The Center for American Progress is hosting a forum Friday in Iowa that’ll focus on security issues. Former North Dakota Senator Tom Daschle, one of the speakers, suggests it won’t be a rehash of the past, but a look at the future.
"The message is that we have a real responsibility to take back our moral authority, to build a new reputation worldwide," Daschle says. "Security is going to be defined in ways larger than just the narrow context of Iraq, that climate change and other issues are part of security, too."
Daschle says Iowans can have unique influence on how the nation’s next president acts on security issues because the Iowa Caucuses are the first event of the presidential nominating season. "I believe that people in the Midwest understand security as well if not better than almost anybody else, not necessarily because of geographic location but because they are so connected," Daschle says. "They are avid readers. They are people who take public policy very seriously."
Daschle expects the subject of agroterrorism to be part of the discussion Friday afternoon. "I don’t think you can have a conversation about security and not have a conversation about agroterrorism as well," Daschle says. "There are seriously implications with regard to the many threats our country faces and this is one we have to take seriously as well." The National Security Network’s president, a former Marine, will attend, too. The event will be held at the Temple for the Performing Arts in downtown Des Moines and starts at three o’clock Friday afternoon.