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Leon Edward Panetta Esq.


Self Description

February 2007: "Leon Edward Panetta has had 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, 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 Army from 1964 to 1966 and received the Army Commendation Medal.

Panetta first went to Washington in 1966, when he served 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, where he served as Executive Assistant to the Mayor John Lindsay, overseeing the city’s relations with the state and federal governments. Then, in 1971, Panetta returned to California, where he practiced law in the Monterey firm of Panetta, Thompson & Panetta until he was elected to Congress in 1976.

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 every other summit during the 1980’s. He authored the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988; the Fair Employment Practices Resolution extending 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, 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 Hunger’s 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.

Panetta left Congress in 1993, at the beginning of his ninth term, 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.

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 policy making.

Panetta is currently co-directs with his wife Sylvia the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, based 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. He advises the Chancellor on national issues affecting higher education and teaches a Master’s course in Public Policy at the Panetta Institute. In 1997, he was appointed Presidential Professor at Santa Clara University, teaching a course, Studies in Public Policy. Almost a decade ago, 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 his career. In March 2006, Mr. Panetta was chosen to serve on the Iraq Study Group, a bi-partisan committee established at the urging of Congress and organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and the James A. Baker III Institute. Since 2005, he has served as member of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future. In November 2004, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Mr. Panetta as Co-Chair of the Council on Base Support and Retention. Mr. Panetta served a six-year term on the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange beginning in 1997. He was Chairman of the Committee for Review for the New York Stock Exchange Board of Directors and was Co-Chair of the Corporate Governance and Listing Standards Committee for the Stock Exchange. He served on the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the board of the National Steinbeck Center, the University of California Santa Cruz Foundation, and since June 1998, he has served on the board of the Santa Clara University Law School Board of Visitors. He also serves as a member of the Board of Trustees for Santa Clara University; as a member of the Fleishman-Hillard International Advisory Board; as a trustee for the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula; and as a director for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He is Chairman of the National Board of Advisors of the Center for National Policy as well as Chairman of the Pew Oceans Commission. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Blue Shield of California; IDT; Zenith; Connetics; the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation; Bread for the World; and Close Up. He lectures nationally and internationally on the state of the economy, the federal budget and other issues facing our nation.

Panetta’s awards and honors include, among others, 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; and 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, 2002: Julius A. Stratton Award for Coastal Leadership, 2003; Aquarium of the Pacific Ocean Conservation Award, 2006; Lifetime Achievement Award for the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, 2006; and the Smithsonian Institution National Portrait Gallery Paul Peck Presidential Award, 2006."

http://www.panettainstitute.org/people.html

Third-Party Descriptions

March 2013: "About 19,000 men and women suffer sexual assault each year in the military, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, though he noted that only about 3,200 assaults were reported. About 10,700 of those cases -- 56% -- involved male victims in 2010, based on anonymous reporting collected by the military."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/13/us/military-sexual-assault/index.html

May 2012: "Mr. Panetta and General Dempsey zeroed in on the national security benefits, arguing that by instituting rules and a mechanism for resolving disputes, the treaty reduces the threat of conflict in hot spots like the South China Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has threatened to shut down in retaliation for oil sanctions."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/24/world/americas/law-of-the-sea-treaty-is-found-on-capitol-hill-again.html

April 2012: 'But that was then, and this is now. Only eight years later, Tenet’s successor, Leon Panetta, described the drones as “the only game in town.” In 2001 the Pentagon had 50 weaponized drones; today it has more than 19,000. Assassination remains illegal under U.S. law for the time being, so it’s called “targeted killing” instead.'

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/28/buy-your-own-drone-now-only-300-online.html

March 2012: "The lawsuit was filed less than two months after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta outlined new measures targeting sexual assaults against U.S military personnel."

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/06/us/military-sex-assaults-lawsuit/index.html

September 2011: 'But Panetta, who is now defense secretary, showed no regret. "This individual was clearly a terrorist and yes he was a citizen, but if you're a terrorist, you're a terrorist. That means that we have the ability to go after those who would threaten to attack the United States and kill Americans. There's no question that the authority and the ability to go after a terrorist is there."'

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/30/politics/targeting-us-citizens/index.html

July 2011: "The F.B.I. brought Mr. Tasleem’s activities to Leon E. Panetta, then the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and last April, Mr. Panetta had a tense conversation with Pakistan’s spymaster, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24isi.html

January 2010: "A similar drama unfolded in April over the release of Justice Department memos that had authorized the CIA interrogation program. CIA Director Leon Panetta and several of his predecessors opposed public release of the memos in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit on the only legitimate grounds for such a stand: that the documents were legitimately still classified and their release would gravely harm national security. On this policy -- not legal -- question, the president sided with his attorney general rather than his CIA chief."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/29/AR2010012902142.html

February 2007: "Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, says he and others have been warning for years that churches leave themselves too open to embezzlement."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-02-18-fleeced-flocks_x.htm

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) Bread for the World (BFW) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Founder/Co-Founder of Supporter of (past or present) California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) California State University, The (System) (CSU) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Center for National Policy (CNP) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Organization Jul 12, 2011
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) Close Up Foundation Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Department of Defense (DOD)/Defense Department Organization Jul 12, 2011
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Fleishman-Hillard Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Executive (past or present) Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) IDT Corporation Organization Feb 20, 2007
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) Panetta Institute for Public Policy Organization Feb 20, 2007
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Pew Institute for Ocean Science Organization Feb 20, 2007
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Student/Trainee (past or present) Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) Santa Clara University (SCU) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Member of (past or present) US House of Representatives Organization Feb 20, 2007
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The (USCCB) Organization Feb 20, 2007
Director/Trustee/Overseer (past or present) Zenith Electronics Corporation Organization Feb 20, 2007
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Subordinate of (past or present) President William ("Bill") Jefferson Clinton Person Feb 20, 2007
Successor to Robert M. Gates Ph.D. Person Jul 12, 2011
Opponent (past or present) Chris Lynn Hedges M.Div. Person Mar 30, 2012
Succeeded by Gen. David H. Petraeus Person Jul 12, 2011
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Person Feb 20, 2007

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Mar 13, 2013 Military rape victims: Stop blaming us

QUOTE: McCoy was one of four alleged victims who testified Wednesday about a problem the military has acknowledged. About 19,000 men and women suffer sexual assault each year in the military, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, though he noted that only about 3,200 assaults were reported.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
May 23, 2012 Law of the Sea Treaty Is Found on Capitol Hill, Again

QUOTE: Thirty years after it was signed in Montego Bay, Jamaica, the United Nations treaty that governs the world’s oceans is undergoing one of its periodic resurrections in Congress... The Senate has never ratified the treaty...its opponents — a handful of conservative Republicans who view it as an infringement on American sovereignty...

 New York Times
Apr 28, 2012 Buy Your Own Drone! Now Only $300 Online: We don’t need to imagine the future anymore.... In the dystopian reality of 2012, the drone can ruin your life in ways you never imagined.

QUOTE: independent data suggest that U.S. drones have killed hundreds of women and children. That should be no surprise, since the CIA is using the same forms of intelligence that landed 779 people in Guantánamo Bay, more than 80 percent of whom were subsequently shown not to be terrible terrorists. The intel the agency relies on is purchased by offering bounties to people who would sell their own grandmothers for half the price.

 The Daily Beast
Mar 28, 2012 The reason I'm helping Chris Hedges' lawsuit against the NDAA: By placing journalists in jeopardy for reporting on 'terrorists', the Homeland Battlefield Bill has had a chilling effect on media work

QUOTE: I believe part of my job involves meeting with, discussing ideas with, and publishing stories about persons and groups who have, or are under threat of being, labeled a terrorist or terrorist group. My understanding of the [NDAA] bill, however, has forced me to decline to meet with certain newsworthy individuals, and groups of people, for fear that my communications with them and publishing articles on these individuals could be considered to be providing material support to a terrorist or terrorist organization.

 Guardian Unlimited
Mar 06, 2012 Female service members sue U.S. military for alleged rape, sexual assault

QUOTE: '"Although defendants testified before Congress and elsewhere that they have 'zero tolerance' for rape and sexual assault, their conduct and the facts demonstrate the opposite: They have a high tolerance for sexual predators in their ranks, and 'zero tolerance' for those who report rape, sexual assault and harassment," according to the lawsuit...'

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Sep 30, 2011 U.S. drone killing of American al-Awlaki prompts legal, moral debate

QUOTE: The U.S. drone killing of American-born and -raised Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, a major figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has re-energized a national debate over the legal and moral quandaries of a government deliberately killing a citizen.

 CNN (Cable News Network)
Jul 23, 2011 Pakistan Spies on Its Diaspora, Spreading Fear

QUOTE: compared with countries like China and Russia...the ISI’s operations here are less extensive and less sophisticated... Even so, officials and scholars say the ISI campaign extends to issuing both tacit and overt threats against those who speak critically about the military.

 New York Times
Jan 31, 2010 Obama admnistration takes several wrong paths in dealing with terrorism

QUOTE: Some may celebrate that the current Justice Department's perspective on the war on terrorism has become markedly more dominant in the past year. We should probably understand the implications of that before we break out the champagne. That apparently no one recommended on Christmas Day that Abdulmutallab be handled, at least for a time, as an enemy combatant should be concerning.

 Washington Post
Dec 10, 2009 Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret C.I.A. Raids

QUOTE: Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.

 New York Times
Aug 24, 2009 Holder to Appoint Prosecutor to Investigate CIA Terror Interrogations

QUOTE: Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has decided to appoint a prosecutor to examine nearly a dozen cases in which CIA interrogators and contractors may have violated anti-torture laws and other statutes when they allegedly threatened terrorism suspects...

 Washington Post
Aug 20, 2009 CIA Hired Firm for Assassin Program: Blackwater Missions Against Al-Qaeda Never Began, Ex-Officials Say

QUOTE: A secret CIA program to kill top al-Qaeda leaders with assassination teams was outsourced in 2004 to Blackwater USA...

 Washington Post
Jul 17, 2009 Who is the CIA allowed to kill? Cheney's secret assassination program may be terminated, but the U.S. is already carrying out "targeted killings"

QUOTE: The United States has had plenty of legal latitude to carry out targeted killings during the so-called war on terror -- and has been exercising that option vigorously for the past eight years.

 Salon
Jul 11, 2009 Cheney Is Linked to Concealment of C.I.A. Project

QUOTE: The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney...

 New York Times
Jul 09, 2009 Secret Program Fuels CIA-Congress Dispute: Democrats Accuse Agency of Pattern of Withholding Information From Lawmakers

QUOTE: The [secret program] incident has reignited a long-running dispute between congressional Democrats and the CIA, with some calling it part of a broader pattern of the agency withholding information from Congress.

 Washington Post
Feb 19, 2007 Bishops look at fleecing of flocks

QUOTE: The past year saw several cases where clerics were accused of stealing from their faithful. Some churchgoers say the thefts result from putting too much trust in one person and say more oversight is needed to stop it.

 USA TODAY