Jim DeMint

Jim DeMint was named president-elect of The Heritage Foundation on Dec. 6, 2012, and officially joined the leading think tank on Jan. 3, 2013, after stepping down as senator from South Carolina. He will succeed Heritage President Edwin J. Feulner on April 3.

DeMint quickly established himself as one of the most principled, effective conservative leaders in Washington following his election in 2004 as South Carolina’s 55th U.S. senator. Seeking to enact innovative solutions to improve America for future generations, he tirelessly advocated for smaller government, individual liberty, a strong national defense and traditional values – all core tenets of Heritage’s public policy mission.

DeMint earned national acclaim for his work to end the entrenched system of earmarks, also referred to as the "congressional favor factory." Following the 2006 elections, he stood up against big spenders in Congress and stopped more than 10,000 wasteful pork projects. Robert Novak, the late giant of Washington journalism, called DeMint a “hero.”

The Wall Street Journal’s senior economics writer and editorial board member, Stephen Moore, said DeMint’s actions saved Americans about $17 billion and described him as “taxpayers' greatest ally.”

In early 2007, DeMint fought for commonsense immigration reform by leading the effort to defeat the amnesty bill. He called on government to first secure America’s borders, enforce existing laws and streamline the legal immigration system.

The Senate Steering Committee, which is comprised of the majority of Republican senators and works to advance conservative legislation, elected DeMint as chairman in late 2006.  Five years later, DeMint delivered the keynote address to the nation’s largest gathering of conservative activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

In 2012, National Journal ranked DeMint as the Senate’s most conservative member. The National Taxpayers Union identified him as the No. 1 senator voting for responsible tax and spending policies.

DeMint often says that the greatness of a country is found in its people and values, not in its government.

He is the author of the book “Now or Never: Saving America from Economic Collapse” (Center Street, 2012).

Prior to entering public service, DeMint launched and operated The DeMint Group, a successful research and marketing business in Greenville, S.C. He ran the company from 1983 until 1998, when he was elected to the first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee and a master’s degree in business administration from Clemson University. He and his wife, Debbie, have four children who are grown and married.

Edward Alden

Edward Alden is the Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), specializing in U.S. economic competitiveness. In addition, Mr. Alden is the director of the CFR Renewing America publication series. The former Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times , his work focuses on immigration and visa policy, and on U.S. trade and international economic policy.

Mr. Alden was the project co-director of the 2011 Independent Task Force on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy , which was co-chaired by former White House chief of staff Andrew Card and former Senate majority leader Thomas Daschle. He was also the project director for the 2009 Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy .

Mr. Alden is the author of the book The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11 (HarperCollins), which was named a 2009 finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for nonfiction writing. The judges called it "a masterful job of comprehensive reporting, fair-minded analysis, and structurally sound argumentation."

Mr. Alden was previously the Canadian bureau chief for the Financial Times based in Toronto, and before that was a reporter at the Vancouver Sun specializing in labor and employment issues. He also was the managing editor of the newsletter Inside U.S. Trade , widely recognized as the leading source of reporting on U.S. trade policies. He has won several national and international awards for his reporting. Mr. Alden has done numerous TV and radio appearances as an analyst on political and economic issues, including NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, McLaughlin Group, NPR, the BBC, CNN, and MSNBC. His work has also appeared in Foreign Policy , Foreign Affairs , the Japan Times , the San Jose Mercury News , and the Toronto Globe and Mail . He is the coauthor, with Franz Schurmann, of Democratic Politics and World Order , a monograph published by Berkeley's Institute of International Studies in 1990.

Mr. Alden holds a master's degree in international relations from the University of California, Berkeley, and pursued doctoral studies before returning to a journalism career. He also has a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of British Columbia. He was the winner of numerous academic awards, including a Mellon fellowship in the humanities and a MacArthur Foundation graduate fellowship.

Jack Martin

Jack, who joined FAIR in 1995, is a retired U.S. diplomat with consular experience. He has testified before the U.S. Congress, U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform and has authored studies of immigration issues. His national and international print, TV, and talk radio experience is extensive (including in Spanish).