News-Info-Alerts

Re: REP Buyer Heads to Iraq for POW Judge Advocate Duty

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: March 22, 2003

"Rep. Buyer called to duty for mission in war with Iraq
U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer of Monticello has said his experiences in Iraq during the first Gulf War inspired him to run for Congress.
Now, the six-term Indiana Republican is returning to active duty to serve in the war against Iraq.
A Gulf War veteran and an Army reservist since 1987, Lt. Col. Buyer will act as an operational law judge advocate.
Buyer asked for an immediate indefinite leave of absence from House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who granted the request.
Buyer, 44, received a standing ovation from his colleagues, who were debating on the House floor late into the night to pass a resolution supporting troops fighting in and around Iraq.
“A need was identified, of which Congressman Buyer has the unique skill and experience to meet the requirements within the theater of operation,” Buyer’s spokeswoman, Laura Zuckerman, said in a press release.
During the first Gulf War in 1990, Buyer served as a legal adviser at a prisoner-of-war camp in the Persian Gulf, and investigated alleged war crimes.
Buyer told his colleagues he again will be working at a POW camp, possibly in Kuwait.
“He’s already taken risks for the country,” said U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., whom Buyer called to notify of his status.
“I told him we’d pray for him,” Souder said.
Buyer, who now chairs a subcommittee of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, testified at a congressional hearing in 1993 that he believed he suffered from Gulf War syndrome.
He was elected to Congress in 1992 and represents all or part of 12 counties, including a portion of White County, in west-central Indiana’s new 4th District.
While Buyer is on active duty, his congressional office will be operated by his staff. He will continue to draw his congressional salary.
Three other House members are in the reserves and one is in the National Guard. One senator, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is in the reserves.
Members of Congress who are in the reserves are put on standby when they take their oath of office — normally keeping them from being activated. However, call-up decisions are handled case by case.
Information provided by Buyer’s office in Washington, D.C., said he will be serving in a “forward deployed unit in ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’”

Content © 2003 The Herald Journal"