Top Leaders From Across Political Spectrum to Convene in Washington April 28th to Discuss Nation's Rising Deficits and Debt

NEW YORK, April 15 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, April 28th, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF) will convene a broad range of senior officials, policy-makers, elected leaders, and experts at the first-ever "2010 Fiscal Summit: America's Crisis and A Way Forward" to launch a national bipartisan dialogue on America's fiscal challenges.  The Fiscal Summit will bring together hundreds of stakeholders from across the political spectrum with diverse ideas on how to address critical fiscal issues while continuing to meet the priorities of the American people.

Participants include keynote speaker President Bill Clinton, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag, Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, and Members of the Congress.

To kick off the Summit, PGPF will release results of an extensive survey of former government officials who have held top positions in economic and budgetary offices. This unprecedented survey will gauge how these senior officials view the fiscal problems facing America, and the critical actions Washington must take to address them. Following the Summit, key findings that arise from it, along with the survey results, will be officially submitted to the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform which will present its recommendations at the end of this year.

For Press Credentials To Attend the Fiscal Summit, Please E-Mail Request to Aaron Rosenberg at [email protected]. Space Is Limited.

Through lively discussions and analysis, the Summit will explore the extent and depth of our nation's current fiscal challenges, attempt to define the real problems at hand, and begin to lay the groundwork for long term bipartisan solutions.

Program will include:

One-on-one conversation with President Bill Clinton interviewed by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.

A special session with National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Co-Chairmen Erskine Bowles & Alan Simpson, interviewed by Lesley Stahl of CBS News.

A special interview with Peter Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Panels will be moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS and Robert Reischauer, President of the Urban Institute.

Other participants will include:

John Castellani, President, Business Roundtable

Elliott Fisher, Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and Director for the Center for Health Policy Research

Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve (by video)

Robert Greenstein, Executive Director, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH), Ranking Member, Senate Budget Committee and Member, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Lawrence Mishel, President of Economic Policy Institute

Peter G. Peterson, Founder and Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

John Podesta, President and CEO of The Center for American Progress

Alice Rivlin, Founding Director, CBO and former OMB Director and Member, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

John Rother, Executive Vice President for Policy, AARP

Robert Rubin, Former Secretary of the Treasury

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI), Ranking Member, House Budget Committee, and Member, National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform

Neera Tanden, Chief Operating Officer, The Center for American Progress

Paul Volcker, Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve (by video)

David Walker, President & CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation

The event will spotlight what is now the front-and-center debate in America: how to address our nation's fiscal challenges. As our nation's debt levels continue to grow, interest costs explode, leaving the federal government with fewer resources to invest in critical areas like education, defense, environmental protection, research and development, and other important areas.  While we must continue to address our short-term economic challenges, we must also confront the long-term structural deficits that jeopardize the nation's international competitiveness, threaten the sustainability of our social insurance programs, and could result in lower standards of living for future generations.

PGPF will also announce its landmark citizen engagement grant for "AmericaSpeaks," co-funded by The MacArthur Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (request pending), a series of national town hall style meetings scheduled to take place this summer with thousands of Americans across the country invited to take part in a discussion of fiscal issues and solutions.

For Press Credentials To Attend the Fiscal Summit, Please E-Mail Request to Aaron Rosenberg at [email protected]. Space Is Limited.

About PGPF

Founded by Peter G. Peterson with a commitment of $1 billion, the Foundation is dedicated to increasing public awareness of the nature and urgency of key fiscal challenges threatening America's future and to accelerating action on them. To address these challenges successfully, we work to bring Americans together to find sensible, long-term solutions that transcend age, party lines and ideological divides in order to achieve real results. For more information, see www.PGPF.org

SOURCE Peter G. Peterson Foundation