The lives and well-being of our troops, as well as the security of our nation for years to come, are in jeopardy. There’s too much at stake for Iraq to be a political football. Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle simply must come together to devise a strategy for stabilizing Iraq and safely returning our troops to their families. Yesterday, along with 27 Republican and Democrat Members of Congress I released the Bipartisan Compact on Iraq, urging Congress to end the political in-fighting over the conflict in Iraq and commit to a bipartisan solution supporting our troops.

I commend New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s recent decision to provide driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants.  As the Governor remarked last Friday, this move will help bring “people out of the shadows.�

New York has anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million undocumented immigrants, many of whom drive.  As a matter of public safety we must ensure that these drivers have proper licenses and auto insurance.  Indeed, the American Automobile Association found that unlicensed drivers are almost five times more likely to be in a fatal crash than validly licensed drivers.  Furthermore, as these newly licensed drivers obtain auto insurance, New Yorkers can expect to see their auto insurance rates go down – to the tune of $120 million a year.   Read the rest of this entry »

From national security and job creation to environmental protection, the benefits to our nation of developing a strong and reliable energy strategy are almost endless.  That’s why we can all agree that it is far past time to move beyond our addiction to fossil fuels, and break our addiction to Middle Eastern oil.

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about so-called bio-fuels.  Their proponents cite their cleaner emissions and hail them as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels.  While they certainly deserve much of the praise and accolades that they receive, they are not, in themselves, a total solution.  We must ensure that the total environmental footprint of bio-fuels is less than their fossil fuel counterparts, otherwise what progress are we really making?

We must also go further, and we cannot rely on bio-fuels as an excuse to avoid developing other strategies and technologies such as increased energy efficiency and fuels standards, solar and wind powers.  They are a piece in the puzzle, but they aren’t the holy grail.

Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) says he would like to see former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) run for Sen. Chuck Hagel’s (R-Neb.) now-vacated Senate seat and that he will not endorse a presidential candidate until the convention.

Whether you agree or disagree with U.S. policy on Iraq, one thing is crystal clear: we have a humanitarian crisis manifesting in the region that cannot be ignored.  While the United States has been working to address this dire situation, not nearly enough is being done. The United States has a moral obligation to make a serious commitment to help Iraq’s refugees and internally displaced populations.

As Chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and Special Representative on Mediterranean Affairs for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly, I introduced the Iraqi Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Security Act of 2007.  My legislation addresses the impending humanitarian crisis and security breakdown as a result of the mass influx of Iraqi refugees into neighboring countries, and the growing internally displaced populations in Iraq, by increasing direct accountable assistance to these populations and their host countries, increasing border security, and facilitating the resettlement of Iraqis at risk. Read the rest of this entry »

The continued oppression of democracy by the military junta in Burma is despicable.  Our hearts and minds are with the thousands of monks protesting military rule.  There are disturbing reports that the regime has used violence against the peaceful protesters.  It is time for the junta to recognize that it does not have support of the people and to release Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.  As the Ranking Republican Member of the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Global Environment, I feel strongly that we must stand with the people of Burma and all those oppressed throughout the world.  That is why I cosponsored this Resolution and was proud to support its passage in the House Foreign Affairs Committee today.

The CHIP Reauthorization Act will reauthorize and improve the very successful Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for five years. This bipartisan bill will preserve coverage for the 6 million children currently enrolled who otherwise would have no access to health insurance while, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), extending coverage to 3.8 million children who are not enrolled in the program. By reauthorizing this very important program, we will strengthen CHIP’s financing, improve the quality of health care children receive, and increase health insurance coverage for low-income children.

I am pleased that this bill maintains the guaranteed dental coverage and mental health parity provisions that were in the CHAMP Act. Good oral health care is important to the overall health of children. No family should have to suffer the loss of a child because they lack access to care, as happened in the tragic case of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old Marylander who died earlier this year when an infection from an untreated abscessed tooth spread to his brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Our resolution calling for the unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Laureate, is a call for freedom and democracy in Burma. Today we have joined a long list of people and governments who demand her freedom. Our hope is that the demonstrations in Burma now mean the end is near for the junta and that not only Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed, but all Burmese people

I think the unanimous passage today of H.Con.Res. 200 out of the House Foreign Affairs Committee sends a strong message to the leaders in Myanmar that their utter disregard for human rights won’t continue to be tolerated. In recent day, the peaceful pro-democracy protests of thousands of Buddhist monks were met with government violence, and the military dictatorship in Myanmar should be warned that the world is watching.

NAACP’s Hilary Shelton on Obama’s Jena Response.