July 28, 2006

McGovern Creates Council Of Elders

McGovern organizes elders' council to offer advice

By CHUCK RAASCH GNS Political Writer WASHINGTON - Saying Americans should listen more to their elders, former South Dakota Sen. George McGovern is forming a bipartisan council of seniors to offer advice on issues facing the country.

McGovern, 84, said his ``Council of Elders'' includes ex-senators and members of Congress, as well as professors, activists, ex-diplomats and former union officials. As of Friday, about three dozen people had signed on, and they span the ideological spectrum - from conservatives Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who is retiring from Congress, and ex-Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming to liberal ex-Sens. Thomas Eagleton of Missouri and John Culver of Iowa. Eagleton was briefly McGovern's vice presidential running mate in 1972 before it was disclosed Eagleton had undergone treatment for depression and exhaustion.

McGovern's Council of Elders will also include former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who served during the Vietnam War, and former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who served under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson.

Civil rights activist and current Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., has also agreed to join, McGovern said, as has feminist Gloria Steinem; retired Springfield, Mo., banker and author Todd Parnell; former United Autoworkers President Douglas Fraser; and Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman.

Posted at 03:21 PM

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