I think the party is in a relatively good position, certainly a better position than we were two or three months ago. This week we have completed work on the military commissions legislation, which I think is a compromise that’s consistent with the Detainee Treatment Act that Senator McCain worked so hard to pass a year ago. It allows the CIA to continue interrogation programs that fit within the Detainee Treatment Act and it meets our obligations under the Geneva Conventions. We will also do the Homeland Security legislation and Defense Appropriations. That’s a pretty full week and the members will go home feeling positive and ready to campaign for a month.

As this Republican Rubber Stamp Congress prepares to come to a close, our last real opportunity to get things done has been squandered. Republicans have failed to bring the minimum wage to the floor for a fair vote. They have failed to present a plan for our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. They have failed to make college more affordable. They have failed middle class Americans, working families, and the legacy of this great nation. But they have succeeded in their primary goal. They have succeeded in blocking any reform, any action, any legislation that would bring meaningful change to the American people.

The Republicans flaunt their “record” on national security and Iraq, but their actions during the 109th Congress show their ineptitude on these issues, their inability to face facts, and their failure to take action. Instead of holding the Administration accountable for wasteful spending and poor strategic decisions, the Republican Congress blindly follows the President’s slogan of “stay the course.” The truth behind their rhetoric is that they have no plan for Iraq.

Although the National Intelligence Estimate states that the war in Iraq is hindering our overall efforts in fighting terrorism, the Republican Congress refuses to face the facts.  It’s been five years since 9/11, yet not one person who has been directly responsible for the attacks has been prosecuted and punished.  The Republicans’ answer?  Pass a bill that is likely to be ruled unconstitutional, further delaying justice. This Republican Congress has failed to act on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. They have allowed the glaring deficiencies identified by the Commission to remain, leaving us critically vulnerable to the terrorist threat. As a result, our nation is not as safe as it should be.

This week marks the anniversary of the Republicans’ Contract with America. They promised fiscal responsibility; they gave us record deficits. They promised to take back our streets; they eliminated the COPS program and cut funding for first responders. They promised to restore the American Dream; they refused to raise the minimum wage, putting the basic survival needs of millions of American families out of reach.

This pattern of abuse and neglect is the Republican modus operandi. It’s the way they run things. It’s what they do. And on behalf of American families, we must put a stop to it.

House Democrats stand against adjourning Congress today. The people’s business is too important to put off any longer.

Is anybody else out there tired of talking about this?  Over the next nine years, doctors participating in Medicare will face payment cuts of approximately five percent per year.  Everyone on the Hill has heard this message again and again - both in the past few weeks and in previous years. It keeps coming up, we keep putting a band-aid on it, and somehow we’re always surprised that it comes back to haunt us.

I would like to actually fix this.  Call it the physician in me, but I want it to heal and go away.  And the problem itself is pretty simple; we can do this.  Right now the Medicare physician payment system pays doctors less when they overspend their SGR limit.  It’s punitive.  And when doctors get paid less per patient, they first increase the number of patients they see to try and make ends meet - quality suffers - and eventually they leave the system.  We aren’t talking about fat cats here, we’re talking about working men and women who come out of school with a load of debt and a genuine desire to help people.  Doctors don’t want to refuse patients, but simple economics is forcing them to do that, despite what the AARP may believe.

They will keep the patients they have now if they can, out of responsibility and friendship, and they will stop accepting new ones.  It is already happening. Read the rest of this entry »

At Wednesday’s Ways and Means Subcommittee hearing, Members were given an opportunity to discuss their legislative priorities.  I presented several bills I have introduced in this Congress that would spur economic growth in rural communities.

The Rural Communities Investment Act would extend an existing tax incentive to make interest earned on farm real estate and certain rural housing loans exempt from federal taxation.  It would increase the low cost financing opportunities for farmers, ranchers, and rural homeowners.

The savings generated from this bill will put resources back into rural economies, spurring infrastructure development in some of our nation’s most underserved communities.

Another bill I discussed was H.R. 2378, legislation that would allow USDA guaranteed loans to be tax exempt when used to finance water, wastewater, and essential community facilities.  Federal guarantee of these loans, along with the exemption on taxable interest, is a winning combination that will go a long way to help rural communities.

Rural communities throughout America continue to face challenges in accessing basic needs.  While it is unlikely that these issues will be addressed in what remains of the 109th Congress, I am hopeful that my colleagues and I we will be able to see them passed in the upcoming Congress.

This outcome should not come as a surprise. The product bans that six of the EU member states imposed have caused real harm for U.S. farmers. I am pleased by the panel’s findings, and I hope that the EU and the individual EU member states will come into quick compliance with the WTO’s policies.

Despite countless assurances from the president that we’re safer now than we were before 9/11 this past week we learned the truth - the world is more dangerous today than it was pre-9/11, and the war in Iraq is the main reason why.

This weekend, on 60 Minutes, reporter Bob Woodward will report that our intelligence agencies predict that 2007 is going to be more deadly for American troops than 2006. That’s a dire prediction considering that insurgent attacks against our troops are now occurring every 15 minutes.

These reports from our intelligence agencies should serve as a wake-up call to House Republicans, who, for three years, have sat on the sidelines, neglecting their oversight responsibility of the war in Iraq.

How bad do things have to get in Iraq before this Republican Do-Nothing Congress actually takes action? When will they finally begin asking questions? When will they finally begin to hold Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the president’s war cabinet accountable for their incompetence?

The American people deserve a Congress that will take its oversight responsibilities serious. It’s time for a change here in Congress, and it’s coming this November.

The American people have lost confidence in the institution of Congress.  Due to my concerns about the breakdown of the budget and appropriations process, I have introduced H.R. 6201, the Budget and Transparency Act of 2006.  This legislation authorizes Congress to adopt a two-year budget cycle, so that budget and spending decisions are made in the first year of each Congressional term.  It would also implement strict guidelines for earmark disclosure.

When I left Congress in 2001, we had a balanced budget and a $155 billion surplus.  Today, we have $296 billion deficit.  Congress needs real reform now.  By implementing a two-year budget cycle, we can bring more transparency, responsibility and accountability to a process that is currently full of waste, fraud and abuse.

The two-year budget proposal calls for more oversight in the budget and appropriations process.  Under the plan, the second year would be used to conduct vigorous oversight to ensure that the taxpayer’s dollars are spent well.  This would apply to both the budget and earmarking process.

The second component to the Budget and Transparency Act of 2006 would call for disclosure of all earmarks, including appropriation, authorizing, and tax earmarks.  Earmark requests would be required to be included in the text of a bill—not hidden in the committee report or joint statements and each earmark would be paired with the name of its sponsor on a list prior to floor consideration.  Finally, this legislation would allow a point of order to be raised against any conference report that included a provision not previously approved by either the House or Senate versions of the bill.
Congress has been conducting the business of the American people behind closed-doors out of the view of the public.  The public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.  My legislation will change this culture of secrecy by making sure that fiscal decisions are made in an open, responsible and transparent way so that we can restore the public’s trust in Congress.

On Tuesday morning, many Ohioans experienced what can be described as a “Wizard of Oz� moment. The day started off routinely enough. Coffee. A shower. Maybe some breakfast.

Then it all changed. The people of Ohio opened their local newspaper and read coverage of President Bush’s tour of a Cincinnati tool factory. The President talked up the economy. “This economy of ours is strong,� he was quoted as saying. Confusion and doubt took over.

The readers wondered: “What happened while I was sleeping? What’s going on here?�

The President’s words made the people of Ohio ask themselves: “If he’s in Ohio, then where am I?�

After recovering from the initial shock, many of the readers just shook their heads. Then they turned to a different section of the paper and got back into their daily routine: they combed the classifieds and looked for a job.

The reality on the ground in Ohio—especially in Ohio’s 6th District—does not match the President’s rosy words. Not even close.
Read the rest of this entry »

When the nation’s farm and food programs - which annually cost taxpayers more than $80 billion - come up for renewal next year, Congress will have a rare opportunity to address, in one bill, rising energy and health care costs - as well as pressing conservation concerns such as water quality, land management and habitat protection. To seize this opportunity, I have introduced bipartisan legislation with Rep. Jim Saxton (R-NJ) to stimulate early discussions and build support behind an effort to dramatically increase support for stewardship and renewable energy development on farms and to improve consumer access to healthier foods. In particular, our bill, The Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act (H.R. 6064), will double spending on voluntary stewardship incentives, provide grants and loans to farmers and farmer-owned businesses to develop clean sources of energy, and expand programs providing healthier food options for children, the elderly, and low-income families.

Rewarding good stewardship and renewable energy development and giving consumers more healthy food choices should be the centerpiece of the next Farm Bill. Congress should not settle for an extension of the status quo; rather, it should insist on a Farm Bill that helps meet our health, energy and conservation needs well into the future. The Healthy Farms, Food and Fuels Act offers such a framework and gives a bipartisan voice to all lawmakers who think current farm and food policy can be improved to better help consumers, farmers and the environment.

During today’s hearing, one thing was reinforced.  The electoral process is not perfect.  Improvements to the electoral process itself still need to be made.  Fortunately, the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) is a solid foundation upon which we can institute further electoral improvements.  HAVA made it easier for voters to cast a ballot and harder for people to knowingly commit fraud, which is why we need to appropriate the remaining $800 million dollar balance, which was authorized in Title II of HAVA, to fully fund the states, and give HAVA a chance to work.

As I have stated in the past, it is guaranteed that your vote will be lost if you don’t cast a ballot.  I would encourage every eligible voter to cast a ballot, no matter how harsh the rhetoric about the November elections, and no matter how that ballot is cast - by DRE machine, absentee ballot, provisional ballot or otherwise.  Americans need to get out and vote in November with the confidence that their votes will be counted correctly.