UNH Today

UNH recently hosted a national conference in the U.S. Capitol on the importance of slowing the growth of the nation’s debt.

The conference, “Moving Beyond the Short-Term: What Will It Take to Prevent a Debt Crisis?” was organized by UNH Law’s Warren B. Rudman Center for Justice, Leadership and Public Policy and co-hosted by the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics. It featured top Washington experts, including Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf and former Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND).

"The conference was a wonderful opportunity for the Rudman Center at the law school to partner with the Peter T. Paul College of Business and other significant players to showcase our joint capacity to convene a national forum on a topic of substantive consequence to the American people and to do it in Washington,” said UNH Law Dean John Broderick. "The participants were first-rate, and our program was very well received. Even the director of the Congressional Budget Office was blogging about it the next day."

The conference also featured former Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), and former Congressmen Mike Oxley (R-OH), Jim Nussle (R-IA), and David McCurdy (D-OK), as well as Eugene Steuerle, institute fellow and Richard B. Fisher Chair of the Urban Institute, and Alan Rhinesmith, fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration.

Held at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C., the event was the UNH School of Law’s second conference on fiscal responsibility through its newly created Rudman Center. The conference focused on how Congress’ inability to come together on a bipartisan fiscal plan has negatively impacted public confidence and the economy. Not advancing a long-term strategy to reduce our national debt, avoid default, and provide the necessary investments in our national infrastructure has impacted government’s ability to protect the economic recovery and stabilize our debt.

Moderators included Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, and William E. Buzenberg, executive director of The Center for Public Integrity. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) offered comments by video.

“My hope is that this dialogue among policy makers, stakeholders, and budget experts will stimulate further conversation on this crucial issue and provide a framework for practical solutions going forward,” said UNH Law Professor Erin Corcoran, executive director of the Rudman Center. “Following the conference, the center and its students will produce a white paper on suggested solutions, which we will present to members of Congress.”

UNH hosted the conference in partnership with The Concord Coalition, The Center for Public Integrity, and Fix the Debt. The event was sponsored by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. UNH Law’s Rudman Center was formally launched in April 2013. It provides scholarship, training, and opportunities for new generations of leaders who cherish public service, and its focus on issues of critical importance to the country also serves as a living monument to Senator Rudman, whose bipartisan spirit and dedication to serving the common good made him a singular figure in American politics. The Rudman Center, through the work of its Fiscal Responsibility and Law Institute, is carrying on Senator Rudman’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and to educating the public about the causes and consequences of the federal deficit.

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