U.S. Senator Evan Bayh is focused on providing hardworking Hoosier families with the tools and opportunities they need to succeed today. From his work to help stimulate the economy by creating jobs and growing small businesses to his fight to keep a college education within the reach of all Hoosiers, Senator Bayh continues to break through the partisan gridlock of Washington to help more Hoosiers make a better life for themselves and their children. His commitment to making real progress instead of participating in political showdowns has set Bayh apart as a leader on a wide range of important issues facing the nation.

Elected to his second term in November 2004, Senator Bayh has proven he is "more concerned with reflecting what he believes is right for Indiana citizens than with playing to the Beltway crowd," says the Indianapolis Star. His signature legislative efforts are aimed at strengthening our national security, creating more jobs through the growth of small businesses, protecting American workers from unfair trade practices, encouraging responsible fatherhood and providing tax-relief for families struggling with the rising costs of college, retirement and the long-term care of a loved one. Bayh has taken the lead in providing our troops with the armored vehicles they need and has visited Iraq and Afghanistan several times for a first-hand look at the progress on-the-ground. He has also led the fight to cut through the mire of bureaucracy to ensure our nation's wounded soldiers receive the high quality care they need and deserve.

Bayh currently serves on five Senate Committees: Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, for which he is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance; Armed Services; the Select Committee on Intelligence; the Special Committee on Aging; and the Small Business Committee.

While some have been content to let partisanship continue to threaten progress on the nation's most pressing issues, Bayh has continued to look for ways to build consensus and do what's right for Americans. In January 2005, he spearheaded the creation of the Third Way, an organization focused on common sense legislative solutions on issues that would otherwise remain bogged down in political turf wars. Bayh also served for more than four years as Chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, which offers support to elected officials and community leaders who take a progressive approach to the issues facing the country.

Before his election to the Senate, Bayh was elected in 1988 to the first of two terms as Governor of Indiana, where he established the state as one of the strongest, most financially secure economies in the nation. "Mr. Bayh's record," reported the Wall Street Journal in 1992, "is one of a genuinely fiscally conservative Democrat." Stressing fiscal responsibility, lower taxes, job creation and lean government, Bayh's list of achievements include: eight years without raising taxes; the greatest single tax cut and largest budget surplus in state history; national leadership in moving people from welfare to work; more dollars for schools every year; high academic standards and new college opportunities for all, including low-income students; more than 350,000 new jobs; tougher laws on crime; and improved environmental quality.

Bayh was born in Shirkieville, Indiana. He graduated with honors in business economics from Indiana University in 1978, and received his law degree from the University of Virginia in 1981. After clerking for a federal court judge and entering private law practice in Indianapolis, he was elected Indiana's Secretary of State in 1986, the first of Bayh's five statewide victories.

Senator Bayh counts as his most important role and greatest responsibility a position he assumed in November 1995: proud father of twin sons Beau and Nick - a joy he shares daily with his wife, Susan.