John Breaux - John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the U.S. House from 1972 to 1987. Breaux was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.
Donna Shalala - Donna Edna Shalala is the current president of the University of Miami, a private university in Coral Gables, Florida. She has held this position since 2001.
Prior to her appointment as University of Miami President, she served as former United States President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Health and Human Services.
In 2007, President George W. Bush appointed Shalala and Bob Dole co-chairs of a commission to investigate problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Tommy G. Thompson - Tommy Thompson is a Senior Partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and is former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In his position as Secretary, he served as the nation's leading advocate for the health and welfare of all Americans.
He worked to modernize and add prescription drug coverage to Medicare for the first time in the program's history. A leading proponent of welfare reform, Secretary Thompson also focused on expanding services to seniors, the disabled and low-income Americans.
Additionally, he was Chairman of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and as such helped elicit unprecedented investment to stop the spread of these diseases worldwide. Prior to these positions, Secretary Thompson served as the Governor of Wisconsin, working to expand health care access across all segments of society. He earned his law degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is a Republican candidate for the 2008 presidential election.
Ceasefire on Healthcare: Former HHS Secretaries Shalala and Thompson
The forum is presented by American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. The series is made possible by a grant from Pfizer Inc.
In order to put party differences aside and inspire change within the system, former Louisiana Senator John Breaux has spearheaded the Ceasefire on Health Care campaign to find bipartisan solutions to health care issues. The latest forum brings together two influential voices in health care, the two most recent former Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala, who will discuss different ideas and approaches to health care reform.