Sen. Evan Bayh delivers 23rd Roth Lecture at USC
Photos by Tonya McCahon
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) called for good will and unity during a USC Law-sponsored lecture that also touched on issues relating to the federal budget, national security and globalization.
America needs more compassion and brotherhood, Bayh told the more than 100 students, faculty and community members who attended the 2005 Justice Lester W. Roth Lecture held March 22 at USC.
“We are not red vs. blue states,” he said. “We are 50 red, white and blue states. Only when we realize that can we reconcile our differences and be able to meet the challenges of our time.”
Those challenges include rehabilitating the government’s reputation, adapting to changing demographics, and overcoming the budget deficit.
“There truly are people in Washington who think deficits don’t matter,” Bayh said. “What does it say about us when we expect our children to pay for our bills – with interest? We have an obligation as a generation to get our house in order and to do right by our children.”
Bayh also shared details of his recent visit to meet U.S. soldiers hospitalized with injuries sustained in Iraq.
“Those young men and women have done more than their part for our country,” Bayh said. “What about me? What about us? What are we doing to strengthen this country?”
The spirit of altruism, he said, “is the genius of America, the challenge of our generation … an idea that I hope each of us in our own way and time can fulfill.”
Elected to his second term last November, Bayh is among the most prominent leaders of the Democratic Party and is expected to be a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2008. A leader of the New Democrat movement, he has worked to combat partisan gridlock by bringing members of both parties to common ground. Prior to his election to the Senate, Bayh served two terms as governor of Indiana, where he presided over the greatest single tax cut and largest budget surplus in state history and created more than 350,000 new jobs.
Bayh received his law degree from the University of Virginia – where Scott Bice, USC Law professor and former dean, taught Bayh’s small section torts class as a visiting professor. After clerking for a federal court judge and entering private law practice in Indianapolis, Bayh was elected Indiana’s secretary of state in 1986. His wife, Susan Breshears Bayh, is a 1984 USC Law graduate.
The Roth Lecture Series at USC Law was established in 1979 by the Louis and Florence Cohen Philanthropic Fund of the Jewish Community of Los Angeles. The lecture series honors Justice Lester W. Roth, a 1916 graduate of USC Law and presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, from 1964 until his retirement in 1992. His many civic and social service activities included serving as director of the L.A. Jewish Community Council. Justice Roth passed away in 1992.
