Media

Members of Congress and the American people are deeply disappointed and justifiably concerned about the deplorable conditions that wounded American service men and women have been forced to endure upon returning from combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.________________________________________________________________________

Thirty years ago, during an unprecedented national energy crisis, President Carter said: "With the exception of preventing war, this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes." Because our nation has too often failed to make the hard decisions needed to move toward energy independence, President Carters admonition is as relevant today as it was back then. We simply cannot ignore our addiction to foreign sources of oil any longer.________________________________________________________________________

Recently, a group of energetic science and engineering high school students from the Fifth Congressional District visited my Washington office, bringing with them a special guest - a basketball-shooting robot named Pedro.________________________________________________________________________

The first woman Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, a mother and grandmother, convened the 110th Congress by announcing: "For all of Americas children, the House will be in order." Both the Speakers words and the image of her surrounded by children that day represent the new Congresss promise and commitment to protect and provide for all of our nations children.________________________________________________________________________

$28,861- As of this week, this is the average share of the national debt belonging to every man, woman, and child in America; the total amount of debt our nation holds is $8.7 trillion. How did we dig ourselves into this giant hole, and more importantly, how do we get ourselves out?________________________________________________________________________