IU alum continues to receive honors

The awards keep piling up for IU alumnus and former 9-11 Commission vice chairman Lee Hamilton, who was recently named "Citizen of the Year" and will be presented with the Freedom from Fear award this weekend.\nHamilton, current director of IU's Center on Congress, received the "Citizen of the Year" award from the National Conference on Citizenship, a federally chartered nonprofit, nonpartisan agency, which presented the award at its 2005 conference held Sept. 19 in Washington, D.C. The organization attempts to engage citizens of all ages in democracy, said John Bridgeland, the chair of the advisory board for the group.\nThe Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute will present Hamilton and his colleague, 9-11 Commission Chair Thomas Kean, with the Freedom from Fear award Saturday.\nPrevious recipients of Roosevelt Institute awards include U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela and Bob Dole, among others.\n"I think he really is one of the preeminent public citizens today in America," said Edward Carmines, IU political science professor and director of research at the Center on Congress. "Most of what he does has no remuneration to him. He's just an outstanding public citizen."\nJohn Bridgeland, chair of the advisory board for the NCoC, said the group gave Hamilton the award because of his involvement with the 9-11 Commission, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the IU Center for Congress, an organization that promotes understanding and involvement of Congress.\n"There's a special place in his heart for the 'Citizen of the Year' award," said Phil Duncan, the Washington-based outreach specialist for the IU Center on Congress. "Being recognized ... is a signal honor for someone who puts as much stock as he does in the importance of individuals driving our democratic system." \nDavid Woolner, executive director of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, said Hamilton's service to the country makes him an ideal candidate for the Freedom from Fear award.\n"His involvement in leadership in 9-11 Commission was outstanding, the pinnacle of a long and distinguished career. We're delighted he's accepted this award," he said. \nFormer president Bill Clinton and former television news anchor Tom Brokaw will also be receiving awards during Saturday's events, Woolner said. \nHamilton, who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in Indiana's Ninth District from 1965 to 1999, is director of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a nonpartisan group which studies national and international issues and policies. He was also vice chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, commonly known as the 9-11 Commission.\n"I see these (awards) as recognition of the work of the 9-11 Commission. I don't look at them personally," Hamilton said. "I'm very pleased with the honor ... but I think it has to be seen as an award to the entire 9-11 Commission."\nHamilton said he is pleased that many of the commission's recommendations have been implemented, particularly in the intelligence community, though there is still more to be done.\nParticularly, he said the federal government needs to allocate homeland security funding on the basis of vulnerability, not politics, in order to protect the most at-risk areas of the country. He also said better communication technology is needed for authorities, so police and firefighters can communicate with each other during emergencies. The government also needs to develop a "unified command system so that when the emergency first responders come to a scene somebody's in charge," he said. \nHamilton said he hopes more changes can be made this year, sooner rather than later. \n"I've been very pleased with the work on the 9-11 Commission ... but we've got a lot to do here," he said. "When (Hurricane) Katrina hit, I thought we would be better prepared, and I was disappointed. We can do better"