Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 15 August 2003 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 2003

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BAYH

► Continued from Page 1 “closing the achievement gap between under performing inner city schools and other schools,” having obtained $40 million in additional Title 1 funds for Indiana schools. The former governor believes African-American critics who think Bayh votes more for Republican issues feel that way because his accomplishments aren’t reported in the national and local media. “It’s not very newsworthy,” said Bayh, “when a Democrat stands up for civil rights and social justice, doing more for education and health care. But when a Democrat occasionally happens to take a different position on Iraq or some budgetary issue, well that’s news and that gets a lot of attention. And people get the idea that that’s all I’m doing and that’s not the case.” Sen. Bayh is strongly skeptical of the exaggerated claims the Bush administration made to justify the decision to go to war with Iraq. “It (the main reasons) should have been enough,” said Bayh. “But because they (the Bush administration) tried to gild the lily and oversell, they put their credibility and our country’s credibility on the line. And credibility is one of the most important national security assets that you have. It’s like the little boy who cried wolf. The next time we’re trying to convince the

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Senator Bayh * world that we have to do something aboutNorth Koreaorlran and the response that we get is well why should we believe you. That’s not a very helpful thing. They didn’t need to do that. It’s unfortunate and we have to live with it.” Bayh’s Hoosier Senate colleague, Sen. Richard Lugar, a Republican, has been critical of the Bush administration’s actions in post-war Iraq telling the Washington Post “clearly, the administration’s planning for the post-conflict phase in Iraq was inadequate.” Sen. Bayh agreed with his colleague’s assessment. “It’s surprising to me that they could have been so competent in terms of winning the war, but have fallen down on the job in terms of stabilizing the country

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and getting it on the path to a freer, more prosperous Iraq.” Bayh continued his criticisms of the administration’s policy. “We all knew we were going to win the war. The biggest challenge was the day after and what to do then. I can only chalk it up (the administration’s failure) to perhaps overconfidence and maybe a touch of arrogance.” Many African Americans strongly opposed President Bush’s decision to go to war. Sen. Bayh supported the president’s decision to move into Iraq. In the Channel 65 interview, Bayh explained his position. Bayh said a majority of Democrats in Congress supported going to war because “the world changed after 9-11. We had 3,000 of our fellow citizens killed and we saw what happened when we waited until it was too late.” Bayh talked about the threats America faces and why the United States must be more proactive against potential threats. “I sit on the (Senate) Intelligence Committee and every week I’m briefed on the threats that are out there against our country. They are numerous and unfortunately they are real.” “And that led many of us to conclude,” Bayh continued, “that we have to be more proactive in trying to determine who is out to get us, what might they do to us and keep them from being able to do that until its too late.” The senator was emphatic that America can’t wait until threats are “imminent.” “If you wait until an attack is imminent,”said Bayh, “until the missiles have been launched, until the biological agents or chemical agents are in our country, waiting to be dispersed, you run a very real risk that you’ve waited until its too late and you have another calamity like you saw on 9-11” On local and domestic issues, Bayh is optimistic that his effort to provide financial relief for Wishard Hospital will be approved by a Senate/House conference committee. Last month, Bayh included in the Senate’s prescription drug bill a provision that would bring millions of dollars in Medicaid payments to Wishard. According to the senator, Wishard handles more than its share of Medicaid and indigent patients, more than all the other hospitals in Central Indiana and other hospitals in the country. Bayh’s amendment would return to Indiana monies that our state and Wishard should have been entitled to. As chairman of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, Bayh is involved the party’s policy debates leading into the 2004 elections. While not criticizing other presidential candidates by name, Bayh urged they not advocate repealing all the Bush tax cuts, saying that some tax cuts benefit middle class and working class families, especially those with children. Bayh’s also concerned about the party’s perception with younger minority voters. “The Democratic Party can’t afford to have anybody think we’re taking them for granted,” he said. “We’ve got to be out there earning the trust and the support of voters, whether they’re Democrats in the minority community or independents or people who feel they've been turned off by politics.” “We’ve got to be out there earning their trust and support everyday by what we stand for, a stronger economy, more affordable, accessible health care, better schools for our kids and freedom, security and opportunity," Bayh declared. WDNI-TV will rebroadcast the interview with Sen. Evan Bayh Saturday morning, Aug. Iti at Ham.