Steve Buyer Quotes
The young patriots now returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan and other deployments worldwide are joining the ranks of veterans to whom America owes an immense debt of gratitude.
United States, Congress, House. Representative Buyer speaking on Honoring Our Nation's Veterans. Congressional Record, 10 Nov. 2005, p. H10151.
Webb’s opponent had accused him of not being patriotic because he opposed many of President George W. Bush’s Iraq War policies. This technique of publicly intimating that an opponent was not patriotic because he opposed the hawkish proposals of the President, had worked very well for the Republicans before. Presidential Candidate John Kerry, a decorated war hero, was attacked and remarkably Senator Max Cleland who had lost three of his four limbs in battle was unseated by attacking his patriotism. When Senator George Allen, fighting for reelection, used the technique on Webb, Web responded much more aggressively than earlier Democrats had when faced with the accusation. Senator Allen, like most of the patriotism critics of heroic veterans, had never been in combat.
Stephen Earle Buyer is the former U.S. Representative for Indiana's 4th congressional district, and previously the 5th district, serving from 1993 until 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Buyer retired the rank of colonel in the United States Army Reserve.
