In the (Committee) Room Where It Happens: The Committees of Senator Chuck Hagel

Criss Library – A new exhibit, In the (Committee) Room Where It Happens: The Committees of Senator Chuck Hagel, runs through April 27, 2018, on the lower level of Criss Library.

Much of the U.S. Senate’s deliberative work takes place in committees and subcommittees, and senators weigh their committee memberships carefully. Four committees on which Senator Hagel served at least a full term – Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Select Committee on Intelligence, and Special Committee on Aging – are represented in this exhibit. The range of issues addressed by these committees may surprise visitors.

On display from the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee are records from hearings and other meetings showing this range, including urban development and transit, financial crisis of 2008, stability of financial markets after 9/11, and terrorism financing. Look closely and visitors will see a few other issues that may seem out of the Committee’s scope at first glance, but were important for the Senate to address. From the Foreign Relations Committee, visitors will see documents from key diplomatic nomination hearings in the post-9/11 era, treaty considerations, and hearings on military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. This exhibit was curated by Hagel Archivist Lori Schwartz with help from Hagel Student Assistants James Hunter and Parker Brown.

The Foreign Relations Committee and Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee records are newly available for researchers to view in person in Archives & Special Collections on the lower level of Criss Library. For more information about these and other records open for research visit the Hagel Archives.

UNO alum Chuck Hagel served as a soldier in Vietnam, a U.S. Senator (NE-R) from 1997 to 2009, and a U.S. Secretary of Defense from 2013 to 2015. When he left the U.S. Senate, he donated his records to UNO. They became the U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel Archives.