Projo Politics Blog

Rhode Island House Speaker William J. Murphy is hosting a gathering of his counterparts from across the country at a National Speakers Conference here next week.

According to the summer edition of the National Speakers Conference newsletter, "36 speakers and speaker designates'' have registered to attend the Sept. 17-21 conference.

According to the write-up, the conference will be "exciting, engaging and educational,'' with talks by Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams; University of Rhode Island Prof. Robert Ballard, the oceanographer who raised the Titanic; and Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, among others.

Williams will be speaking about "Abraham Lincoln and the Loneliness of Command.''
Murphy is this year's president of the speakers' arm of the State Legislative Leaders Foundation. The vice-presidents include his counterpart in Massachusetts, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi.

It has not been divulged yet how much - if anything - the days-long confab based in Newport will cost, and who will pay for it.

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