We must do all we can to empower parents and communities to protect our youth and to encourage healthy behavior free from binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse.

We shouldn’t be so dependent on foreign oil.

The President has once again failed us. Millions of Americans are at risk of going without the flu vaccine this year because the administration failed to act proactively to ensure an adequate supply. There is simply no excuse for this.

We must do all we can to empower parents and communities to protect our youth and to encourage healthy behavior free from binge drinking and other forms of alcohol abuse.

Members will hear me say repeatedly words are important; deeds are a reality.

‘Never again’ is the rallying cry for all who believe that mankind must speak out against genocide.

This has been on the schedule for a long time. You don’t get President Clinton on a 24-hour notice.

No family gets rich from earning the minimum wage. In fact, the current minimum wage does not even lift a family out of poverty.

Words without deeds violates the moral and legal obligation we have under the genocide convention but, more importantly, violates our sense of right and wrong and the standards we have as human beings about looking to care for one another.

If the Bush Administration cannot ensure Americans that they will be safe from the flu, how will they protect our country against a possible bio-terror or chemical attack? The American people deserve better.

It has now been over 7 years since Congress last raised the minimum wage to its current level of $5.15 per hour. Since that last increase, Congress’s failure to adjust the wage for inflation has reduced the purchasing power of the minimum wage to record low levels.

Words without deeds is an affront to the principle that guides our Nation and makes a mockery of the values we as public servants claim to love.

It is my absolute intent to hold the line on taxes.

I strongly believe that we as a nation can be both secure and free.