BUSH TALKS OF PAST ADDICTION

President Shares Personal Insights With Ex-Prisoners

BALTIMORE -- President Bush plopped himself into a chair between two
former prisoners, Thomas Boyd and Adolphus Moseley, and asked to hear
how their lives had changed. But first, he wanted them to know
something about him: "I understand addiction," he said, "and I
understand how a changed heart can help you deal with addiction."

The scene inside a tiny room in an East Baltimore rowhouse Tuesday
was part of an unusual day for the president, who referred repeatedly
to his struggle with alcohol as a way of connecting with the
participants in Jericho, a church-run program that helps former
inmates find jobs and reenter society.

"Addiction is hard to overcome," Bush told reporters after meeting
with Boyd and Moseley, both of whom told the president they had
struggled with drugs. "As you might remember, I drank too much at one
time in my life. I understand faith-based programs. I understand that
sometimes you can find the inspiration from a higher power to solve
an addiction problem."

Bush, who was here to celebrate the seventh anniversary of his
program to funnel federal funds to "faith-based" social service
organizations, has occasionally talked over the years about his
struggles with alcohol before he quit in 1986 after waking up with a
hangover from celebrating his 40th birthday.

But recent encounters with those facing drug or alcohol addiction
appear to have touched a chord with the president. At a news briefing
last month on youth drug abuse, Bush told one teenage girl struggling
with addiction that he, too, had kicked a habit.

During his State of the Union address Monday night, Bush asked
Congress to write into law rules that make it possible for
religious-sponsored groups to compete on an even playing field for
federal grants. The subject received only a brief mention, but it was
a sign of the president's interest in the program that he made it the
focus of his first day of travel to highlight his State of the Union themes.

The faith-based program, a key element of the original Bush domestic
agenda, has been the subject of controversy over the years, with
criticism that funding has been inadequate and dominated by large
national organizations rather than the smaller church groups
envisioned by the White House. The administration says it is funding
about 5,000 grass-roots charities through the program.

The part of the program that Bush was highlighting Tuesday was a
prisoner reentry initiative aimed at preventing former inmates from
falling back into a life of crime. The Jericho program is run by
Episcopal Community Services of Maryland with funding from the Labor
Department. It serves about 200 male ex-offenders a year with job
placement, counseling and mentoring help; the program maintains that
22 percent of its graduates return to prison, less than half the
average Baltimore recidivism rate.

As Bush received a tour of the facility Tuesday, he was in high
spirits, mugging for the cameras, querying participants about their
lives and speaking of his faith in a "higher power." The White House
allowed a reporter to sit in on a 20-minute meeting Bush had with
Boyd, a security guard, and Moseley, who works at a warehouse after
graduating from the Jericho program.

"Why were you in jail, if you don't mind me asking?" Bush asked
Moseley, a gregarious 42-year-old who replied that he served time for
cocaine possession. "It's just one of those things that you need to
put behind you," he told the president.

Moseley told Bush they could use more such mentoring and counseling
programs on the west side of Baltimore, and Bush replied: "There are
programs like that all over the city; they are called churches."

"They are not sincere, like Jericho," Moseley replied, seeming to
take Bush a bit aback.

"My only point to you is there are a lot of faith-based organizations
that exist to help deal with very difficult problems," Bush said. "It
starts with the notion that there is a higher power that will help
people change their thinking.

"It's very important for everybody to understand that there is a
commonality, that we all have to deal with the same problems in
different ways," Bush said. "First is to recognize that there is a
higher power. At least that helped in my life -- it helped me quit drinking."

Moseley interjected, "That's right, there is a higher power."

"Step One, right?" Bush said, alluding to Alcoholics Anonymous's second step.

The president tried to relate to Boyd and Moseley in other ways, too.
Moseley talked about how he was worried "to death" about his
daughters when he was in prison, and Bush interjected, "You can be
worried when you are incarcerated, and you can be worried when you
are not incarcerated," drawing laughter.

He asked Moseley how old his daughters are, and when told 17, 15 and
13, Bush said, "Hooo, man!"

"Girls love their dad, especially a redeemed dad," Bush said.

After Bush departed the facility, Jean Patterson Cushman, executive
director of Episcopal Community Services, said the people who met
Bush Tuesday found the president inspiring: "They were kind of amazed
that the president would talk to them about his own problems," she said.