Steve Buyer

Stephen Earle Buyer (born November 26, 1958) is an American former politician who served as the U.S. representative for IN's 4th congressional district, and previously the IN's 5th congressional district, from 1993 until 2011.

In July 2022, Buyer was arrested and charged with insider trading for buying shares of Sprint and Navigant Consulting before both were acquired by other companies, which he knew through his consulting work before the information was made public.

Buyer was found guilty in 2023 and sentenced to 22 months in prison.

He is a member of the Republican Party.

In 1976, he graduated from North White High School, where he had been class president.

In 1980, he received a Bachelor of Science in business administration and management from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, and in 1984, he received a Juris Doctor from the Valparaiso University School of Law.

Buyer served three years on active duty in the Army between 1984 and 1987.

As an Army reserve officer, had three years of active duty after graduating from law school in 1984.

Republican Bud Hillis had represented the district for 16 years until his retirement in 1986.

Jontz, then a state senator, was elected in the face of divided Republican opposition.

Buyer defeated Jontz by just over 5,000 votes.

He would never face another contest nearly that close, and was re-elected four times from this district with an average of 62 percent of the vote.

His first civilian job, from 1987 to 1998, was as an Indiana state deputy attorney general; he then started his own private law practice.

During the Gulf War (1990–1991), Buyer, then a captain, spent five months on active duty giving legal counsel to commanders and interrogating Iraqi P.O.W.s.

He was elected to the U.S. House of Representative in November 1992, at age 33.

Buyer attended The JAG School at the University of Virginia and entered U.S. Army JAG Corps.

In his 1992 campaign, Buyer supported bringing to a vote on the House floor a Congressional amendment for term limits on members of Congress.

He voted for the measure and it received a majority of votes, but not the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

When Buyer first ran for Congress in 1992, he faced three-term Democratic incumbent Jim Jontz in what was then the 5th District, comprising twenty primarily rural counties in north central Indiana.

In Congress, Buyer served as one of the House managers (prosecutors) in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999.

In 1999, Buyer served one of the House managers (prosecutors) in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.

On March 20, 2003, Buyer announced to Congress that "I have been called to active duty in the United States Army. Pending further orders, I request immediate indefinite leave of the United States House of Representatives to accommodate my military duties."

He also said that "a need was identified, of which Congressman Buyer has the unique skill and experience to meet the requirements," to serve in Iraq.

Claiming to be called to active duty, he took a leave of absence from Congress.

Buyer spent his paid absence from Congress in his home in Monticello, Indiana.

Ten days later, he said he had not been activated, contradicting his previous statement and that he was returning to Congress.

Defense Department rules prevent those on active duty from campaigning for and holding elective office.

Thus in June 2003, the Indianapolis Star reported that the Army, in a March 31 letter to Buyer signed by Army secretary Thomas White, had rejected Buyer's offer to serve in the Iraq War, because "we are able to meet the need without your participation" and "we are concerned that your presence would put in jeopardy the safety of those serving around you."

In April 2004, Buyer was promoted to colonel in the United States Army Reserve by President George W. Bush in the Oval Office.

He also chaired the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs from 2005 to 2007.

Buyer, who interrogated captured Iraqis during the Gulf War, voted against the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, specifically the no torture amendment offered by Senator John McCain.

He reasoned that torture was already unlawful.

He stated, "I think the people of Indiana need to know that there's a lot of grandstanding going on here, there's a lot of self-projection."

In June 2009, Buyer became the subject of some prime-time TV news attention when he likened the physical effects of smoking tobacco to those of smoking dried, rolled lettuce or grass when taking the floor against the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

He stated:

"[Y]ou could have smoked that lettuce and you would still end up with the same problems. You could cut the grass in your yard, dry it and roll it up in a cigarette and smoke it, and you're still going to have a lot of problems. It is the smoke that kills, not the nicotine. It's the smoke."

On January 29, 2010, Buyer announced he would not seek a tenth term to the House to spend more time with his wife, who has an incurable autoimmune disease.

Buyer was also under investigation for ethics violations with respect to the Frontier Foundation that he had founded.

In 2012, Buyer started working for R.J. Reynolds, promoting the use of smokeless tobacco.

Buyer was born in Rensselaer, Indiana.