The guests will be Harold L. Volkmer, of Missouri, and Dan Miller, of Florida. Volkmer is a Democrat who served 10 terms in the House. Miller is a Republican and he served five terms.

They will share their life experiences to students in the classroom. The community is invited to two separate talks – a brown bag luncheon talk at 11:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 14. The topic is partisanship in Congress.

A campus-wide lecture, which will explore the relationship between religion and politics, will be at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 14. Both talks are in the Administration Building cafeteria.

Their visit is part of the Congress to Campus program, which is sponsored by the Stennis Center, the Center for Democracy and Citizenship (CDC) at the Council for Excellence in Government and the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress.

More than 125 college visits have been made since 1996 by Congress to Campus members.

Volkmer served on the House Agriculture Committee and he helped shape five major farm bills. He also served on the science and technology committee at the time the Internet was first funded, and he was chairman of the space subcommittee at the time the space station was initiated.

After leaving Congress, he served two years as chairman of the National Commission on Small Farms. He also was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association. He continues to serves as a director, as well as chairman of the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. In his retirement, Volkmer is a political consultant and guest lecture.

Miller was elected in 1992. A former professor and businessman, he never held public office before his election to Congress. He received his doctorate in marketing and statistics from Louisiana State University. He had a variety of teaching positions and most recently as a professor at the University of South Florida, Sarasota. He is currently developing the Manasota Institute of Public Policy and Leadership at the Sarasota Campus of USF.

In Congress, he served on the appropriations, budget and government reform committees. As a staunch fiscal conservative, he fought to eliminate unnecessary programs within his subcommittees. He also was a strong advocate for the National Institute of Health and successfully doubled its budget.

As a member of the government reform committee, he served as chairman of the census subcommittee with oversight of the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Stennis Center for Public Service is a federal, legislative branch agency created by Congress in 1988 to promote and strengthen public service leadership in America. The Stennis Center is headquartered in Starkville, Mississippi, adjacent to Mississippi State University. Programs of the Stennis Center are funded through an endowment plus private contributions from foundations and corporations.

The Stennis Center’s mandate is to attract young people to careers in public service, to provide training for leaders in or likely to be in public service, and to offer development opportunities for senior congressional staff. Products of the Stennis Center include conferences, seminars, special projects, and leadership development programs.

The Congress to Campus visit is sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Public Affairs and University Advancement, Office of Alumni Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Departments of Philosophy and Political Science, Student Government Association and Political Science Club, all at IU South Bend, and the Residence Inns.