You must never forget, when you’re in Congress, that you have to keep in close touch with your constituents. That means you have to help them on the problems they have. If they need a bridge, you have to help them get a bridge. . . I tried never to forget that my first obligation was to my constituents who elected me.
For more than four decades Lee Hamilton has been an important voice in international relations and American national security.
As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hamilton represented the 9th congressional district of Indiana from 1965 to 1999. Since then he has served on a number of governmental advisory boards, most notably as the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission. He is a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council and directs IU’s Center on Congress.
Hamilton's books include Strengthening Congress, How Congress Works and Why You Should Care, and his latest, Congress, Presidents, and American Politics: Fifty Years of Writings and Reflections.
