Conference: Dynamics of Interagency Reform: Constitutional, Statutory, and Civil Liberties Implications

Thursday, May 8, 2008, 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.


WASHINGTON, May 7  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 9/11, Iraq, and Katrina demonstrate the urgent need to reform the U.S. national security establishment - designed in 1947 to fight the Cold War - to meet 21st Century challenges. The nation's top attorneys from across the political spectrum will convene in a half-day conference to assess Constitutional limitations on national security reform and how reform could impact civil liberties. The conference will:

•  Survey the challenges and opportunities for national security reform and enactment of major legislation - Project on National Security Reform Executive Director James Locher III, and organizational reform expert Frank Ostroff.

•  Assess Congress's power to reorganize the Executive Branch, the constitutionality of the National Security Council, and how reform could alter the Congressional/Executive balance-of-power - Library of Congress Constitutional scholar Louis Fisher, and former Assistant Attorney General Randolph Moss.

•  Explore the relationship between the national security establishment's organization and the protection of civil liberties - Open Society Policy Center Executive Director Morton Halperin, and American Freedom Agenda Principal Bruce Fein.

The conference will culminate in an address by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) discussing the Congressional prospects for enacting a National Security Act of 2009.

  Date:  Thursday, May 8, 2008
  Time:  8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.


Place:  ROA Headquarters, One Constitution Avenue, NE, Washington D.C. 20002

  Funding:  Provided by the McCormick Tribune Foundation

  Visit http://www.roa.org/pnsr_program for more information and registration.



The Project on National Security Reform is a public/private initiative sponsored by the Center for the Study of the Presidency and led by a bipartisan Guiding Coalition of 21 prominent national security professionals. The Project will propose a new National Security Act of 2009 to replace the National Security Act of 1947.

The Reserve Officers Association represents members of the seven United States Uniformed Services and exists to support and promote the development and execution of a military policy for the United States that will provide adequate national security.

The Center for the Study of the Presidency applies lessons of history and memory in initiatives aimed at strengthening Presidential decision-making, government organization and strategic thinking. 

Reserve Officers Association