Robert Wexler (born January 2, 1961) is the president of the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.

Wexler was a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida's 19th congressional district, from 1997 until his resignation on January 3, 2010.

Wexler was born in Queens, New York to Sonny and Sandra Wexler. He and his family moved to South Florida when he was ten. Wexler graduated from Hollywood Hills High School in Hollywood, Florida and later attended Emory University for a year. He transferred to the University of Florida, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1982. Wexler received his law degree from The George Washington University Law School in 1985 and was a lawyer in private practice with Shutts & Bowen before serving in the House.

Wexler served in the Florida Senate from 1990 to 1996 before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1996 election, filling the open seat vacated by fellow Democrat Harry Johnston. He has been reelected five times, never facing serious opposition in one of the most Democratic districts in Florida. On January 3, 2010, he resigned to become executive director of the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, a Washington-based think-tank.

Alberto R. Gonzales (born August 4, 1955) was the 80th, and the first Hispanic United States Attorney General, appointed in February of 2005 by President George W. Bush, becoming the highest-ranking Hispanic in government to date. Prior to his elevation, he was the first Hispanic White House General Counsel, and earlier he had been Bush's General Counsel during his governorship of Texas. In Texas Gonzales had also served as Secretary of State of Texas and then as a Texas Supreme Court Justice. Gonzales's tenure as US Attorney General was marked by several conflicts with Congress. Following bipartisan calls for his removal, Gonzales resigned from the office without explanation. Democrats were particularly opposed to Gonzales for his role in the firing of several US District Attorneys which they believe had politicized his office.

Alberto Gonzales was born to a Catholic family in San Antonio, Texas, and raised in Humble, a town outside of Houston. Of Mexican descent, he was the second of eight children born to Pablo and Maria Gonzales. His father, who died in 1982, was a migrant worker and then a construction worker with a second grade education. His mother worked at home raising eight children and had a sixth grade education. Gonzales and his family of ten lived in a small, two-bedroom home built by his father and uncles with no telephone and no hot running water. According to Gonzales, he is unaware whether immigration documentation exists for three of his grandparents who were born in Mexico and who, like Gonzales and his family, were poor and uneducated and thus they may have entered and resided in the United States illegally from Mexico or they may have entered and resided legally.

Heather Ann Wilson (born December 30, 1960) is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing New Mexico's 1st congressional district from 1998 to 2009. She is the first female military veteran elected to a full term in Congress.

While in Congress, Wilson focused on national security issues, serving on the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the United States House Committee on Armed Services. She also focused on health care, energy, manufacturing and trade, and telecommunication, serving on the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

She opted not to run for re-election to the House in 2008 and sought the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senator Pete Domenici but finished second in the Republican primary to Congressman Steve Pearce, who then lost the general election to Democrat Tom Udall. On March 7, 2011, she announced another run for Senate in 2012 to replace retiring Senator Jeff Bingaman.

Wilson was born in Keene, New Hampshire, the daughter of Martha Lou, nurse, and George Douglas "Doug" Wilson, a commercial pilot and member of the Experimental Aircraft Association. Wilson grew up around aviation and hoped to become a pilot like her father and grandfather before her. Her paternal grandparents were born in Scotland. Her grandfather, George G. "Scotty" Wilson, flew for the Royal Air Force (RAF) in World War I and emigrated to America in 1922 where he was a barnstormer and airport operator in the 1920s and 1930s. He served as a courier pilot during World War II and started the New Hampshire Civil Air Patrol where he was a Wing Commander. Her father started flying at age 13 and enlisted in the United States Air Force after high school.

Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. (November 18, 1923 – August 9, 2010) was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history. He was President pro tempore in the 108th and 109th Congresses from January 3, 2003, to January 3, 2007, and the third senator to hold the title of President pro tempore emeritus.

Stevens served for six decades in the American public sector, beginning with his service in World War II. In the 1950s, he held senior positions in the Eisenhower Interior Department. He played key roles in legislation that shaped Alaska's economic and social development, including the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, and the Magnuson–Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. He was also known for his sponsorship of the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, which resulted in the establishment of the United States Olympic Committee.

Mary Beth Long was United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2007 to 2009.

Mary Beth Long was educated at Pennsylvania State University, receiving a B.A. in communication studies in 1985. During her time as an undergraduate, she studied abroad in Taiwan, at the National Taiwan University and at Fu Jen Catholic University.

Long joined the Directorate of Operations of the Central Intelligence Agency in 1986, working there until 1999. Her work for the CIA focused on narcotics, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism. While at the CIA, she completed the Clandestine Operations in Dangerous Areas area and underwent paramilitary training. From May to September 1996, she was Deputy and Acting Chief for the Haiti Task Force.

While working at the CIA, Long attended the Washington and Lee University School of Law and received a J.D. in 1998. In 1999 she joined Washington, D.C. law firm Williams & Connolly and worked there until 2004.

On May 19, 2004, Long was appointed Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics. She became Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in August 2005. She held that position until December 2007.