumnus Chuck Raasch will serve as the event's moderator.
The Daschle Dialogues is a series of lectures and talks that will feature nationally relevant figures at South Dakota State to address thought-provoking topics. The October lecture features Daschle and Lott, who were elected and served as Senate leaders of their respective parties-both as majority and minority leaders-during the historic 50-50 split in the U.S. Senate from Jan. 3, 2001, to Jan. 3, 2003, and during the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The title of their presentation is, "How Much Partisanship is Too Much?: Two Former Party Leaders Discuss How and Why to Rebuild Bipartisan Bridges."
They are now affiliated with the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit organization that drives principled solutions through rigorous analysis, reasoned negotiation and respectful dialogue. The Bipartisan Policy Center is the only Washington, D.C.-based think tank that actively promotes bipartisanship. Daschle and Lott recently made recommendations to the U.S. Senate on political reform.
A native of Aberdeen and a 1969 State graduate, Daschle selected SDSU as the official repository of his official papers and artifacts from his 26 years in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. The Sen. Thomas A. Daschle Career Papers consist of more than 2,000 linear feet of materials including artifacts, photographs, audio and video tapes, correspondence and legislative documents collected during his distinguished career.
They are located in the Archives and Special Collections of the Hilton M. Briggs Library. Now working as a senior policy advisor in DLA Piper's Government Affairs practice, Daschle also serves as a senior advisor to the Global Board. He provides clients with strategic public policy advice on a wide range of international and economic issues. He has participated in the development and debate of almost every major public policy issue of the last three decades. In 1978, he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he served for eight years. In 1986, he was elected to the Senate and was chosen as Senate Democratic Leader in 1994.
Daschle is one of the longest-serving Senate Democratic leaders in history and the only one to serve twice as both majority and minority leader. For 16 years in the House of Representatives and 19 years in the Senate, Lott was a driving force in Congress. After his retirement from the Senate in December 2007, Lott founded the Breaux Lott Leadership Group with former Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana. It is a partnership that offers strategic advice, consulting and lobbying to a wide range of clients. The firm unites two former Senate leaders from opposite parties, with a combined total of nearly 70 years experience in Congress. While the event is open to the public, one must obtain a ticket to attend. Tickets will be available to the general public starting Sept. 18.
For more information, visit the event's website.