Lee H. Hamilton

Lee H. Hamilton co-chairs BPC’s Task Force on Terrorism and Ideology. For more than 40 years, Hamilton has been an important voice on international relations and American national security. From 1965 to 1999, he served Indiana in the House of Representatives, where his chairmanships included the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran. He also was chairman of the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress and worked to promote integrity and efficiency in the institution.

Since retiring from Congress, Hamilton has been at the center of efforts to address some of our nation’s highest-profile homeland security and foreign policy challenges. He served as vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, which issued its report in 2004. He was co-chairman, with former Secretary of State James A. Baker, of the Iraq Study Group, which in 2006 made recommendations on U.S. policy options in Iraq. He was co-chairman, with former Senator Spencer Abraham, of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, which issued a report in 2006 calling for reform of the nation’s immigration laws and system. Most recently, he was co-chairman, with former White House National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

From 1999 through 2010, Hamilton was president of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, an institution in Washington, D.C., where scholars, policymakers, and business leaders engage in comprehensive and non-partisan dialogue on public policy issues. Currently, Hamilton is director of The Center on Congress at Indiana University, a non-partisan educational institution seeking to improve the public’s understanding of Congress and to inspire young people and adults to take an active part in revitalizing representative government in America.