Benjamin L. Cardin has been a national leader on health care, retirement security and fiscal issues since coming to Congress in 1987. In 2006, he was elected by the people of Maryland to succeed Paul Sarbanes in the U.S. Senate.

The Washington Post has said that Mr. Cardin is

In 2001, Mr. Cardin was named by Worth Magazine as among the top "100 people who have influenced the way Americans think about money." In 2004, he was named to Treasury and Risk Management's list of "100 Most Influential People in Finance." He received a grade of "A" from the NAACP, and a 100% rating from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights for his votes in the 109th Congress. In the 108th Congress, he also received a 100% rating from the League of Conservation Voters for his commitment to environmental health and safety, and a 100% rating from the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda for his voting record.

Sen. Cardin represented Maryland's Third Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987-2006.

As a member of the House, his legislation to increase the amount Americans can save for retirement was enacted into law in 2001 as was his proposal to expand Medicare to include preventive benefits. He also authored legislation to improve the Medicare drug benefit for seniors. He often was a voice for our most vulnerable citizens. He introduced legislation to help those leaving public assistance get the job training, education and childcare they need to work their way out of poverty. In 1999, his bill to increase education and support services for foster care children between ages 18 and 21 was signed into law.

Throughout her career in public service, Congresswoman Pelosi has proven a catalyst for the public good, having amassed a distinguished record of accomplishments in both domestic and international issues and provided a powerful voice for environmental causes and human rights. She has placed herself in the forefront of concerns surrounding the September 11 attacks by authoring legislation to create the independent national commission to assess the overall performance of the federal government. Health care has also been a major focus for her, as she aided in the creation of a nationwide health tracking network to examine the links between environmental pollutants and chronic disease, and played a major roll in securing funding to double the budget for the National Institute of Health. 

Nancy Pelosi began her political career by volunteering for the Democratic Party in northern California while raising her five children. She comes from a strong family tradition of public service. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., served as Mayor of Baltimore for 12 years, after representing the city for five terms in Congress. Her brother, Thomas D'Alesandro III, also served as Mayor of Baltimore. Nancy graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. in 1962. She and her husband, Paul Pelosi, a native of San Francisco, have five children: Nancy Corinne, Christine, Jacqueline, Paul, and Alexandra, and five grandchildren. 

Despite his youth, John Lewis became a recognized leader in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1964, John Lewis coordinated efforts to organize voters' registration drives and community action programs during the "Mississippi Freedom Summer." The following year, Lewis led one of the most dramatic nonviolent protests of the Movement. Along with fellow activist, Hosea Williams, John Lewis led over 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. Alabama state troopers attacked the marchers in a confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." That fateful march and a subsequent march between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

John Lewis's first electoral success came in 1981 when he was elected to the Atlanta City Council. Elected to Congress in November 1986, Lewis represents Georgia's Fifth Congressional District. The Congressional District encompasses the entire city of Atlanta, Georgia and parts of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton and Cobb counties. In 1996, John Lewis was unopposed in his bid for a sixth term and is currently serving his ninth term in office.

In the 108th Congress, Lewis is a member of the influential House Budget Committee and House Ways and Means Committee, where he serves on the Subcommittee on Health. Congressman Lewis serves as Senior Chief Deputy Democratic Whip.  Congressman Lewis also serves on the Democratic Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Committee to Support Writers and Journalists. Additionally, Congressman Lewis serves as Co-Chair of the Faith and Politics Institute.

U. S. Senator Richard G. Lugar (Indiana) gave the second lecture on Friday, March 14, 2003. His lecture was entitled, "The Changing World".

Richard Green Lugar was born in Indianapolis on April 4, 1932. He graduated from Denison University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University where he met Paul Sarbanes and struck up a life-long friendship with the future senator from Maryland. 

After serving in the Navy, he returned to his hometown and was elected mayor of Indianapolis. During his two terms, he developed a city-county unification plan, known as Unigov, which was credited with revitalizing the downtown area and initiating an unprecedented economic growth for the region. He was elected to his first term in the Senate in 1976 and, in his last three elections, he has won by a record breaking, two-thirds majority. During his Senate tenure, he has made his mark in the arena of foreign affairs and currently holds the chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee. Characterized in a recent New York Times editorial as “one of the G.O.P.’s most seasoned and sensible foreign policy hands,” the editors praised him for his “thoughtful views on issues…his solidly internationalist outlook…[and] his bipartisan legislative style.”  His ownership of his family farm in Marion County has made him particularly attentive to the challenges and needs of rural communities. 

U. S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes (Maryland) gave the inaugural lecture on Tuesday, October 22, 2002. His lecture was entitled, "The Crisis in Corporate America: The Legislative Response" Click on the title to read the text of that lecture.

Paul Spyros Sarbanes, Maryland's Democratic senior Senator, made Maryland history in November, 2000 by winning reelection to an unprecedented 5th term to the United States Senate, becoming the State's longest serving United States Senator.

Sarbanes has been working for the people of Maryland for more than three decades, first as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and then serving as a Congressman from the Third Congressional District for three terms. Since 1977, he has served with integrity and distinction in the United States Senate where he serves as the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee and is a senior member of the Foreign Relations, Budget, and Joint Economic Committees.

Paul Sarbanes was born in Salisbury, on Maryland's Eastern Shore on February 3, 1933. He was the son of Greek immigrants from Laconia, Greece.  After graduation from Wicomico High School in Salisbury, Sarbanes received an academic and athletic scholarship to Princeton University (A. B. degree, 1954). He was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to Oxford, England (First Class B.A., 1957). Sarbanes then returned to the United States and attended Harvard Law School. After graduating in 1960, he clerked for Federal Judge Morris A. Soper before going into private practice with two Baltimore City law firms.

The principles of fairness and opportunity instilled in Sarbanes by his parents from a very early age led him to a life of public service. In 1966, Sarbanes ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in Baltimore City and won. During his four years as a State Legislator in Annapolis he served on the Judiciary and the Ways and Means Committees.  In 1970 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, the first of three terms. While in the House, from 1971-76, Sarbanes served on the House Judiciary Committee, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, and the Select Committee on House Reorganization. It was during his service in the House, in August 1974, that Sarbanes was selected by his Democratic colleagues on the House Watergate Committee to introduce the first Article of Impeachment, for obstruction of justice, against President Richard Nixon.

On November 2, 1976, Sarbanes was elected to the United States Senate. He was re-elected in 1982, 1988, 1994, and 2000. Throughout his public service, Senator Sarbanes has worked hard to provide the citizens of Maryland with dedicated, independent representation; representation based upon intelligence and integrity; representation which gives people the confidence that elected officials are there to serve the public interest.