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Professor Loomis Discusses the New U.S. Administration and Congre
August 2-9, 2009
Public Affairs Kathmandu programmed U.S. Speaker Burdett A. Loomis, a professor from Kansas University with a co-host, Today’s Youth Asia, (the President and the Projects Director of which are alumni of the International Visitor Leadership Program). The innovative Today’s Youth Asia is empowering Nepali youths with positive ideas and skills in capacity building to create future leaders and to promote an active contribution to the nation in crisis. Professor Loomis’s timely presentations and discussions provided an insight into American democracy—a topic of great relevance to Nepal’s year-old democracy.
At various venues in Kathmandu and Pokhara (approximately 125 miles west of Kathmandu), Loomis tailored his talk on “The New U.S. Administration and Congress” to the needs of participants in each event, visiting schools, universities, and other institutions to discuss the results of the U.S. elections and the implications for U.S. foreign policy. He also explained U.S. state-level elections and how these may impact federal-state interaction and policy formulation.
Professor Loomis reviewed President Obama’s historic election and the challenges facing his young administration, as well as the present political balance in Congress and how that impacts President Obama’s mandate for change. He also extensively discussed the ongoing U.S. health care debate and the policy goals and actions to date of the Obama administration, including the stimulus packages, health care expansion, and the equal pay act for women.
Each lecture was followed by a discussion that included questions on the Obama administration, the challenges it faces and the prospects for its effectiveness, as well as the nature and degree of presidential exposure in the mainstream media. Professor Loomis asked Nepalis about the prospect of writing a new constitution in the near future, eliciting mixed responses, and lauded the 35% women’s participation in Nepal’s legislation process, one of the highest in the world.
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Professor Burdett A. Loomis presenting his work and publications on the U.S. Administration and the Congress to female members of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal |
Program participants included Minister of Energy Chandra Singh Bhattarai, Minister of Peace and Reconstruction Dilli Bahadur Mahat, former Deputy Speaker Mrs. Chitralekha Yadav, Constituent Assembly members, an Election Commission representative, a Nepal Army representative, Miss Nepal 2005 Sugarika KC, CEOs of several leading banks, business and media leaders, and other leading figures of Nepal, as well as youth leaders from political student wings and social, economic and development groups – more than 500 in all.