Jim Leach, former US representative from Iowa, dies at 82

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach has died at age 82. He served 30 years as a politician from eastern Iowa. He later headed the National Endowment for the Humanities. His death Wednesday was confirmed by an Iowa City funeral home. He represented Iowa as a moderate Republican until 2006. Leach was chair of the banking and foreign relations committees. In 2002 he was among six Republicans, who then held the House majority, to vote against a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq. The measure paved the way for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, which Leach also opposed.