These are the kind of men who set the standard, all we can do is strive to live up to the example they have set. This is what the words Semper Fidelis mean (Always Faithful) now you can see these words are not taken for granted they are a way of life.
Jim

Godspeed, Phil Crane. Let your fight begin.

Illinois' 8th District congressman, incipient next GOP chairman of Ways and Means, has launched a courageous battle for sobriety. And the first step is the most important one, taken in public a few days ago: recognition of the problem. "Over a period of time I have sensed an increased dependence on alcohol," he wrote in a letter to his congressional colleagues. "I have reached a point where I feel I must address this problem. Alcoholism is a disease and I must deal with it directly and decisively." Crane asked and was granted a 30-day leave of absence by House Speaker Dennis Hastert to begin his treatment--treatment which, to be successful, must last the remainder of his life.

The next task is to surrender. Surrender? It's the vital step, not just for alcoholics, but a hard-to-learn one for all of us foolish enough to think that everything depends on us. "Make a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God as we understand him," said Raymond F. Soucek, president of Haymarket Center, Chicago's famed alcohol-drug treatment haven. "That's the key. He has to realize that he is not God, that alcohol in his life was god with a small `g,' which was controlling his life. You win the battle by surrendering. The first part of surrendering is to say `I can't do it. I can't do it by myself. I tried it my way and it didn't work.' "

That principle, known as Step 3 by Alcoholics Anonymous, was endorsed even before AA's founding by Chicago's most famous priest, Msgr. Ignatius McDermott, Haymarket founder on whose foundation I serve. Starting as the famed Skid Row priest in the 1930s, he launched Haymarket at the age when most of us retire. Under his guidance, Soucek runs his center, which is judged by many as not just the biggest but one of the most effective for addiction treatment in the country.

First, you surrender to a power greater than yourself. Then, Soucek said, you fight rationalization. Fight rationalization? That sounds funny, but it's not. "Once he gets into recovery, he'll start battling it, as they all do," Soucek said. "It's the view that you've been sober now for two years, so you don't need to do this any longer. You can handle it. You don't need to go to meetings, you don't need to talk to your sponsor. You don't need to stay with what got you sober. That rationalization leads to relapse."

Can Crane recover while beset with tensions in Congress? "The problem isn't the tension," Soucek said. "It's the way he deals with the tension that must change. In the old way, he would anesthetize his feelings, bury them. But feelings are like worms: You can't kill a worm by burying it, it comes to the surface. In treatment, he'll be taught how to deal with everyday problems that baffle us and get us under strain without taking a drink."

One way is by calling up a fellow alcoholic who might or might not be in government. Or, perhaps just an ordinary guy in the community who won't be impressed with who Phil Crane is, but will regard him as just another alcoholic.

Under this rubric, Phil Crane--congressman at 39, a presidential candidate and early icon for the conservatives, dean of House Republicans--is only one commodity; God's child, who can't do this by himself, Soucek said. Declare surrender, and the healing begins.

If he succeeds by surrender, and stays at his job shepherding support for a future critical vote on granting China normal trade status, mapping African and Caribbean trade relations legislation and leading the fight against the marriage penalty--will Crane be as good as he always was?

No, Soucek said. "He'll be better. He'll do it all better for having this problem under control."

That's the word from a man who directed thousands into recovery, from the Haymarket people who are this town's best at this kind of thing. So, my old buddy of three decades . . .

Surrender, don't rationalize; hang in there.

Godspeed, Phil Crane.

"The governor's position is that he will not leave Springfield without a felony gun bill," said Ryan spokesman Dennis Culloton.

But Ryan's aides indicated they would be willing to look at a second plan Philip considered but never forwarded to the governor. That plan would restore the crime to felony status but give prosecutors the discretion to charge first-time non-violent offenders with a misdemeanor.

As Ryan and legislators push toward the scheduled end of the spring session on April 14, the main issues are the gun impasse between the state's top GOP leaders and a growing battle over competing proposals to cut taxes by up to $500 million. But there are no resolutions in sight for either issue, making the scheduled adjournment date questionable at best.

To spur further budget negotiations, Philip plans to unveil on Thursday a Senate GOP plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, featuring a property-tax rebate.

Ryan aides said they were unaware of Philip's attempt to advance a budget. Others feared the move could polarize the legislature's Republican and Democratic leadership.

But even more legislators fear a reprise of last year's political standoff between Ryan and Philip, which paralyzed the General Assembly for nearly a month.

At issue is the state statute for unlawful use of a weapon, which includes illegal possession and transportation of firearms. The offense was made a felony by the Safe Neighborhoods Act, a comprehensive anti-crime bill passed by the General Assembly in 1994.

When the state Supreme Court struck down the act on constitutional grounds in December, the crime reverted to a misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail.

Ryan called a special legislative session to re-enact the law. But Philip repeatedly fought off Ryan's attempts to reinstate the felony crime provision, contending that hunters or target shooters could face prison for mistakenly transporting a firearm improperly. Instead, Philip wanted first-time non-violent offenders to be subject only to a misdemeanor.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of their stalemate, Philip developed two proposals. One would create two classes of crimes, allowing first-time offenders to be punished with a misdemeanor. The other plan would make the offense a felony but allow prosecutors to seek a misdemeanor punishment.

But the Senate president forwarded to Ryan only the proposal creating two classes of crimes. That was rejected.

"Any proposal that has a misdemeanor for a first-time offense would not meet our requirements," Culloton said.

But Philip said the plan he forwarded to Ryan was "a reasonable compromise." More important, it would give Republicans political protection from expected Democratic charges that the GOP had been soft on gun crime.

Philip aides said they did not give their second plan to Ryan because of opposition from local state's attorneys, who said they did not want unbridled discretion over whom to charge with felonies and misdemeanors.

Some Ryan advisers said that approach might be acceptable.

"A proposal to reinstate the felony provision but afford local prosecutors the discretion that they had under the previous law, to downgrade the charges, would appear to satisfy Sen. Philip's concerns that innocent spouses, hunters or others who mean no harm are caught in the law," one Ryan aide said.

Even with Ryan's rejection of Philip's initial offer, the two men's tone so far lacks the acrimony that developed in December.

"The movement is what's important," Culloton said of Philip's attempt to compromise. "We have always been serious about this issue, and it seems as though the other leaders realize this and are trying to roll up their sleeves and get something done."

Meanwhile, Philip was preparing to advance plans Thursday that would give homeowners a one-time rebate based on a percentage of their property taxes, enact a sales-tax holiday for clothing purchases and increase property tax and prescription drug relief for low-income elderly.

And as Philip briefed his members on the package, Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago laid out his own tax-relief program, which included some elements of the Senate GOP leader's package as well as income-tax relief for the poor and a sales-tax break on gasoline.

Also Wednesday, senators rejected 54-0 raises for themselves, judges and top state officials. The House also must vote no to prevent them from taking effect.
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We have to call Pates office and keep him from giving in to Ryan. Call Pate or fax him in Dupage county,
Dupage-630-941-0094;fax 630-832-2356. If we let up, Ryan might get the idea he has political support out here, it will take the pressure off to get him to sign the tax cuts. That would be a disaster, our base would stay home and we would have a chance of losing the State Senate, at least one U.S. House seat and the Presidential race as well. We have to help Pate stand for Republican values or Richie Daley will be running the GOP.
Jim

==>Thomas Jefferson