Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
12/03/2007
Pelosi, House Democrats to Host Economic Forum on Friday
“Restoring the American dream for millions of our nation’s
working families
The forum is the latest in an ongoing effort by the 110th
Congress to deliver a New Direction for Economic Security. Already this year, Congress
The New Direction Congress is working to reach bipartisan
agreement to address the subprime lending crisis and predatory loan practices
that are threatening to force hundreds of thousands of American families out of
their homes, to lower energy costs through landmark energy security legislation
that will help lessen our dependence on foreign oil, and to provide health
insurance for 10 million children of families struggling to make ends meet.
* * *
Among those invited to attend the forum are:
Jane D’Arista – Ms. D’Arista is the Director of Programs for
the
Laurence D. Fink – Mr. Fink is the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of BlackRock. Prior to
founding BlackRock in 1988, he was a member of the Management Committee and a
Managing Director of The First Boston Corporation. Prior to BlackRock, he also started the
Financial Futures and Options Department and headed the Mortgage and Real
Estate Products Group. Mr. Fink earned
an MBA degree with a concentration in real estate from the
William Hambrecht – Mr. Hambrecht is the founder and CEO of
WR Hambrecht & Company, an investment company headquartered in
Warren Hellman – Mr. Hellman is the Chairman and Co-Founder
of Hellman & Friedman, LLC, a San Francisco-based private equity investment
firm. Since its founding in 1984, Hellman & Friedman has managed over $5
billion in private capital and is a 10% investor in NASDAQ. Mr. Hellman is also
a director of NASDAQ, a member of the San Francisco Committee on Jobs, and a
member of the University of California Haas Business School Advisory Board.
Before founding Hellman & Friedman, Mr. Hellman served as the President and
Chairman of the Lehman Corporation.
Eugene A. Ludwig - Mr. Ludwig is the Founder and CEO of Promontory
Group, a suite of companies offering products and services to assist banks and
other financial businesses. Prior to
founding Promontory, he was Vice Chairman and Senior Control Officer of Bankers
Trust / Deutsche Bank. From 1993 to
1998, Mr. Ludwig headed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),
and also served as Chairman of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination
Council (FFIEC). Prior to becoming
Comptroller, he was a partner at the law firm of Covington & Burling,
specializing in financial services regulatory matters.
Lawrence Mishel – Mr. Mishel is the President of the
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) in 1987.
As EPI's first research director, then as vice president, and now
president, he has played a significant role in building EPI's research
capabilities and reputation. He has researched, written, and spoken widely on
the economy and economic policy as it affects middle- and low-income families.
He is principal author of a major research volume, The State of Working America
(published every even-numbered year since 1988) which provides a comprehensive
overview of the U.S. labor market and living standards.
Felix G. Rohatyn – Since 2006, Mr. Rohatyn has served as the
Senior Adviser to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lehman Brothers Inc.
and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. During the 1970s, he was the chair of New
York’s Municipal Assistance Corporation (MAC) and helped the city avoid
bankruptcy. From 1997-2000 he served as the U.S. Ambassador to France. Mr. Rohatyn
is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Lewis A. (Lee) Sachs – Mr. Sachs is a partner of Mariner
Investment Group where he is Chairman of the Investment Committee. Prior to joining Mariner, he was CEO of
Cornerstone Asset Management and until 2003, Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC, a
merchant bank and private equity fund management firm. Mr. Sachs also served in the Clinton
Administration as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial
Markets. He was a Senior Advisor to the
Secretary of the Treasury and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the
President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Mr. Sachs was a Senior
Managing Director, Head of Global Capital Markets and a member of the Board of
Directors of the Bear, Stearns Companies Inc.
Allen Sinai – Mr. Sinai is the Founder, Chief Global
Economist, and President of Decision Economics, Inc. (PDE), a global economic
and financial advisory firm. He is also an adjunct professor of Economics and
Finance in the Lemberg Program of International Economics and Finance at
Bill Spriggs – Mr. Spriggs is the Chair of the Department of
Economics at
Larry Summers – Mr. Summers served as Treasury Secretary
under President Clinton (1999-2001). He is also President Emeritus of
John J. Sweeney – Mr. Sweeney is the President of the
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO). Prior to AFL-CIO, he served
as President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). His trade union career began as a research
assistant with the Ladies Garment Workers. In 1960, he joined SEIU as a
contract director for New York City Local 32B. He went on to become union
president and to lead two citywide strikes of apartment maintenance workers. In
1980, he was elected president of the international. Mr. Sweeney is the author
of America Needs A Raise: Fighting for Economic Security and Social Justice.
Laura Tyson – Ms. Tyson is a professor at the