PARTNERSHIP FOR A SECURE AMERICA
1129 20th St NW Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 www.psaonline.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: In Congress and across Washington, PSA works behind the scenes building bridges. Constantly innovating and endlessly determined, PSA is unique among Washington's foreign policy and national security community in our singular focus to build trust, expertise, and opportunity for bipartisan problem solving on Capitol Hill and beyond.

Activities to heighten the public awareness of and support for a bipartisan national security and foreign policy; to bring democrats and republicans together to seek common ground in national security and foreign policy; and to accomplish the preceding purposes through the use of the most effective tools of modern communications.

PSA's Congressional Partnership Program is a unique program funded by corporate sponsors Carnegie Corporation of New York, Venable, LLP and Intel, and developed exclusively for congressional staff. Participants attend off-the-record events with former senior officials to learn their perspectives on current foreign policy and national security problems. CPP students also receive negotiation training, engage in expert-led crisis simulations, and complete a project requiring them to work in bipartisan groups to formulate common-ground policy approaches to a current, relevant problem. The CPP program includes Speaker Series Dinners, two classes of the Congressional Partnership Program, and the Solution Series events. In January 2019 the Speaker Series kicked off when Frances Townsend spoke to CPP alumni on the importance of bipartisanship in foreign policy, the return of great power conflict, and the benefits of improving cyber capabilities for American national security. This alumni event enjoyed wide attendance, with nearly one-hundred current and former Congressional staffers from both sides of the aisle joining Ms. Townsend for an engaging discussion. In March, PSA hosted the Honorable Mike Rogers for a second Speaker Series discussion focusing on cybersecurity and cooperative efforts within the intelligence community. PSA continued to engage its CPP Alumni with Speaker Series dinner focused on artificial intelligence and the offensive capabilities, defensive challenges, and operational difficulties AI may bring. This event featured Dr. Reginald Brothers, former Under Secretary of the Science and Technology Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research at the Department of Defense; Dr. Jason Matheny, Executive Director at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University, former Assistant Director of National Intelligence, and former Director at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity; Ronak D. Desai, PSA Board Member and Attorney at Paul Hastings, as moderator. PSA's first 2019 session of the Congressional Partnership Program began in May with Orientation, followed by the strategic negotiation and communication training seminar presented by Randy Kutz, CPP alumnus and founder of Negotiation Training 360. CPP participants gathered for a weekend outside of Washington to hear presentations from Ambassador Bob King, former US Special Envoy for North Korea Human Rights Policy, Vice Admiral Michael Franken, former Deputy Commander of AFRICOM, and Carol Giacomo, member of the New York Times Editorial Board & former Diplomatic Correspondent for Reuters. Congressional staff also took part in a National Security Council simulation at the retreat. Participants assumed various roles on the National Security Council and debated solutions to a crisis scenario in the South China Sea. The simulation was coordinated by Robert Sheldon, a CPP alumnus and the head of Technology Strategy for Public Sector at CrowdStrike. The CPP was rounded off featuring dinners with former Congressman Jim Kolbe who retired as Chairman of the Foreign Operations Subcommittee for the House Appropriations Committee and FBLI Special Agent In-Charge, Peter Ahearn. Mr. Kolbe's discussion focused on his experience as Chairman and his reflections of how the dynamics of bipartisan cooperation have changed over the decades. Mr. Ahearn's discussion largely touched on how the FBI supports national security, with specific relevance to counter terrorism. The second session of PSA's flagship CPP began in September. The cohort took on the roles of countries negotiating a trade deal during the redesigned strategic negotiation and communication seminar administered by Dr. Mark Habeeb, a Professor at Georgetown University. Additionally, PSA hosted multiple dinner discussions, giving our CPP participants the opportunity to hear from professionals in the fields of national security and foreign policy. Notable among these were Garrett Grigsby, Director of the Office of Global Affairs at Health and Human Services, and Elizabeth Rosenberg, Senior Fellow and Director of the Energy, Economics, and Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. The Fall CPP Class retreat, hosted over Veteran's Day weekend, featured: Brad Carson, former Congressman (D-OK), former Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness speaking on U.S.-China strategic competition; Tamanna Salikuddin, a Senior Expert on Inclusive Peace Processes at USIP speaking on fostering peace processes with U.S. national interests; and Robert Cardillo, former Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, former Deputy Director for Intelligence Integration at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and former Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency who spoke on how intelligence supports national security and affects decision making. Again, Robert Sheldon administered the National Security Council Simulation. This was a brand-new scenario which was developed in-house by PSA staff. Participants assumed various roles within the NSC and debated response options to a major cyberattack on the U.S. In the fall of 2019, our two-part Solution Series focused on China. First, Dr. Andrew Semmel, who was the first director of the U.S.-China Commission, hosted an event focused on recent developments in U.S.-China relations, including the U.S. China trade war, the protests in Hong Kong, and the upcoming challenges facing the future of U.S.-China relations. The second of the Solutions Series events featured David Dorfman, Legislative Director and General Counsel for the Office of Representative Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY- 9) and former Harvard Fellow at the Department of Justice, having served in both the National Security Division and a U.S. Attorney's Office. This event focused on licit and illicit technology transfers between the U.S. and China, including recent episodes of economic espionage, compelled joint ventures, and talent recruitment schemes. It also explored American and Chinese actions that have contributed to increased Chinese influence in the technology and entertainment sectors, including the role of U.S. capital markets.

Nuclear Security - : In 2019 Partnership for a Secure America (PSA) concluded a series of activities in support of a 2018 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in partnership with the Arms Control Association (ACA), the focus of which was supporting bipartisan congressional engagement with the issue of nuclear security. In 2019 PSA held an off-the-record roundtable led by former Ambassador John Negroponte and former Senator Sam Nunn for current Members of Congress on the outcome of the Hanoi Summit and options for application of the Nunn/Luger Cooperative Threat Reduction Act for North Korea. Members of both parties attended and engaged in a lively discussion about how Congress can best approach the threat posed by this nuclear rogue state. In April 2019, PSA published a joint bipartisan statement with the Arms Control Association. The statement illuminates the danger that a lack of knowledge on nuclear security issues poses, and it lays out a plan to improve awareness of these issues to government officials and secure the global stockpile of nuclear materials. The statement describes the potential devastation which a nuclear terrorist attack would cause and lays out recommendations to prevent such a catastrophe: 1) The Office of Management and Budget should prepare an annual report summarizing the US budget for nuclear security and nonproliferation programs. 2) A blue ribbon, bipartisan congressional commission should be established to develop a comprehensive strategy to prevent, counter, and respond to nuclear and radiological terrorism. 3) A program of activities should be designed to prevent nuclear theft and trafficking in North Korea 4) Periodic hearings should be held with government and non-governmental nuclear security experts to examine U.S. nuclear terrorism prevention strategy and spending. 5) A sustained effort should be pursued to promote a mandatory international system of monitoring, reporting, and accountability in all countries with nuclear and radiological materials

Capitol Leaders Negotiation Program - In 2019, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and American University College of Law, PSA continued its innovative partnership with Harvard Law School's Program on Negotiations (PON), creating and running a program on negotiation training for congressional staff. In August, PSA held the first fundamentals class of the Harvard, American University, & PSA: Program on Legislative Negotiation. The event was held at the Library of Congress with special thanks to the Kluge Center. Through lectures and hands on simulations, this class focused on professional negotiation skills and strategies with specific relevance to the legislative process. The training was led by Harvard's Brian Mandell and Bruce Patton; it successfully brought 42 Democrats and Republicans together for two days of training and relationship building. The second fundamentals course class will be held in January 2020. This class will be jointly led by Harvard and American University faculty.

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