By DAVID MANN
Two months ago, Southern Indiana was witness to one of the most expensive and down right muddy political campaigns in recent memory between former congressman Mike Sodrel and current congressman Baron Hill.
The race ended with Republican Sodrel publicly refusing to even extend the customary “congratulations” call to Democrat Hill, who took back his U.S. Representative seat from Sodrel.
The dust has since settled on the campaign. And Hill is now settling back into the job of being Indiana’s 9th District representative — a job he held for six years from 1998 to 2004.
The congressman sat down for an interview with The Evening News and The Tribune prior to a swearing in ceremony a week ago in New Albany.
Question: So tell us what it’s like to be back in Congress?
Baron Hill: “In some ways, it’s better this time around than it was when I first got elected. There’s something special about going through an election, losing and then getting the seat back. It feels very good.”
Q: What’s going to be done in the initial days of this Congress?
HILL: “The first thing we voted on actually is lobbying reform. We banned all gifts from lobbyist to us. So, no longer will there be meals or trips. And I think it had to be done because of all the scandals that were going on in Washington.
“There’s probably not a whole lot wrong with going to lunch with a lobbyist and having him pay for it. But the perception was terrible so we had to do it. And I voted for it. That’s the first thing we did. We voted on pay-go rules and transparency as it relates to earmarks.
“Most people know about the ‘highway to nowhere.’ And so I think that if people knew about the ‘highway to nowhere’ up front by having to declare what you’re trying to get money for, they know that would stop this kind of thing from going on.
“And the other thing was the pay-go rules. If we’re going to spent extra money, we’re going to have to figure out a way to pay for it now. That will give us good fiscal discipline so we get this budget back and balanced.”
Q: The pundits say the Democrats were victorious because of the war in Iraq — what’s going to happen there?
HILL: “I’ve been listening to [Democratic leaders] Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi this morning on the news. And they’re giving the president a pretty sharp message: Don’t come to us with this request for sending 30,000 more troops into the region and expect us to automatically pay for it. We want to know what the mission is. I think that’s fair to ask.”
Q: You voted for the Iraq War. When did you decide that was the wrong decision?
HILL: “I did vote for it. I’ve told this story before — I was not told the truth about the evidence that was being presented. And they knew it was not the truth.
“So I always thought from the beginning that we shouldn’t be doing this. But when they showed me the evidence, I went and voted for it because I really thought that Saddam Hussein was a threat to the mainland here — with the drone airplanes that they had shown me and the centrifuges, which can be used to build a nuclear bomb.
“And that’s the only reason why I voted for it. Prior to that, I didn’t think Saddam Hussein was a good guy — I didn’t like him — but I didn’t think he was a threat to us, so I didn’t want to send our men and women into harm’s way. It was only based on inaccurate information that I voted for it.”
Q: Lying about the need to go to war is a pretty serious charge — will the president be subject to hearing or impeachment because of it?
HILL: “I’m glad to hear that the leadership is not using the word impeachment. What we don’t want to be perceived as is going on a witch hunt. I think the American people want us to be asking the right questions of how all this got started. I think they want us to be asking questions about how the money is being spent over there. There’s about three or four billion dollars that’s unaccounted for. And we need to be asking the questions. Where that leads to, Who knows?
“I think that if up front, we have the attitude that we’re going to impeach the president — I think that’s going too far. If the evidence that we turn up, by asking the questions, demonstrates that there’s some illegality going on, then you know, you have to at least consider impeachment.
But I don’t think we should be going on a witch hunt right now with the president. I don’t think the American people want us to do that.”
Lightning Round
Q: During the last campaign, what’s the longest you went without sleep?
BARON HILL: 20 hours
Q: You’re a former track star. Which one of your colleagues in Congress would you most like to challenge to a foot race?
HILL: ”Former California Republican Rep. Bill Thomas. “He used to be chairman of the appropriations committee — Ways and Means. A guy I didn’t care for too much.””
Q: Where’s the best place to get a slice of pizza in Washington, D.C.?
HILL: ”Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro, located at 713 H St.
|Northwest”
Q: How do you keep that year-round tan of yours?
HILL: ”Eight minutes a week at a tanning booth — something a doctor recommended many years ago as a treatment for his psoriasis”.
