LOUISVILLE, Ky. – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will speak Feb. 11 at the University of Louisville as part of the McConnell Center’s spring lecture series.
The free, public talk will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Brown and Williamson Club at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.
Biden, a senator from Delaware for 36 years, left the Senate in 2008 after being elected the nation’s 47th vice president. He chairs the White House Middle Class Task Force and has overseen implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As vice president, he has provided sustained high-level focus on Iraq policy and has frequently traveled to that country.
In the Senate, Biden established himself as leader on some of the nation’s most important domestic and international challenges. As chairman or ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years, he was widely recognized for his work on criminal justice issues including the 1994 Crime Bill and Violence Against Women Act.
Beginning in 1997, as chairman or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. foreign policy. He has been at the forefront of issues and legislation related to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East and Southwest Asia.
Biden holds honorary degrees from the University of Scranton, Saint Joseph’s University, Widener University School of Law, Emerson College, University of Delaware, Suffolk University Law School and Syracuse University. The latter, his alma mater, also awarded him the George Arents Pioneer Medal for excellence in public affairs in 2005.
Tickets are required to attend his talk and will be made available by the McConnell Center on a first-come, first-served basis. To request a ticket, see www.louisville.edu/mcconnellcenter