"The Demons Congress Has to Fight are its Own": Lee Hamilton '52

May 21, 2019

"There are a lot of reasons why Congress finds itself hamstrung in Washington and discounted by the people it serves at home," writes Lee H. Hamilton in a newspaper column. "But in the end, the demons Congress has to fight are its own. If it is to return to relevance, effectiveness, and higher standing in public opinion, the paths it must follow start on and wind through Capitol Hill."

Hamilton, a 1952 DePauw University graduate who served 34 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, offers several suggestions. The Democrat says the omnibus bill has created habits that "bypass pretty much the entire legislative process." Members of Congress need to spend more time legislating, he declares, and believes they need "to spend far more of its energy looking over the executive branch. The current hearings on the Mueller report highlight what’s been lacking: this kind of attention should be paid to every nook and cranny of government."

The veteran Democrat concludes, "The point of all this is that without a functional Congress, we don’t have a functional representative democracy. I don’t expect all these things I’ve mentioned to be resolved easily or quickly. But I want to see Congress again become an institution we can be confident is playing a constructive role in our democracy. And until it gets its house in order, I don’t see how that will happen."

A history major, Rector Scholar and basketball standout at DePauw, Lee H. Hamilton is now is a senior adviser for the Indiana University Center on Representative Government; a distinguished scholar of the IU Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies; and a Professor of Practice, IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Since retiring from the U.S. House of Representatives he has remained a prominent voice in American politics.

A leading figure on foreign policy, intelligence, and national security, he has received many honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. Hamilton is a member of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and DePauw's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Hamilton presented an Ubben Lecture at DePauw in 2011 and has received the University's McNaughton Medal for Public Service as well as an honorary doctorate from DePauw. Hamilton spoke to graduates at his alma mater in 1971 and 1998.

Earlier this month he was back on campus for a program marking the 100th anniversary of the Rector Scholar program. Video of the presentation is below.