Maxwell Frost: “Thank you, Connie. Since we have to be off the floor at 9:30, I'm going to truncate these remarks a little bit. A number…”

“Thank you, Connie. Since we have to be off the floor at 9:30, I'm going to truncate these remarks a little bit. A number of years ago, we created the International Election Monitors Institute under the leadership of then-president Jack Buechner. It is a joint project of the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress, the Association of Former Members of the European Parliament, and the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians. In addition to conducting multiple workshops for former legislators to train them for election-monitoring missions, this group sent delegations to monitor elections in places such as Morocco, Ukraine, and--our most ambitious undertaking--Iraq. The original intent of the International Election Monitors Institute was to train former legislators and prepare them for the task of observing an election. We have since broadened and expanded this to focus and are now incorporated as the Global Democracy Institute, again in partnership with our colleagues from Ottawa and Brussels. Former legislators from all political walks of life can be a tremendous asset to these organizations that seek to strengthen democracy across the globe. In addition to that, this organization has undertaken a number of trips. I had the privilege, along with Connie and some other people in this room, to take part in an exchange in China last year. This was one of a series of those. I know that we're going to be doing that again. I encourage you to take part in these.…”