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| 2007 Session Topics | |
WallBuilders is an organization dedicated to presenting America's forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on the moral, religious, and constitutional foundations. David will have three presentations during the conference, including "The Influence of the Bible in America," documenting the historic impact of the Bible on our cultural and governmental institutions; "Four Centuries of American Education," examining educational policy from 1647 to the present; and "A Biblical Approach to Global Warming," presenting a Biblical overview of environmental issues.
Col. Brian Birdwell was a victim of the 9/11 attacks on the Pentagon, being engulfed and set ablaze by jet fuel from the crashed airliner. Brian now serves as the president of Face The Fire Ministries, a non-profit organization that serves critical burn survivors and our nation's wounded servicemen and women. As a dinner speaker, he will share his amazing inspirational testimony and provide an up-to-the-minute perspective of the War on Terror.
Guy Short, Chief of Staff, Congressman Marilyn Musgrave "How Special Interest Groups Attempt to Influence Public Policy" Bryan English, Policy Advisor, Congressman Steve King As a result of loopholes in campaign finance reform, many individuals now expend massive amounts of money in stealth campaigns to defeat pro-family legislators. For example, one Colorado gay-rights activist and his allies spent over $20 million in the 2006 elections, targeting 70 pro-family state legislators across the country and removing 50 of them. Danny Carroll was one of those defeated in the 2006 election, never realizing he had been targeted. He will share the early warning signs of their stealth activity; Bryan English will explain the impact special interest groups have on public policy; and Guy Short will reveal how these anti-family individuals form innocuous third-party campaign groups to attack candidates. This session will prepare pro-family legislators for nationally orchestrated attacks from anti-family forces outside their own state.
Dr. Jim Leininger, Founder of Kinetic Concepts, Inc. The public support for school choice is steadily growing (national polling shows support currently above 60 percent), and the federal government and almost half the states have enacted some degree of school choice, even if only in pilot programs. Leininger and Paige are recognized as two of the nation's top experts on school choice and will provide the current status of the movement as well as what does and doesn't work.
Jay Hein is the Director of the federal Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Having previously guided various faith-based programs in several states, he now heads the national efforts and has successfully instituted faith-based programs in areas ranging from agriculture to labor, and from welfare to education. He will update legislators on the variety of faith-based programs now being implemented as well as the efficacy of those programs.
President Ronald Reagan was known as "The Great Communicator," and Merrie Spaeth was his White House Director of Media Communications Ð she was the communicator for the Great Communicator. Merrie currently handles public relations for many of the nation's most successful companies, but specializes in training public officials to frame the rhetoric surrounding often contentious issues and to create a winning message on any topic.
Lance Cargill, Speaker Oklahoma House of Representatives "From the Pit to the Palace" Chris Pipkin, Operation Oasis Re-Entry Coordinator and graduate of Prison Fellowship program Faith-based community re-entry programs have proven to be among the most effective of prisoner rehabilitation measures. In presenting a sound model for states, Jack Cowley (a national prison consultant) brings the perspective of 20 years as a prison warden; Lance Cargill, Speaker of the Oklahoma House, last year passed a comprehensive prison reform bill utilizing these principles; and Chris Pipkin is a successful product of faith-based prisoner re-entry programs. These three provide clear insight into legislative steps that may be taken to address this criminal justice problem.
Nikolas T. Nikas has directed national legal strategy on the issues of human cloning/embryonic stem cell research, abortion, and end-of-life issues since 1992. He drafts life-protective model legislation, testifies in legislative committees, and consults with legislators in all 50 states and Congress. The field of bioethics is rapidly changing and Nikas will update legislators on the latest developments in this often complicated arena.
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