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Saints Peter and Paul High School Students Attend Bayh Lecture
November 13, 2008, Easton, MD -- On Monday, November 10, seniors in United States Government classes at Saints Peter and Paul High School attended the first session of the Distinguished Residents Series presented by the Academy for Lifelong Learning at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. Former United States Senator Birch Bayh (D-Indiana) discussed his time in office as well as offered reflections on the 2008 presidential election.
Senator Bayh spoke about his role in the passage of two constitutional amendments; the twenty-fifth, which created a system for dealing with presidential disability, and the twenty-sixth, which lowered the voting age to eighteen. He also addressed what he believes to be one of his most significant accomplishments, Title IX of the Higher Education Act. Bayh reminded the audience that the legislation was not just about women’s sports, as is often discussed, but about equal access to all aspects of higher education. He spoke proudly about the large numbers of women in fields previously dominated by men.
Bayh also recalled his work on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the development of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in the late 1970s in response to questionable practices by the nation’s intelligence services. He also spoke of his work with Senator Robert Dole (R-Kansas) on changes to the nation’s patent system and the more bipartisan nature of government in the 1970s.
In his closing remarks, Senator Bayh encouraged the students to be active participants in their country’s public life. He noted that not everyone can be a United States Senator. Urging them to make whatever contributions to the nation they could, Bayh suggested that one way to make an impact would be to run for school board. Quoting President Kennedy’s inaugural address, Bayh told the students to work for a better nation, “asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.”