In this video, the Democratic House leadership discussed what it has accomplished in the first one hundred days as a majority.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that the Democratic majority held the House in session 48 days in the first three months of the Congress - one third more than any of the previous three congresses.

At the end of the clip, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked President Bush to respect Congress’ constitutional role.

“Say to him calm down with the threats. There’s a new Congress in town,” Pelosi said, “We respect your constitutional role, we want you to respect ours.”

During these difficult times, we may forget what is truly important and with whom the ultimate power resides. The bi-partisan prayer caucus acts as a reminder for its members and our constituents that it is God who has given us all the gifts for which we now fight and who will bring about the eventual peace for which we fervently pray.

Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) and clean coal technologies must remain part of a diverse U.S. energy portfolio so that we can meet our energy needs in the future, and the Coal-to-Liquids Coalition coalition is going to further that cause. CTL fuels are an important option to importing foreign oil. Coal is an inexpensive and abundant energy source and we must maximize our ability to use it - and use it as cleanly as possible.

White House senior advisor Karl Rove busted a rap with comedians Ben Sherwood and Colin Mochrie last night at the Radio-Television Correspondents’ Dinner.

Taking on then name “MC Rove,” Rove dances,talks on his cell phone and emphatically declares “I’m MC Rove” on cue. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this clip, included below.

There is no question that teachers play a critical role in helping their students reach proficiency and beyond.  And we need to do all we can to incentivize and reward high quality teachers who are raising student achievement levels throughout the United States.  For example, we must look at recognition pay so that teachers who are able to visibly raise student achievement levels are awarded for their innovation and hard work.  Additionally, it is imperative to focus on leadership standards at schools, so that we recognize the degree to which an involved and demanding principal can motivate teachers and produce results in a school.  Taking all of these steps will help us to one day close the achievement gap in our schools.

I was privileged yesterday to take part, along with at least 36 fellow Members of Congress, in a Press Conference calling America to prayer.  In doing so, we acknowledged that the core foundation and dream of America are those self-evident truths: that all men are created equal, loved by the Creator who made us in His image and endowed us with those unalienable rights.  It is incumbent upon us, therefore, to remember to faithfully acknowledge and honor Him, seeking His wisdom, grace, and guidance — things all the more vital to us who have been given the tremendous honor of governing the nation our Founders envisioned as a City upon a Hill.

The power of prayer and its influence in the founding of our nation cannot be overstated.  Prayer has been the refuge of rich and the poor; the lonely and the afflicted; the soldier in war and a grateful nation in peace.  It was prayer that sustained George Washington through the darkest hours in the monumental struggle for America’s independence; it was prayer that drove Abraham Lincoln, as he said, to his knees, sustaining him in perhaps the greatest struggle for human freedom that any man has ever faced.  As Reagan said, a nation that forgets that it is a nation under God “will be a nation gone under.”  Let us therefore remember that if we continue to lift our faces to the Giver of Liberty, to humble ourselves and to seek His favor and grace, He will keep His guiding hand upon us, and grant us those “blessings of Liberty” that encompass the very heart and spirit of America.

Terrorism is still a threat to our nation. It is important that first responders in our smallest communities as well as our largest cities have the equipment and training to deal with threats. Terrorists are constantly changing their tactics and funding for rural areas is a necessary part to securing the homeland. Local first responders are the first on the scene and they are expected to adequately respond. When states and communities receive federal funding, they are able to build and refine methods to prevent and defend themselves from acts of terror.

This week the House of Representatives will consider a framework for the federal budget for Fiscal Year 2008 that sets forth the funding priorities of our country and puts our federal budget back on the path to fiscal soundness.

I’m particularly pleased that the House Budget Resolution includes a strong endorsement of the Innovation Agenda: A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America #1. I worked with Speaker Nancy Pelosi to launch the Innovation Agenda after extensive consultations with our nation’s leaders in industry and academia. Despite support for much of the Innovation Agenda by the Administration, the last Congress did not act on the important priorities laid out in the Agenda.

Speaker Pelosi has made it clear that the Innovation Agenda remains one of the top priorities of the Democratic Caucus and this is reflected in the Budget Resolution which provides an additional $2 billion above current funding levels for federal science, space, and technology programs. The Budget Resolution also provides an additional $300 million for energy programs and an additional $7.9 billion for education programs above the President’s request for next year. These initiatives are only a down payment on the significant steps necessary to achieve the broad goals of the Innovation Agenda, but our Budget recognizes of the challenges we face. Read the rest of this entry »

Today is Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards’ “House Party Day.” The former North Carolina senator’s campaign urged its supporters to plan gatherings around the country to “grow our support and bring new resources into the campaign at this crucial time,” according to his website.

The Edwards camp also released a “Meet John Edwards” video for the house parties, included below. The video discusses Edwards’ background and highlights many of his public speeches. At the beginning of the video, Edwards addresses the house party gatherers.

“I hope to see each of you personally in the days to come and talk about all the ways we can work together to reclaim our government, make our country live up to its ideals and reach its incredible potential,” Edwards says.

This week the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing entitled, ‘Insuring Bright Futures: Improving Access to Dental Care and Providing a Healthy Start for Children’ to address the problem of poor oral health care for children.

Just how big is this problem?  Statistics show the chronic infectious disease that causes cavities remains second only to the common cold in terms of prevalence in children. Unlike a cold however, tooth decay does not go away, it only gets worse.

Poor children are more than twice as likely to have cavities then children who come from wealthier households.  Medicaid is able to provide comprehensive dental care to many low-income children through its early periodic screening diagnosis and treatment benefit.  Similarly, many states provide dental benefits as part of their Children’s Health Insurance Program. I have no doubt that if it were not for these two programs, the problems that our children face in securing primary dental care would be exponentially worse. Read the rest of this entry »