I tip my hat to the First Lady of our country, Michelle Obama, for making this a priority issue.

I need to be at that PTA meeting. I need to be at that sporting event. I need to go have that session for an hour with my child's teacher to understand how they're doing.

The Children's Health Insurance Program is a tremendous stride in that direction, enacted in a bipartisan way.

Senator Alexander spoke to that. And he, as well, can claim some credit for the success we've achieved.

I think the idea of doing exactly what we did in Connecticut... is a good example of how this can work.

And how do we turn this around? How do we actually make a difference?

today I have a heavy heart to mark the passing and commemorate the life of SSgt Edwin Rivera, a native of Waterford, CT, who lost his life in Afghanistan last week at the age of 28. Staff Sergeant Rivera, the only son of middle-class…

I've been trying to--that paid leave bill--took me 7 years to just get the one unpaid-leave bill through, back some 20 years ago.

I mean, they begin with the notion--it's just unnatural for a parent not to care about their children.

I wish to recognize VSA, the International Organization on Arts and Disability. VSA is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and was founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith--a pioneering leader in the…

Education is the passport to full participation in the American Dream.

Thank you very, very much.

There's a direct correlation. When we made investments, we actually had an impact on all of this.

The state of our children is not simply a failure of government or of schools; it is a failure of all of us.

But, we ought to figure out how to do that, because if you don't, all you're left with is what you have today.

I think, actually, welfare reform played some positive role in getting more parents work, but it was welfare reform, accompanied by a range of supports for low-income workers, like extensions of childcare, your income tax credit, etc.

This really ought not to be an ideological debate. It's a ludicrous commentary on our times that we're unable to come to some decent conclusions.

The burnout is just overwhelming.

Census Bureau 2008 data show that a typical American household made less money that year than they did a decade ago.

I rise today to recognize May as National Cancer Research Month. This year, nearly 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and more than 500,000 will die from the disease. Of course, when we talk about cancer, we are referring…

millions of Americans rely on transit to go about their daily lives. Many of them are poor, elderly, or disabled. For some, transit is more than a convenience--it is absolutely vital. Unfortunately, in communities across the Nation…

The overwhelming majority of cash welfare recipients are children.

I invite people who like history to go back and look at what we did during the war years between 1941 and 1945.

It was a national security issue.

Every dollar we invest in early childhood development saves $10.