Foreign Affairs Expert, Retired Congressman Lee Hamilton '52 Making News

October 3, 2001

October 3, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - Lee H. Hamilton, a 1952 graduate of DePauw University who spent 34 years as a member of the United States Congress, has been a much sought after source for interviews and analysis since the September 11th terrorist attacks. Hamilton served on the House Committee on International Relations (formerly the House Foreign Affairs Committee) during his entire tenure as a congressman, chairing the committee from 1993-1995 and serving as ranking member from 1995 to 1999. He also chaired the House Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East from 1971 to 1993.

An article published in the Tuesday, October 2nd edition of the New Hampshire's Portsmouth Herald Staff states, “former Indiana Congressman Lee Hamilton reminded reporters Monday of a report issued (in January) by the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century that stated a terrorist attack on the country was almost certain to happen in the next 25 years. Former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman is a member of that Commission. Hamilton also said the war on terrorism will look more like this country's war on drugs than World War II or the Persian Gulf War.” You can read that article online at MSNBC by clicking here.

A Sunday, September 30 Associated Press story, entitled “Former Indiana congressman says war on terrorism will be lengthy,” quotes Hamilton as saying the war against terrorism "will be an ongoing, permanent war" that will more closely resemble the nation's war on drugs than conflicts of the past, such as World War II or the Persian Gulf War. Hamilton also warned of the possibility of more terrorist attacks on America. "I would be surprised if there was not somewhere in the world right now a group of men sitting around a table plotting how to hit the U.S.,” he said.

Regarded as one of the most knowledgeable foreign policy experts during his long career in Congress, Hamilton also offered this assessment: "To think we will rub (terrorism) out in the next 10 years, that's not likely." Hamilton was also a guest on the Sunday, September 30, 2001 broadcast of CNN's Late Edition.

Lee Hamilton currently serves as director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Center on Congress at Indiana University.

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