Speakers

Former Congressman Steve Israel was a Member of Congress for sixteen years. He left in 2017, having served as House Democrats chief political strategist between 2011-2015 as Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. President Bill Clinton called him “one of the most thoughtful Members of Congress.”

Israel served on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment & Related Agencies, where he took a leading role in supporting historic preservation, land conservation, and cultural arts investments.

Israel left Capitol Hill – unindicted and undefeated – to pursue a career as a writer. In addition to writing two critically acclaimed satires of Washington, he heads the non-partisan Cornell University Institute of Politics and Global Affairs in New York City.

Tom Davis is a former Republican congressman for the state of Virginia. He served seven terms and authored more than 100 bills that became law. Throughout his tenure in Congress, he was widely recognized as a skilled legislator, an honest broker, and a political mastermind. He is known for his encyclopedic knowledge of political minutia, often lecturing members of Congress on the electoral history of their own districts. He is also the co-author, with Congressman Martin Frost (D-TX) of The PARTISAN DIVIDE: Congress in Crisis, which looks at how to solve the gridlock in Washington.