Congressman Jim Leach is traveling in Indonesia and other countries in the region hit hard by an earthquake and tsunami on December 26th. Leach is leading a congressional delegation, and they’re meeting with government officials and victims of the disaster. Leach says a lot of their trip is one a “catch as catch can basis.”
“One of the things you don’t want as an outsider is to become a tire or a difficulty,” Leach says. “You want to be an observer (who) is constructive, so we’ll have to use judgement calls at the time.” Leach says Indonesia is a particularly important country to the U.S. because it’s a muslim nation that’s also a democracy that held a successful election in the past year.
