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Capitol Hill Briefing

James Buckley on Reviving Federalism

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Date and Time
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Location
B-354 Rayburn House Office Building
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Featuring
Featuring James L. Buckley, Former U.S. senator and federal judge; Roger Pilon, Vice President for Legal Affairs, Cato Institute, and Director, Cato Center for Constitutional Studies; and Chris Edwards, Editor, Down​siz​ing​Gov​ern​ment​.org, Cato Institute; moderated by John Maniscalco, Director of Congressional Affairs, Cato Institute.

James L. Buckley’s new book, Saving Congress from Itself, describes the damage caused by federal aid-to-state programs and proposes a full repeal. Buckley’s analysis is grounded in his distinguished career as a U.S. senator from New York, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and a high-level Reagan administration official. He argues that repealing aid-to-state programs would free the federal government to focus on truly national matters, put the government on sounder financial footing, and improve the ability of states to manage their programs for education, welfare, transportation, and other activities. Cato’s Roger Pilon and Chris Edwards will comment on Buckley’s proposal and describe the legal and practical aspects of reviving federalism and ending aid.