“Hostettler's Integrity Held Firm on Capitol Hill”

An old article from the Evansville Courier & Press that I came across while looking for info on the Senate candidates:

Election campaigns have become the stuff of sound bites, gaffs, smears and distortions. In this haze, the clear measure of an elected official is tough to gauge. So, as Rep. John Hostettler prepares to end his service on Capitol Hill, we thought it appropriate to relate our firsthand observations, believing that the residents of the 8th District are entitled to an accurate picture of the person who represented them for more than a decade.

Like Jimmy Stewart's principled character in "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," John Hostettler maintained his optimism, stuck to his values and never succumbed to Beltway fever.

In an atmosphere of compromised principles, arm twisting, influence peddling and sold souls, John Hostettler stood out for his integrity.

Even his colleagues noted it. We recall one evening when Rep. Mike Flanagan, a congressman from Chicago, was walking down the hall with a gaggle of reporters. He spotted Hostettler and said, "Why don't you interview that guy, Hostettler, the most honest [s.o.b.] in Congress?"

John's integrity was a source of frustration to those hoping to influence his vote. When huge, wasteful spending bills were being considered in the House, we would take calls from frantic Appropriations Committee staffers yelling, "Your boss CAN'T vote no. We put [pork] in there to keep him from doing that!"

We also remember then-Congressman Tom DeLay saying to several members in a meeting: "Leave Hostettler alone. You can't shift his vote."

When Hostettler ran in 1994 on the slogan "Restoring Trust in Government," he meant it. We will never forget his silent grin whenever someone suggested that he abandon his 1994 pledge not to take money from a political action committee since the result was chronically underfunded campaigns.

He kept his word - and the grin - for 12 years. Time and time again, we had folks tell us: "I don't always agree with him, but he is an honest, good man."

We also observed a congressman who believed that it was the ideas a person held, not the person himself, that got elected.

Dismissive of title and prestige, Hostettler's identity as a Christian, a husband and a father never left him.

If the day had been tense in the legislative arena, the sure way to see him relax was to inquire about his wife, Beth, and their children. In an instant, you could see him regain his focus on the deeper things in life. Unlike so many other politicians, he did not encourage hero worship, seek the limelight or consider the issues to be about him.

Few congressman we knew would allow themselves to be mistaken for a Wal-Mart employee (as he once was) and simply help a shopper get her paint can from the upper shelf (as John did).

We observed actions such as this as a natural outgrowth of who he is. The same is true for his decision to decline the excessive federal congressional pension that he thought was unfair to taxpayers.

We also observed a hardworking man who did not seek credit, even when doing so would have been to his advantage. In 1995 he worked privately with Toyota officials in their selection of Princeton, Ind., for their new manufacturing plant. He kept the project a secret at Toyota's request.

He was one of the few congressmen to obtain a National Weather Service Doppler radar for an area that had not been scheduled to receive one. When severe weather damaged homes in the district, he wouldn't call a press conference to draw attention to himself - he would show up to help.

Hostettler was a leader in advancing and deploying missile defenses, ensuring that U.S. troops serve under U.S. command and seeing to it that our men and women in uniform were properly equipped.

He was at the center of the struggles over religious liberties, same-sex marriage, Second Amendment rights and the fair treatment of homeschoolers. He was a tireless defender of innocent life. Despite intense pressure, he voted against most appropriation bills because he believed in small government and would not support deficit spending.

He was one of the few independent-minded members of Congress. When he rebuffed then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's demand to vote a certain way - and the speaker tried to punish Hostettler by postponing a scheduled 8th District fundraising event - the congressman uninvited Gingrich altogether. Whether he was opposing illegal immigration, voting against the invasion of Iraq, or authoring an amendment to prohibit the District of Columbia from requiring the Boy Scouts to allow homosexual troop leaders, Hostettler ignored politics and did what was best for the people he represented - and the country.

He took his oath to uphold the Constitution seriously. While we do not know Brad Ellsworth, we do know that he has some big shoes to fill.

At the end of an outdoor debate in 2000 with Dr. Paul Perry, a U.S. fighter squadron screamed overhead as Hostettler was concluding his remarks. Dr. Perry sarcastically said to him: "It's great to be a Congressman, isn't it?" implying that Hostettler had arranged for the flyby. As surprised as everyone else at the planes' appearance, he responded, "No, it's great to be an American."

We all have our political differences. John Hostettler is a great American. Southwestern Indiana, and America, is better off because of his service and sacrifice.

I found out recently that Hostettler declined to claim his Congressional pension (despite having the opportunity to do so).

When people say that the Republican Senate field is lacking, they just don't get it. These candidates has upstanding character and will campaign vigorously for the nomination.

And the organizations they build in the primary will serve the eventual nominee well when it comes time to run against Brad "the Beautiful" Ellsworth, the handpicked choice of a bunch of secretive Democrat insiders and Evan Bayh cronies.