Iowa State held its annual Constitution Day lecture inside the Memorial Union on Monday. Jeff Flake, a former senator and ambassador to Turkey, held a lecture titled “When Congress Steps Back: A Call for Restoring Balance in Governance.”
Flake opened by speaking about recent events, noting he was speaking to a group of students at Utah Valley University the day before Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot at the university.
Flake, who served as an Arizona senator from 2013 to 2019, said the U.S. Congress needs to step up and speak up against the executive branch and not let it get too much power.
He also mentioned tariffs, Foreign Aid programs such as U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief and NATO, specifically with Sweden.
Flake shared his experience being involved in Congress, being a foreign ambassador and said he believes that attending these events can be very beneficial for students.
“Being a student is all about getting perspective, maybe to hear opinions that you don’t share but you think about,” Flake said. “That’s what a liberal education is about, hearing opinions that make you think.”
Students shared their thoughts and take aways from the lecture.
“I thought it was really insightful,” Anders Leighton, a sophomore in political science, said. “I’ve never gotten to interact with someone who’s had such experience in politics before, so it was interesting seeing that firsthand.”
Leighton felt more knowledgeable after attending the event.
“I didn’t know anything about Turkey before this,” Leighton said. “It was interesting hearing someone with so much firsthand experience.”
Ellison Kullmann, a freshman majoring in political science, said she felt more informed after attending the event.
“I had never heard from ambassadors directly, so it was interesting for him to come here and speak about that,” Kullmann said.
Kullmann said she enjoyed the event for the speaker’s neutral views.
“It was interesting, I think he had a lot of bipartisan views that were interesting and good to hear from a not radical either way congressman,” Kullmann said.
A recording of the event can be found here and will be available for three weeks.