By Andrew Walters
SVN Reporter
awalters@svnmail.com

Ten months into the job, U.S. Rep. Phil Hare, D-Rock Island, has decided Washington suits him just fine, and he plans to run for a second term in 2008.

Hare spent 24 years working for Rep. Lane Evans, then ran for his seat after the congressman stepped down because of health reasons.

His sprawling 17th District stretches from parts of Sterling and Rock Falls, west to the Quad Cities and south through western Illinois and east into parts of Springfield and Decatur.

Hare sits on the Veterans Affairs and the education and labor committees. As a former Army reservist, he has made veterans issues a top priority.

"We raised the spending on veterans heath care by $14 billion. That's the largest in 10 years," Hare said.

He hopes to obtain federal money for a veterans clinic in the Sterling-Rock Falls area, which would save hundreds of vets from having to travel more than 50 miles to receive basic medical care.

"I am really crossing my fingers. All we can do is hope, because we don't have a lot of money to work with," Hare said.

On a related issue, Hare joined 90 other representatives who sent a letter to President Bush declaring they will not vote for any new spending in Iraq until some withdrawal dates have been set.

"It is one of the most frustrating things we have had. This is a nation that is entering the fifth year of a war no one believed would be this long and costly," Hare said. "I have hit the wall with this. I have lost seven people in this district during this war."

If re-elected, Hare said he will continue to work toward better health care for all people in the 17th, and for more economic development.

"It is, as you know, a big district. I am going to keep working with various development groups, to get some of these projects off the drawing board," Hare said.

Hare has made a habit of visiting all corners of the expansive district, and also has the third-best voting attendance record among Illinois lawmakers.