U.S. representative John Boehner spoke at Sears Recital Hall Tuesday morning, addressing issues including emergency response, education, federal spending and tax policy.

Boehner, a Republican representing Ohio's 8th district'which includes Darke, Miami and Preble counties as well as parts of Butler, Mercer and Montgomery counties, but not UD'addressed a group of students who had assembled for his visit.

Boehner is Chairman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee and Vice-Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture.

Sears Recital Hall, which UD's Web site says holds 175 people, was full for his address.

Rev. John Putka of the political science department organized the event, which consisted of a brief speech and a long session of questions from the audience.

At the beginning of his speech, Boehner gave a brief account of his personal life. He is one of 12 children in his family, and he attended Moeller High School and Xavier University, both in Cincinnati.

He began his career expecting to work in the private sector, but entered politics because he wanted to make a difference.

'I like what I do,' Boehner said. 'I was made to do what I do.'

Boehner named three key points in the Republican Congressional agenda: Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, relief following Hurricane Katrina and federal spending.

Boehner noted the recent Republican record was not stellar.

'Republicans in Congress are in kind of a slump,' he said. 'Mostly [this is] because of Iraq. Add to that the perceived problems with the reaction to Hurricane Katrina.'

He said he was surprised at Democratic reaction to Miers and recent Supreme Court appointee John Roberts.

'The left has been gearing up for years ' for a Supreme Court hearing,' yet the reaction to these candidates has generally been mild.

As chairman of the House education committee, Boehner examined the relief effort from that perspective.

'How do we ensure that their education is paid for'? asked Boehner. 'A lot of these displaced citizens have no reason to go back.'

As a devotee of small government, Boehner also claimed federal spending is an issue.

'We've got a spending problem in Washington,' he said. 'The key to balancing the budget is holding federal spending and ' increasing federal revenues.'.

While he said he wanted increased federal revenue, Boehner also expressed support for President Bush's tax cuts.

'No one should confuse reduction of tax rates with reduction of federal revenue,' Boehner said.

Boehner addressed some issues particular to his role as chairman of the education committee.

Asked of his opinion regarding charter schools, Boehner responded, 'The rise of charter schools is a direct response to the poor quality of public schools.

'I am a believer in charter schools,' he said.

He discussed his plan for educating students displaced by Hurricane Katrina in greater depth.

'Some schools are heavily impacted' by new arrivals, Boehner noted. 'We need o reimburse those schools. We're going to pay for this school year (for displaced students).'

He also addressed government spending in general in the wake of that natural disaster.

'Everybody wants a quick response,' he said. 'Everybody also wants money to be spent wisely.'

Boehner spent relatively little time discussing foreign policy, but one question about outsourcing sparked a brief discussion on economics.

'Jobs are going to move,' Boehner said. 'It's the free market.'

He expressed his faith in a free-enterprise capitalist system.

'Capitalism is the goose that laid the golden egg,' Boehner said.

'I am still the chief defender of the public sector' in Congress, he said.

As for import and export policy, he advocated abolishing a tax on exports.

'Anything we export is already taxed,' he said. 'We're hurting our ability to export.'

Regarding domestic manufacturing, Boehner said regulations hurt American production.

At the close of the event, Boehner fielded a few questions about the presidency, particularly the next election in 2008.

'I have no desire to be president,' Boehner said. He also declined to name a likely candidate for the Republican Party although he said he supports Virginia Senator George Allen.

He also predicted Hilary Rodham Clinton, senator from New York, would be the Democratic nominee.

'I'd be surprised if she was not their candidate,' he said.