HON. LEON E. PANETTA

Leon Edward Panetta has a long and distinguished career in public service, ranging from his duty in the U.S. Army to his service as the Chief of Staff to the President of the United States.

Born in Monterey on June 28, 1938, of Italian immigrant parents, Mr. Panetta attended both Catholic and public schools and worked on his family's farm in Carmel Valley, where he lives today with his wife Sylvia. He earned a B.A. magna cum laude from Santa Clara University and his J.D. from Santa Clara University Law School, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from 1964 to 1966 and received the Army Commendation Medal.

Mr. Panetta first went to Washington, D.C. in 1966 to serve as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Thomas H. Kuchel of California, the Senate Minority Whip. In 1969, he became Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and then Director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights, where he was responsible for enforcement of equal education laws. His book Bring Us Together (published in 1971) is an account of that experience. In 1970, he went to New York City to serve as Executive Assistant to the Mayor, John Lindsay, overseeing the city's relations with the state and federal governments. Then, in 1971, Mr. Panetta returned to California, where he practiced law in the Monterey firm of Panetta, Thompson & Panetta until he was elected to Congress in 1976.

Mr. Panetta was a U.S. Representative from California's 16th (now 17th) district from 1977 to 1993. As a House member, he was a key participant in the 1990 budget summit as well as all other summits during the 1980s. He authored the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988; the Fair Employment Practices Resolution which extended civil rights protections to House employees for the first time; numerous successful measures to protect the California coast, including creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary; legislation that established Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement for hospice care for the terminally ill; and other legislation on a variety of education, health, agriculture and defense issues.

From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Panetta was chairman of the House Committee on the Budget. He also served on that committee from 1979 to 1985. He chaired the House Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic Marketing, Consumer Relations and Nutrition; the House Administration Committee's Subcommittee on Personnel and Police; and the Select Committee on the Task Force on Domestic Hunger. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Caucus of Vietnam Era Veterans in Congress and as a member of the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies.

At the beginning of his ninth term, Mr. Panetta left Congress in 1993 to become Director of the Office of Management and Budget for the incoming Clinton administration. In that position, he was instrumental in developing the 1993 budget package that is widely credited with a balanced federal budget and a budget surplus.

Mr. Panetta was appointed Chief of Staff to the President of the United States on July 17, 1994, and served in that position until January 20, 1997. He was the principal negotiator of the successful 1996 budget compromise and was widely praised for bringing order and focus to White House operations and policymaking.

Mr. Panetta, with his wife Sylvia, currently co-directs the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located at California State University, Monterey Bay-a university he helped establish on the site of the former military base, Fort Ord. The Institute serves as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) study center for the advancement of bi-partisan public policy, to help our communities and our country meet the challenges of the 21st century. The Institute seeks in particular to attract thoughtful men and women to lives of public service, inspiring them to a high standard of conduct and equipping them with the practical skills of self-government. In addition, Mr. Panetta serves as Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the California State University system, advising the Chancellor on state and national issues affecting higher education. In 1997, he was appointed Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University, teaching a course Studies in Public Policy. Amongst the other Panetta Institute programs, Mr. Panetta created the Leon Panetta Lecture Series. The lecture series invites nationally known leaders from the public and private sectors to address issues confronting the nation and the world.

Mr. Panetta has served as a leader in numerous community and public policy organizations throughout this career. In March 2006, Mr. Panetta was chosen to serve on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan committee established at the urging of Congress and organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace. In 2005 he was appointed to serve as a member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America's Future. In November 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger named Mr. Panetta as Co-Chair of the Council on Base Support and Retention. Beginning in 2002, he served on the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and starting in 1997, he served a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange. He has also served as a member of the Board of Directors for IDT Telecom, and Connetics.

Mr. Panetta is Chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission, Co-Chairman of the Joint Oceans Commission Initiative, a member of the Board of Directors of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He is a member of the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management and a member of the Board of Directors of Bread for the World. He serves as Co-Chairman of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, as Chairman of the National Board of Advisors of the Center for National Policy, as a member of the Board of Directors of Close Up Foundation and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Policy Institute of California. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Fleishman- Hillard International Advisory Board and the External Advisory Board for BP America as well as a member of the Board of Directors for Blue Shield of California and Zenith.

Among others, Mr. Panetta's awards and honors include: the NEA Lincoln Award, 1969; the A. Philip Randolph award, 1984; the Farm Bureau's Golden Plow Award, 1991; the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages President's Award, 1991; the Peter Burnett Award for Distinguished Public Service, 1993; the Distinguished Public Service Medal from the Center for the Study of the Presidency, 1995; the Special Achievement Award for Public Service from the National Italian American Foundation, 1997; John H. Chafee Coastal Stewardship Award, 2001; Special Achievement Award, Santa Clara University School of Law Alumni Association, 2002; Julius A. Stratton Award for Coastal Leadership, 2003; Exemplary Leadership Award from the American Leadership Forum, Silicon Valley, 2004; Aquarium of the Pacific Ocean Conservation Award, 2006; Lifetime Achievement Award for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, 2006; Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Paul Peck Presidential Award, 2006; Natural Resources Defense Council Forces for Nature Award, 2007; and the National Hospice Foundation Silver Anniversary Honoree, 2007.

Mr. Panetta lectures nationally and internationally on the state of the economy, the federal budget and other issues facing our nation. He is married to the former Sylvia Marie Varni, who administered his district offices during his service in Congress and continues as a partner in his many activities. They have three grown sons and five grandchildren.