Earmarks have been used as a vehicle for waste and fraud and abuse. Projects have been inserted at the 11th hour without review and sometimes without merit in order to satisfy the political or personal agendas of a given legislator.

I think, first of all, that the best and most effective way to deal with the issues we've been discussing is to have a national health plan, one that everybody is in, and nobody is out.

I therefore offer my suggestion to the committee that we create and formalize a new system of scoring and tracking the long-term success and budgetary impact of our investments.

I think your point about osteoporosis prevention is very well taken.

We have seen a change from the patterns that have developed with Mumbai and Lahore.

It is also my belief that community health centers are the most effective instruments that we currently have to provide cost-effective quality healthcare to large numbers of low-income and poor people.

I think the most important point to stress is that nobody loses coverage. People have choices, and they only change coverage if they feel that what they're changing to is better or more affordable.

Well, any free society is going to be vulnerable. There is no question about it that we are vulnerable.

It is our collective responsibility to learn from events like those that took place in Mumbai.

Thank you Mr. President for having the audacity to propose a budget that invests in early childhood education.

I commend President Obama for his forward-focused comprehensive approach to addressing inherited interconnected socioeconomic woes.

These issues are near and dear to my heart because they affect lower-income families that reside on 'side-streets' across America.

The decisions that we make in drawing up this budget will have tremendous impact on the lives of all Americans for years to come.

As a scientist and a new Member of Congress, one of my frustrations is the tendency of politicians to consider all issues in terms of how they play out in the next election rather than evaluating what is in the long-term best interest of…

I strongly support the budget's proposed increases in basic science funding.

One important reason to have a public health insurance plan available in the exchange to employers is that it is a counterbalance to undue market power by insurance companies or by providers that may be the only system that is available in…

It is a vast improvement over the budgets in recent years, and I hope to support it in its final form.

I sit in a building that is five blocks away from the World Trade Center.