Dear Friends:

I have known Nels for more than twenty years as a man of unimpeachable character, committed throughout his life to freedom and opportunity.

Nels’ life embodies the American Dream. He grew up on a small dairy farm in Indiana, the grandson of immigrants. He was national FFA President and studied agriculture at Purdue before studying law and public policy at one of our nation’s other fine universities. And he has kept his Hoosier values throughout.

Nels does not back away from a challenge. When I first met him, he was a senior Congressional staff member and a forceful advocate for constitutional rights at a time when powerful interests were still aligned against those noble objectives. In recent years Nels has returned to representing individuals in constitutional and property rights issues, and has gained a national reputation in those areas.

But it is Nels experience in international affairs, specifically in the Middle East, that I want to emphasize. Others have visited the Middle East, but Nels has lived and worked there. Others have toured parts of the world where other cultures predominate, but Nels has worked and lived among those peoples. He is truly an international citizen with knowledge grounded in experience that is hard to come by in Washington or anywhere else, knowledge that will be an exceptionally important benefit to Hoosiers and all Americans.

I saw Nels in Egypt several years ago when he opened the first office by an American law firm. Nels and his family moved to Egypt to represent American interests and foster open markets. But he did more than that. He helped organize and was elected president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which quickly became one of the most influential organizations for progress in the Middle East.

Elsewhere, Nels has served in advisory capacities as a member of U.S. delegations to Yemen and countries of the former Soviet Union. He has represented clients in their activities in Europe, Asia, Canada and South America. Everywhere he has gone he has served as an excellent ambassador for the Hoosier State.

Nels will bring to Congress an extraordinary level of understanding of international matters and a record of resolving international disputes.

Nels has my endorsement and my full support.

Sincerely,

Lee Hamilton

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