Hill speaks about Foley, health care at meeting

Democratic hopeful for the 9th District Congressional seat Baron Hill spoke for the second time in as many days to a Bloomington audience Tuesday afternoon.\nAddressing members and guests of the Bloomington Rotary Club, Hill alluded to recent political scandals involving former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and lobbyist Jack Abramoff and said that if elected, he will work for ethics changes in the House to restore the public's faith in Congress.\n"The problem is that the ethics committee is made up of sitting members of Congress," he said. "They're reluctant to investigate their friends and colleagues, and they never get anything done." \nHill said he will work to abolish the committee and replace it with one made up of former members of Congress.\nHe also said the nation is in urgent need of health care reform, and the House needs to engage in discussion about whether affordable health care is a right or a privilege.\n"If we establish that it's a right, then we have to do something about it," Hill said. "Forty-five million Americans without health insurance is unacceptable."\nThe Democratic candidate again stated the need for energy independence by encouraging more research on biodiesel and clean coal technology. This will also help the environment, he said.\n"Anyone who believes man is not contributing to global warming is not being honest with the scientific facts," Hill said.\nFinally, Hill commented on the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, which he voted for in 2001 but now says makes schools too federally regulated.\n"I've never liked it, and I still don't," he said. "Given an up or down vote on it, I would vote it down. It sounds like a good instrument to punish schools." \nHill's wife Betty is a public school teacher.\nThis is the third time Hill has faced Rep. Mike Sodrel, in the closely watched House race. Hill served as the district's representative from 1998 until 2004 when Sodrel defeated him by fewer than 1,500 votes.\nLibertarian candidate and IU-Southeast economics professor Eric Schansberg is also running for the seat.\nSodrel will address the Rotary Club at their next weekly meeting Tuesday.