By Timur Abimanyu, SH.

MH

The Washington Post

Still the best political coverage.
National Institute for Civil Discourse to open at University of Arizona

Tucson tragedy aftermath: Giffords honored at State of the Union

Colleagues pay tribute to wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords during the president's address as
the Arizona lawmaker is set to begin the next phase of her recovery at a rehab facility in
Houston. Discussion Policy, By Sari Horwitz, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, February 20, 2011;

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush will serve as honorary chairmen of a
new center at the University of Arizona that will focus on civility in political debate,
university officials will announce Monday.

THIS STORY
National Institute for Civil Discourse to open at University of Arizona
Tucson shooting: With Giffords in Houston, staff vows to carry on her work
Gun-control advocates press White House for stricter laws after Tucson shooting
View All Items in This Story
The National Institute for Civil Discourse - a nonpartisan center for debate, research,
education and policy about civility in public discourse - will open Monday in Tucson. It was
created in the aftermath of the Jan. 8 shootings in the city where six people were killed and
13 injured, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

Former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former Senate majority leader
Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) will serve as honorary co-chairmen. Board members will
include former secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright; Kenneth M. Duberstein, chief of
staff to President Ronald Reagan; Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren; Trey Grayson,
director of Harvard University's Institute of Politics; and former representative Jim Kolbe
(R-Ariz.).

"This institute is the right people in the right place at the right time," said Fred DuVal, vice
chairman of the Arizona Board of Regents and former co-chairman of Giffords's finance
committee.

The center will be funded with private donations, and $1 million has already been raised,
said DuVal, who will head the working board of the institute, which is his brainchild. The
institute plans to organize workshops and conferences in Tucson, Washington and elsewhere
nationwide, and will bring together leaders from across the political spectrum to develop
programs to promote civil discourse.

"Our country needs a setting for political debate that is both frank and civil," Bush said in a
statement.
Clinton said in a statement that the new institute "can elevate the tone of dialogue in our
country."

Brint Milward, director of the university's School of Government and Public Policy, said the
institute will be housed in a downtown Tucson building provided by Providence Service
Corp., the lead donor.
One of the institute's first events will be a conference with members of the media,
foundations, academic institutions, government and corporations to discuss advancing the
national conversation about civil discourse, said Meredith Hay, provost of the University of
Arizona.

Although the Tucson shootings were not linked to public discourse, she said, they "created a
space for us to think about civil discourse."
"If anyone should lead this conversation, it should be the University of Arizona," Hay said.
"We've lived through this terrible event and grown stronger through it. We have
extraordinary scholars in the area of public discourse and public policy who can reach out
nationally and create an exciting conversation."

On the other hand there is the news:

Gun-control advocates press White House for stricter laws after Tucson shooting
Tucson tragedy aftermath: Giffords honored at State of the Union
Colleagues pay tribute to wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords during the president's address as
the Arizona lawmaker is set to begin the next phase of her recovery at a rehab facility in
Houston.

Gun violence and legislation: Cause and effect

A history of national gun tragedies, the resulting changes to federal laws and the time in
between. By Perry Bacon Jr. Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, January 21, 2011;

Gun control advocates are urging the White House to embrace stricter gun laws in the wake
of the shooting in Tucson, calling for President Obama to talk about the issue in next week's
State of the Union address.

Democrats, including Obama, have largely avoided the issue for years, believing it turns off
swing voters in the Midwest and South. But after the shooting, several members of
Congress, as well as liberal-leaning groups, have publicly said Obama should back
legislation such as a bill proposed by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) to bar the sale of
high-capacity ammunition magazines, such as the one used in the shooting.

Advocates have seized on comments by former Vice President Richard B. Cheney who said
in an recent interview with NBC News "maybe it's appropriate" to limit magazine size.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the group
wanted Obama to support specific legislation, but it would be satisfied if the president
appointed a presidential commission to look at the causes of gun violence if a bill is not
possible.

"A national tragedy took place, there should be a response," Helmke said. In Tucson, he
added, "no laws were broken until he started shooting."

White House officials have been noncommittal on the issue. Obama has not spoken
specifically about gun control since the shooting, while White House Press Secretary Robert
Gibbs has sidestepped questions at his press briefings about the administration's positions on
the various proposals by gun control groups.

Pressed on the issue Thursday, Gibbs said, "I think we're looking through different
proposals."

Obama, as Politico wrote this week, "has supported most major gun and ammunition control
initiatives during a decade and a half in public life, including renewing the expired ban on
semiautomatic assault rifles." But, the article added, "he talks about the issue using muted,
nonconfrontational tones engineered to avoid alienating gun-friendly voters."

Democrats avoid talking about guns so often that Helmke acknowledged he would have to
rely on others to lobby the White House on the issue: The administration does not have a
staffer who regularly speaks on gun control rights, as it does on labor or environmental
issues.

Republicans and powerful groups such as the National Rifle Association have not endorsed
further gun control measures in the wake of the shooting. And neither have Americans
overall. A Pew poll released this week showed no almost no increase in public support for
additional gun control measures.

Obama on Friday
The president will speak at a General Electric plant in Schenectady, N.Y., where the
company was founded. The plant there specializes in the use of alternative energy, which
Obama will tout.

He will tour the plant with chief executive Jeffrey Immelt, whom Obama named early
Friday to lead the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, a new economic
advisory council focused on job creation and competitiveness. The council is replacing the
Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which Obama created two years ago to help guide the
administration's response to the recession.
=============================
Illustration By Timur Abimanyu, SH.MH.

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