A Conversation with Jim DeMint

On June 5, 2014, Sasakawa USA welcomed Mr. Jim DeMint for a private, off-the-record discussion on his views on Asia and U.S.-Japan relations following his first trip to Japan on Sasakawa Peace Foundation’s Opinion Leaders Exchange Program in May 2014.

About the Speaker

Jim DeMint ran the DeMint Group, a Greenville-based marketing research and strategic planning business, until 1998, when he was elected as a Republican to the first of three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. His reputation as one of Washington’s most principled conservative leaders grew after his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, the 55th to serve from South Carolina.

Over the years, DeMint collaborated with the Heritage Foundation on reforms to entitlements, health care, education and immigration, and on efforts such as Heritage’s Index of Dependence on Government to reverse Americans’ growing reliance on taxpayer-funded programs. He drew national attention for working to end congressional earmarks, stopping the 2007 amnesty bill, arguing for comprehensive missile defense and opposing the UN’s Law of the Sea Treaty. DeMint became President of the Heritage Foundation in 2013.