This recent campaign video follows former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on the campaign trail in Iowa.

The clip begins with former Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) introducing Romney to a crowd of Iowans. Romney, Talent says, is “a man I’ve gotten to know. A person who believes in the great heartland values of work, faith and family, small businesses, family farms, charity, and caring about your neighbors. That’s what he believes in.”

“I’m in this race because I have a record of actually getting the job done,” Romney says at the end of the clip. “It’s not going to be about talk. It’s going to be about making America a more prosperous and secure place.”

I came to Congress to change and save lives, which is why I am so pleased that legislation I authored, the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program Reauthorization Act of 2007, is on its way to the President for his signature.  The bill reauthorizes and increases funds for the program I created in 1991 that helps low-income women without health insurance gain access to essential medical tests that can detect breast and cervical cancer.

The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) reaches out to low-income, underserved women who are uninsured or underinsured, and helps them get access to life-saving mammograms and cervical cancer screenings.  An increase in funding will allow a  greater number of women to have access to the program’s services.

I promised the thousands of women who depend on this program that I would not give up until this program was reauthorized, and my promises made are promises kept.

One of our greatest values is we sing and believe in America the Beautiful.

This week 16 members of Congress joined me in sending a letter urging Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to stop work on the $600 million ‘Road to Nowhere’ through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and provide a compensatory cash payment to Swain County, NC.

Considering the significant environmental and economic costs associated with building the “Road to Nowhereâ€? through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Interior Department should begin immediately to work with Congress to instead provide a cash settlement to Swain County. Read the rest of this entry »

Nothing good can come from this bill. It’s loaded with pork that has no relation to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it includes a deadline for evacuation that amounts to sending a ‘Save the Date’ card to al-Qaeda.

Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out conference has generated controversy just about everywhere it’s gone over the last nine years. In most of the 43 cities we’ve visited, we’ve met some sort of picket or protest. And you know what? That’s fine with us.

We consider it a great privilege to live in a country that guarantees its citizens the right to speak out on issues they care about — even controversial ones. And the issue at the heart of Love Won Out — is homosexuality immutable? — is definitely controversial. That’s why protesters will be outside Trinity Church in Omaha, Neb., on April 14. They think we’re wrong to say that unwanted same-sex attractions can be overcome — and it’s their right to say so.

Just as it’s our right to say — and, more important — to demonstrate otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »

Congress does not need to micromanage the war, and funding for our troops should not be delivered with strings attached.  The continuous efforts to set a surrender date undermine our military and are contradictory to the Senate’s unanimous support of General David Petraeus, who is currently executing the new strategy in. We need to give that strategy a chance to work without tying the hands of those who are carrying out that strategy.

We have military leadership on the ground in recommending against imposing timelines. We have civilian leaders who have significant military experience who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, and every single one of those individuals, whether they were Republican or Democrat, has said imposing timelines is not the way to go. A surrender date will simply embolden the enemy.

Cranes are the most endangered family of birds in the world, with 11 of the world’s 15 species at risk of extinction. None is rarer than the North American Whooping Crane. There’s a greater emphasis right now on protecting our environment and recognizing the burden on the environment of some of the policy decisions that we’ve made over the past many years. In addition, movies such as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” about global warming and the documentary “March of the Penguins” shed light on environmental and species’ issues and raised awareness.

The International Crane Foundation, in Baraboo, Wisconsin has bred and guided whooping cranes on their migrations from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin to their breeding grounds in Florida’s Chassahowitzka Wildlife Refuge. These guided migrations of young birds, led by a human pilot in an ultralight, captured the imagination of citizens and lawmakers along the route and around the country. Some of the people in Congress who first talked to me about the legislation, and are interested in joining our efforts, learned about the importance of protecting cranes from seeing clips of those flights. I think people who were really moved by this story have begun to understand how close to extinction whooping cranes were just a couple of decades ago, and how our practices have led to a significant revival of these majestic birds.

Yesterday, I voted against Democrat FY2008 Budget which contains the largest tax hike in American history.  This budget runs counter to the policies which have contributed to the progress our economy has made as a result of the tax relief I supported in 2001 and 2003.  It is a real shame that Democrats have chosen to fund their reckless spending new priorities on the backs of every hard working American.  I told my constituents last year that I would not support ending the tax cuts and unlike some in the new majority party, I kept my word.

Since 2003 when the tax cuts which President Bush requested and the Republican Congress provided became effective, our nation has added 7.6 million new jobs and unemployment has fallen to near historic lows of 4.5%.  Our economy avoided a lengthy recession in part because of these tax cuts.  With the cost of living rising, ending the tax cuts now will take money from every American to fund Congress’ pet projects.

115 million taxpayers will see their taxes increase on average by $1,795 in 2011 as a result of the Democratic tax hike.  Every advance we made as a result of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts including the doubling of the child tax credit to $1,000, reducing the marriage penalty and the lowering of every single tax rate will come to an end as a result of the Democrat Budget. Read the rest of this entry »

Democrats in the Senate today introduced a bill that would that would strip away fundamental free speech and voting rights in the workplace where labor unions are attempting to organize. I strongly oppose this bill and will work to defeat it.

This proposal is a shameless attempt to rob workers of their most fundamental right – the right to a private ballot – in order to bolster declining union numbers. I want to assure working Americans across this country that I will work aggressively to defend their rights in the face of this Democrat assault on worker protections that have served them well for decades.

Despite its clever title, this bill eliminates the right of a worker to make a free choice in a private ballot box, and instead opens workers to pressure, intimidation and coercion by co-workers and labor union leaders. Majority rule, free speech, and the use of the ballot box to decide important issues are not principles that should be thrown away to satisfy special interest groups. Read the rest of this entry »

As a grandfather of a precocious and precious 2-year old, this week’s Senate HELP Committee hearing on the importance of pediatric medicines was of great interest to me. We all hope and pray that our children and grandchildren never need prescription medicines, but the fact is children, just like adults, get sick and require unique treatments.

That’s why it is critically important that the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) be reauthorized. This program has greatly advanced pediatric medical care by providing a voluntary incentive to America’s pharmaceutical research companies for conducting pediatric studies of medicines that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determines may be useful to children.

Studying drug therapies in children is highly specialized work. According to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development, the cost, length and complexity of pediatric studies have expanded significantly since 2000 Despite that trend, FDA data show companies are still investing and engaging in this important research and responding to FDA written requests at very high numbers. Read the rest of this entry »