Baron Hill
I am a lifelong resident of Southern Indiana. It is the place where my wife of more than 35 years, Betty Schepman Hill, and I raised our three daughters – Cara, Jennifer and Elizabeth. We welcomed our first grandchild into the family this year, Josie, and could not be more enamored with her.
I stay active in the local community through my church and local civic organizations. Betty and I are members of the First United Methodist Church in Seymour and I have participated in the Elks Club, the American Red Cross, and the Seymour Chamber of Commerce. I also served as the President of the Seymour Jaycees.
I have very fond memories of growing up in the Southern Indiana community of Seymour. I was highly involved in athletics, setting records in basketball, football and track. I am humbled to still be one of Seymour High School's all-time leading basketball scorers and was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.
The only time I left Southern Indiana was to attend college at Furman University. There I continued my basketball career and graduated with a degree in history.
Following graduation Betty and I returned to Seymour, where I ran a small business for 15 years, focusing on insurance and real estate services. After getting involved in some community organizations, my political interest was piqued, and I ran for the Indiana General Assembly. I had the honor of serving in that body from 1982-1990.
In 1990, I decided to leave the Indiana legislature to run for the United States Senate. Although heavily touted as the underdog, I worked hard and narrowly missed an upset victory. During that campaign, I walked the entire length of the State of Indiana, meeting and talking with Hoosiers along the way.
In 1992, then-Governor Evan Bayh named me the Executive Director to the Indiana State Student Assistance Commission, which helped Hoosier students' dream of attending college become an affordable reality. Following that position I returned to the private sector where I worked as a financial analyst for Merrill Lynch.
In 1998, the fine people of Southern Indiana elected me to serve in the United States House of Representatives. I maintained that position for three terms, serving on the House Agriculture Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. As part of my duties on the House Armed Services Committee, I sat on the Anti-Terrorism Subcommittee and the Military Readiness Subcommittee, which among other responsibilities oversaw military installations such as Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center, located in Southern Indiana.
During my first tenure in Congress, I authored the Smaller Schools, Stronger Communities Act. This legislation stems from a long-term effort to make schools safer and better learning environments, where principals and teachers know their students and parents have an active role. This initiative, which provides grants to local educational agencies to develop smaller schools, was included in H.R. 1, President Bush’s 2002 education reform bill.
Drawing on my business background and fiscally-conservative beliefs, I joined the Blue Dog Coalition – a group of conservative Democrats focusing primarily on reigning in federal spending – and have been a very active member of the group. I was fortunate enough to return to Congress in 2006 and have had the distinct honor and privilege of representing the fine people of Southern Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives since then. I currently play an active role on the following Committees: House Energy and Commerce, House Science and Technology and Joint Economic.
I believe I have compiled a record of legislative successes that is focused on fighting on behalf of Hoosier families, such as: enacting PAYGO rules as law that forces Congress to offset any new or increased spending, upping the penalty for smuggling illegal aliens into this country from a misdemeanor to a felony, providing property tax relief to Hoosiers from the federal level, raising fuel efficiency standards in our vehicles for the first time in more than 30 years and advocating for Southern Indiana's fair share of federal funds.
I am particularly proud of authoring the PAYGO bill and my work on fiscal issues. As the father of three daughters and now a grandfather, I am very concerned about our mounting budget deficit. Hoosier families have to live within a budget, and so too should Congress. That is just how PAYGO works, and it has proven successful in the past, largely attributed with the creating the budget surpluses our great nation experienced in the late 1990s.
I want to continue serving as an independent voice for the people of Southern Indiana, fighting for more and better jobs for hard-working Hoosiers, real fiscal reform, a clean-energy jobs package that will create homegrown jobs while significantly strengthening our national and economic security, and ensuring our troops and veterans have the benefits they need and deserve.