Barbara Lee to Receive First Annual Quincy Award for Responsible Statecraft
Join us for the presentation of the first ever Quincy Award for Responsible Statecraft. We will recognize U.S. Representative Barbara Lee for her advancement of ideas that move U.S. foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace. The award, like our organization, is named for John Quincy Adams, the nation’s sixth president and one of its most accomplished diplomats. Rep. Lee exemplified political courage with her solitary vote in 2001 against the authorization for the use of military force against terrorists implicated in the attacks of 9/11 — later extended by interpretation to cover “associated forces.” Lee has since led repeated efforts in the Congress to repeal the war authorization, which has been taken by the Executive Branch as conferring the authority to use lethal force in at least 19 countries in the two decades since it was passed. The award will be bestowed to Representative Lee in a virtual ceremony on Friday, December 4, from 5:30 – 6:15 PM ET. The event will feature a conversation between Representative Barbara Lee and Quincy Institute President Andrew Bacevich, as well as comments from a number of the congresswoman’s esteemed colleagues and allies in the fight to end endless wars. The Quincy Institute will issue the award yearly on or around the anniversary of its December 2019 launch to a Member of Congress, a currently serving or retired member of the US Armed Services, a member of the Diplomatic Corps, an elected official or an ordinary citizen who exemplifies the ideals and singular political courage in furtherance of peaceful US engagement with the world.
Panelists
Representative Barbara Lee
Congresswoman Barbara Lee was born in segregated El Paso, Texas. As a single mother raising two sons, she attended Mills College in Oakland, and later received her Masters in Social Work from the University of California, Berkeley. In 1990, Congresswoman Lee was elected to the California State Assembly, where she served until 1996 when she was elected to the State Senate. In 1998, she was elected to serve California’s 9th congressional district (now the 13th) in a special election. Congresswoman Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force, believing it would create a blank check for endless war, and an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War. Currently, she serves on the Budget Committee and the powerful Appropriations Committee, is co-chair of the Democratic Policy and Steering Committee, and is a former co-chair and member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Andrew Bacevich
Andrew J. Bacevich is the President of the Quincy Institute. He grew up in Indiana, graduated from West Point and Princeton, served in the army, became an academic, and is now a writer. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books, among them: The New America Militarism (2005), The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (2008), Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War (2010), America’s War for the Greater Middle East (2016), and The Age of Illusions: How America Squandered Its Cold War Victory (January 2020). He is Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History at Boston University and has held fellowships at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the American Academy in Berlin.