Estimates suggest that over 1 million people have been displaced from southern Louisiana alone by Hurricane Katrina. Some have left the state while others have relocated elsewhere in Louisiana. Some may never return, while others retain a desire to return, but may not be able to do so for years. These seismic population shifts and the wide dispersal of former residents pose enormous challenges to officials faced with the need to ensure that voters have a fair and meaningful opportunity to elect their leaders. The mechanics of identifying eligible voters, reaching out to them and crafting meaningful ways for them to vote are daunting. The crucial task of complying with the Voting Rights Act also shapes this effort, as does the need to satisfy the one person-one vote guarantee of the Constitution.

In cities and towns across America, the Center for American Progress is engaging the public in conversations on religion and policy, giving voice to those whose concerns and hopes have been lost in highly polarized debates. Our series of national conversations began in Denver last spring and continued in Kansas City and San Francisco during the summer and fall. In Grand Rapids, our conversation will focus on economic and job issues. Given the significant loss of manufacturing jobs in the Grand Rapids area, we will talk about the effects of economic stress on individuals, their families and the community--and what needs to be done to help the economy recover. What are the roles and responsibilities of individuals, civic groups, churches, employers, educators and government? What are our obligations to each other?

The United States faces simultaneously two sets of student achievement gaps: one at home, the other internationally. Despite the lofty goals of the No Child Left Behind Act, recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results for 4th and 8th graders showed we are making minimal progress, if any, on raising student achievement levels in reading and math and closing gaps between low-income and minority students and other students.

More than two and a half years ago, U.S.-led military forces toppled Saddam Hussein from power. Today, however, the United States has spent over $250 billion, and more than 2,000 troops have been killed in Iraq. An increasing number of Americans are now looking for a new direction. Strategic Redeployment, a proposal authored by the Center for American Progress's Lawrence J. Korb and Brian Katulis, offers a responsible exit strategy for U.S. forces. Please join the Center and its expert guests for a panel discussion of Strategic Redeployment and other possible strategies for moving forward in Iraq and the broader war against global terrorist networks.

This panel will discuss a new policy proposal by New Vision and the Center for American Progress that will dramatically expand summer learning opportunities for children through federal support. The proposal would create a system of progressively valued scholarships that children could use to enroll in traditional summer school or specialized public or private enrichment programs. These Summer Scholarships would improve children's learning by addressing the learning gap that follows children between grades, address the needs of parents for care in the summer and help schools meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

Gene Sperling and Thomas Friedman will share insights from their new books, The Pro-Growth Progressive and The World is Flat. They will also discuss the challenges policymakers face as they grapple with a more integrated global economy.

Few companies have created as much controversy as Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's critics charge that the company often destroys jobs, depresses wages, suppresses worker rights, and imposes major costs on the public. Defenders say the company creates jobs, cuts prices for lower-wage Americans, and represents a free-market success.

Hurricane Katrina destroyed critical infrastructure in and around New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and caused death, misery and dislocation for those in her path. Katrina damaged energy production, refining and distribution systems; closed ports and disrupted supply chains that had significant regional and national economic impact; degraded vital capabilities, including the region's communications architecture, which hampered the ability of federal, state, local and private sector entities to respond in a timely and effective way; and exposed flawed response and recovery planning, a lack of coordination, and poor execution at all levels. Four years after 9/11, we are not as prepared as we should be for a national disaster, whether natural, man-made or terrorist in nature.

Conservatives have long argued that Americans should have more choice and individual control over government benefits. But Americans are rejecting the actual choices conservatives have given them from Social Security privatization to a choice-filled but unpopular prescription drug program. Can progressives do better? Can they deliver a choice revolution that people would actually want—one that shifts control not just from government to individuals, but from corporations to individuals.