Sen. Jeff Bingaman
SFWAF News:
The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum (SFWAF) Lunch Program will feature former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico discussing his new book “Breakdown: Lessons For A Congress In Crisis” noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 23 in Board Room #233 at Santa Fe Community College.
“I will explain the main points I make in the book, both about the problems I saw develop in the workings of Congress, and about the increased pressures members of Congress face as they try to act in the public interest. I will also discuss eight of the challenges Congress tried to deal with—where we succeeded and where we failed,” Bingaman said.
Bingaman was born Oct. 3, 1943. He grew up in the southwestern New Mexico community of Silver City. His father was a chemistry professor and chair of the science department at Western New Mexico University. His mother taught in the public schools.
After graduating from Western (now Silver) High School in 1961, Jeff attended Harvard College and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in government in 1965. He then entered Stanford Law School where he met, and later married, fellow law student Anne Kovacovich.
Upon earning his law degree in 1968, Jeff and Anne returned to New Mexico. They have one son, John.
After law school, Jeff spent one year as a New Mexico Assistant Attorney General and eight years in private law practice in Santa Fe. He ran for Attorney General of New Mexico in 1978 and served four years in that position. In 1982 voters elected him to the United States Senate. At the end of his fifth term, he chose not to seek re-election and completed his service in the Senate Jan. 3, 2013.
At the time of his retirement from the Senate, he was chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He also served on the Finance Committee, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Joint Economic Committee.
Beginning In April 2013, he spent a year as a Distinguished Fellow with the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford Law School. In 2015, he taught a seminar on the functioning of Congress in the Honors College at the University of New Mexico. In 2022, the University of New Mexico Press published his book, BREAKDOWN: Lessons for a Congress in Crisis.
Jeff and Anne live in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Registration: This SFWAF lunch is $25 for members and $35 for nonmembers. To register you may either pay by check made out to SFWAF and mailed to the Santa Fe World Affairs Forum, PO Box 31965, Santa Fe, NM 87594 or by credit card through Paypal. Please indicate on your check – or if using Paypal (“add special instructions to the seller”) that your payment is for the Thursday February 23, 2023 program https://sfwaf.org/payment/
Members: if you have not yet paid your 2022-23 membership dues, you may include the $50 per person annual dues in your payment for this program, but please also note in special instructions that dues are included. Because we are a 501(c)(3) organization, dues and contributions are tax deductible.
If you are not a member, please include your best contact information. If you are interested in membership, please email us: sfwaforum@outlook.com.
Payment: for this program is nonrefundable after Friday, Feb. 17. We strongly prefer that payment be made by Paypal or check postmarked by Friday Feb. 17, 2023 to facilitate check-in. If you are mailing a check please also email us at sfwaforum@outlook.com to be sure we know you plan to attend.
Location: SFCC Board Room (#223) is in the West Wing (Administration Building). The college is at 6401 Richards Ave., Santa Fe, NM 87508. Enter through the building’s main entrance (on the left side of the building behind the flag poles). The Board Room is on the corridor to the left of the Campus Center.
Directions: From Rodeo Road turn south onto Richards Avenue. Turn into the campus main drive. Parking lots are in front of the building. From I-25 take the Cerrillos Road exit, turn east onto Governor Miles Road and then right onto Richards Avenue. Then follow directions above.
The Santa Fe World Affairs Forum
PO Box 31965
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594
