By Justin Bannister, NMSU News Center

Gary Schmitt, of the American Enterprise Institute, will take part in New Mexico State University’s spring 2013 Domenici Forum at 1 p.m. April 18 at KRWG-TV studios, inside Milton Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Schmitt will discuss sequestration and its potential impact on U.S. strategic defense initiatives. He is a resident scholar and co-director of the Marilyn Ware Center for Security Studies and is the director of the program on American citizenship at the American Enterprise Institute.

Schmitt is a former staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He was executive director of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board during Ronald Reagan’s second term. Schmitt’s security work focuses on longer-term strategic issues that will impact America’s security at home and its ability to lead abroad, while his work in the area of citizenship focuses on challenges to maintaining and sustaining a strong civic culture.

Garrey Carruthers, dean of NMSU’s College of Business and director of the Domenici Institute, will host the forum. A panel of students will have an opportunity to pose questions to the speaker. The forum will be taped for broadcast and those attending should arrive on campus by 12:45 p.m. and be seated in the KRWG-TV studio, in Milton Hall, by 12:55 p.m. Taping will begin promptly at 1 p.m.

The Domenici Institute Forum is an extension of the university’s yearly Domenici Public Policy Conference. Its goal is to engage the public and encourage them to discuss and take part in issues of public interest, specifically when it comes to important policy matters.

Event registration and a guide to parking on campus are available online at http://domenici.nmsu.edu. Registration can also be made by phone at 575-646-2066.