The George W. Bush Presidential Center hosted its annual "Forum on Leadership" Thursday. Panels included the future of the economy, global health and the role of the United States in international politics.
"We should recognize we do a lot that is right and good, which serves to advance and not destroy humanity," says Bush Center Chief Executive Officer Ken Hersh. "This is our charge here at the Bush Center: to pursue with honor, civility and humility the values of freedom and liberty."
Hersh says younger democracies look to the United States for courage and hope, but he says a "lack of trust in our democratic institutions threatens the very fabric of our society."
"Too many question authority regardless of veracity. Too many clench their fists before thinking. Too many focus on the self rather than the other," Hersh says, saying people will act out when they feel they have no other options. "Today, the lack of civility seems to put us on the brink with just about every issue. With a political process that has been captured by the extremes, topics get framed as zero-sum battles."
Among speakers Thursday morning was Mitch Daniels, president of Purdue University and former governor of Indiana.
"There's a sense, sometimes these days, of estrangement between regular folks and those making decisions," Daniels said. "In particular, it's less true now but at the time, the Republican Party, whose uniform I wore, was laboring under the stereotype of 'don't understand ordinary people, don't care about them.' I told a lot of friends, 'Don't whine about it. Go prove it's not true.'"
Another panel included Gary Cohn, a former director of the National Economic Council, and Elaine Chao, secretary of labor under George W. Bush and secretary of transportation under Donald Trump.
"The government should not be competing with the private sector in compensating the workforce," Chao said, saying Congress should not pass another measure that includes a stimulus.
Cohn says the U.S. should also put more emphasis on helping kids graduate high school with a skill instead of pushing everyone toward college. He says kids can instead enter into an apprenticeship for a trade that is currently in demand like electrical work or plumbing.
"In that four year period, you'll be a self-sustaining individual able to support yourself, able to live a decent life," he says.
"All countries like all cities are engaged in a ferocious competition for talent," says Cullum Clark, director of the Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative.
The three say the U.S. should pass immigration reform, adopting a merit-based system.
Chao says the U.S. should also restart construction on the Keystone XL Pipeline and rescind orders that discourage drilling. She says energy prices account for 40% of inflation.
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"You who are in this state that is so involved with energy production understand what [the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] did February 17 and also what the Interior Department has done," she says.
Former Defense Secretary and retired Marine General James Mattis is scheduled to speak later Thursday. Former Secretary of State James Baker is scheduled to receive the George W. Bush Medal for Distinguished Leadership Thursday evening.
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