SOUDER, LEADING DRUG WARRIOR, ASKS FORGIVENESS FOR SINS

Mark Souder resigned his congressional seat on Tuesday, confessing to
an affair with a staffer and ending an eight-term career as a
Republican from Indiana.

In stepping down, he asked God for forgiveness in a rambling,
all-caps public statement. "I SINNED AGAINST GOD, MY WIFE AND MY
FAMILY BY HAVING A MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A PART-TIME MEMBER OF MY
STAFF," he wrote. "MY COMFORT IS THAT GOD IS A GRACIOUS AND FORGIVING
GOD TO THOSE WHO SINCERELY SEEK HIS FORGIVENESS AS I DO."

Forgiveness, however, is not a quality that Souder shares with his
Lord. No Republican has been more outspoken in Congress in his moral
condemnation of Americans who use illicit drugs. In order to punish
such sinning, Souder championed and vigorously defended perhaps the
least forgiving law on the federal books: the denial of federal
student aid for any student convicted of drug possession, no matter how minor.

Souder's drug-war passion fueled his rise to the chairmanship of the
Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and
Human Resources, which had jurisdiction over domestic and
international anti-drug efforts and had oversight of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy, otherwise known as the drug
czar's office.

Souder was chairman of that subcommittee between 2001 and 2007.
During those years, nearly 200,000 students were denied college aid
for drug violations, according to data unearthed by a Freedom of
Information Act request filed by Students for Sensible Drug Policy
(SSDP), a longtime nemesis of Souder. In Souder's own state, 8,903
students were denied aid during that time.

Opponents of Souder's law argued that it would be difficult to craft
a more counter-productive public policy. Souder responded by calling
those opponents -- largely teachers organizations and church groups
- -- a "small but determined coalition of drug-legalization groups."

Souder's harsh judgment extends to those whose mistakes are much
milder than his. In an abstinence video that Souder produced with the
aide with whom he was having sex, he condemns an AIDS victim who had
argued against his abstinence-only approach. "I was particularly
offended when two young people were added to the supposed scientist
table," Souder says of a recent congressional hearing, "and they
said, one had AIDS and he said, if it hadn't been for an abstinence
program that didn't give him instruction on how to put the condom on
correctly, he wouldn't have AIDS. In other words, it's everyone's
fault but his." Story continues below

In resigning, however, Souder put some of the blame on "Washington"
for his decision. "IN THE POISONOUS ENVIRONMENT OF WASHINGTON DC, ANY
PERSONAL FAILING IS SEIZED UPON, OFTEN TWISTED, FOR POLITICAL GAIN. I
AM RESIGNING RATHER THAN TO PUT MY FAMILY THROUGH THAT PAINFUL,
DRAWN-OUT PROCESS," Souder complained.

Souder is not one who takes criticism lightly. While this reporter
was writing for Politico, Souder twice wrote letters to the editor to
complain of his previous work for the Marijuana Policy Project.

Now that Souder's career is over, his opponents in the drug-policy
reform community are left with the last word.

"Personally, I really don't care what Mark Souder does in his private
time," said Tom Angell, a former senior SSDP official who's now with
Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "But now that he's made a big
mistake of his own, I hope he'll begin working to undo the harsh drug
laws he has championed and that have prevented people from moving on
with their lives after making mistakes. I'm sure that the more than
200,000 students who have lost college aid under Souder's Higher
Education Act drug penalty would be glad to have his lobbying help
now that he'll have some more free time."