Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
05/15/2007
Pelosi: National Summit Will Renew our Commitment to America’s Children
Washington, D.C. – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today the panelists for the National Summit on America’s Children that will take place on Tuesday, May 22nd on Capitol Hill. The day-long session, which will convene national experts and academics on recent scientific findings and how they relate to early childhood development, is a first step in making certain that federal policies on children reflect the latest scientific developments.
The summit will be chaired by Chairman George Miller of California of the House Committee on Education and Labor and co-chair of the House Steering and Policy Committee; Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, co-chair of the House Steering and Policy Committee; and Congressman Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania, a longtime advocate for children. Dozens of other Members of the House of Representatives are expected to attend.
The legislators will convene experts in a wide array of areas, including early childhood learning, health care, and child care. Practitioners of innovative public and private initiatives will attend to offer research-based testimony to assist the lawmakers in the development of federal policy. James Heckman, an economics professor and director of the Center for Social Program Evaluation at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, will deliver the keynote address.
“This is a crucial starting point as we address national policies facing family and children,” said Pelosi. “At this summit, we will hear from experts on how we can match our federal policies to the latest research so that families are given what they need to take advantage of scientific advances. This will require a commitment to explore new approaches and to examine existing policies. Today’s families and future generations are counting on us to make this critical commitment.”
Chairman Miller said: “Research over the past decade in the fields of neuroscience and child development shows that during the first five years of life, children’s brains develop dramatically, and the path of this development has a lasting impact on children’s future health, learning, and success. It is critical that we carefully re-examine our public policies to determine if they are adequately helping young children to develop into productive members of our society.”
Said Congresswoman DeLauro: “Recent scientific studies on young children and their families have demonstrated that there is a huge chasm between what we know is good for America’s children and families versus what we as a country do about it. The Children’s Summit will focus Congress’s attention on this chasm, the problems that ensue if we do nothing, and the opportunities for Congress to use science to dramatically improve the public policy opportunities for children in this country.”
Congressman Fattah said: “I share the Speaker’s concern that our policy be evidence based. I look forward to collaborating with Chairman Miller and Congresswoman DeLauro, two tireless champions of our youngest citizens, to make certain that our policy supports the most relevant research on how best our children grow and learn.”
In addition to Members of Congress, representatives of child and family policy, advocacy and service provider organizations will also attend.
The summit will be webcast live, available through www.Speaker.gov, where questions for the panelists can be submitted.
Due to space constraints, members of the press seeking to cover this event should RSVP to Crystal Chiu at Crystal.Chiu@mail.house.gov or on (202) 226-7616.
Schedule of Events
(as of May 15, 2007)
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
National Summit on America’s Children – by invitation only
All events will be held in Room 345 of the Cannon House Office Building.
Opening Remarks
9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House
The Honorable George Miller
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
The Honorable Chaka Fattah
Panel I: The Science of Early Childhood Development
9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Pat Levitt, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology
Annette Schaffer Eskind Chair and Director, Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Dolores G. Norton, Ph.D.
Samuel Deutsch Professor, School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago
Charles A. Nelson, Ph.D.
Richard David Scott Chair in Pediatric Developmental Medicine Research,
Children’s Hospital Boston
Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Megan Gunnar, Ph.D.
Regents Professor and Distinguished McKnight University Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D.
Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development
Director, Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Panel II: Early Learning
11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Oscar A. Barbarin, Ph.D.
L. Richardson and Emily Preyer Bicentennial Distinguished Professor for Strengthening Families, School of Social Work
Senior Investigator, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
James E. Rohr
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, PNC Financial Services Group
Karen W. Ponder
President and Chief Executive Officer, North Carolina Partnership for Children
Donna Davidson
President and Chief Executive Officer, Easter Seals of North Georgia
Alberto Melis
Chief of Police, Waco Police Department, Texas
Luncheon
12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Keynote Address: James Heckman, Ph.D.
Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics
Director, Economics Research Center at the Department of Economics
Director, Center for Social Program Evaluation at the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Panel III: Health and Mental Health
1:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Jane Knitzer, Ed.D
Director, National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Paul H. Wise, M.D., MPH
Richard E. Behrman Professor of Child Health and Society
Center for Health Policy, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University
Glenn Flores, M.D., FAAP
Professor, Pediatrics and Population Health, Medical College of Wisconsin
Director, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children, Medical College of Wisconsin and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Carol Wilson Spigner, MSW, DSW
Co-Director, Field Center for Children’s Policy Practice and Research
Kenneth. L.M. Pray Professor, School of Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania
Col. Elisabeth M. Stafford, M.D.
Fellowship Director, Adolescent Medicine, San Antonio Military Pediatric Center
Panel IV: Income and Family Support
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
J. Lawrence Aber, Ph.D.
Director, Institute for Human Development and Contextual Change
Professor of Applied Psychology and Public Policy, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University
Deborah A. Frank, M.D.
Director, Grow Clinic for Children
Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine
Jody Heymann, Ph.D., M.D.
Founding Director, McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy
Founding Director, Project on Global Working Families at Harvard University
Professor, Faculties of Medicine and Arts, McGill University
Gordon Berlin
President, MDRC
Rucker C. Johnson, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
Closing Remarks
4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.