9th District
Residence: Seymour
Born: June 23, 1953; Seymour, Ind.
Religion: Methodist
Family: Wife, Betty Hill; three children
Education: Furman U., B.A. 1975 (history)
Military Service: None
Career: Financial adviser; state student assistance commission executive director; state legislative aide; insurance company manager
Political Highlights:Ind. House, 1982-90; Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, 1990; U.S. House, 1999-2005; defeated for re-election to U.S. House, 2004

Baron P. Hill isn't an unfamiliar figure on Capitol Hill: He returns to Washington after a two-year hiatus, having narrowly lost his seat to Republican Rep. Mike Sodrel in the 2004 election.

Achieving energy independence from oil companies is a high priority for Hill. In Congress, he says, he'll promote the use of ethanol, biodiesel and wind energy, and increased tax credits for owners of hybrid vehicles.

Given his interest in environmental issues, he would not be displeased with a seat on the Agriculture Committee, which will take up the farm bill this session. Hill sat on the same committee in the 108th Congress and was part of the effort to pass the 2002 farm law.

A spot on the Armed Services Committee also would be familiar for Hill, who served on that panel during his first term. Although he voted in favor of the resolution to use force in Iraq, he says he did so because he had faulty information and has expressed concern that the Bush administration seems to have no plan to win the war.

Hill is married to a middle-school math teacher and often weighs in on education issues, maintaining that schools would be safer if they were smaller. After the massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999, he penned legislation providing federal grants to local districts to help them accommodate fewer students in each school.