Former representative Lee Hamilton's papers are now available in digital format from IU Libraries, according to a University press release.
Hamilton represented Indiana's 9th District in the United States House of Representatives from 1965 to 1999. He worked as co-chair of the joint House and Senate committee that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair in 1977-1978, and as the vice chair of the 9/11 Commission in 2002-2004. He is also the founder and senior advisor at the Center on Representative Government at IU.
The papers come from the Iraq Study Group, a group looking at the situation of political players in Iraq and the surrounding region. The group was formed in 2005 out of concern that the United States was on the wrong path when it came to Iraq, according to the release.
The papers include notebooks, office files, meeting minutes and records of news-media coverage of the study group.
Hamilton, now a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, served as co-chair of the Iraq Study Group.
Hamilton said in the release he is grateful IU digitized these records and specifically made them accessible to students.
"The Iraq Study Group marked a serious effort by Congress to examine the conduct of the Iraq War and to play its proper role by providing oversight of American foreign policy," Hamilton said in the release. "I hope that students of government and history will learn from them for years to come."
Katelyn Haas
