During the recess, I spent 3 nights with residents of the Seventh Congressional District at three town hall meetings in Oak Park, Illinois; River Forest, Illinois; Forest Park, Illinois, and last evening, Westchester. Overwhelmingly, all…

I note that the State of Illinois has received $4.853 billion in bonds up through January of this year. Many of those have gone to communities that are represented by individuals who certainly are not described as Democrats. As a matter of…

You know, you wouldn't think it but, yes, as a matter of fact. Gee, I would hate to be in a situation especially at my age and not have health insurance and preexisting conditions be a factor in whether or not I could get a policy. I mean…

Thank you very much, Donna, and I want to thank you for the tremendous leadership that you have shown the whole time that we have been together in Congress. As a matter of fact, we came in at the same time, and you've been engaged in…

As I was growing up, our parents always taught us that right was right if nobody was right and that wrong was wrong if everybody was wrong. Well, I can tell you it would be wrong to deny 32 million additional Americans the right to health…

I rise this evening in commemoration of Black History Month as we celebrate and honor the tremendous achievements of African Americans. At no time in history has there been a greater need to rethink the role of government given the current…

I rise today in strong support of this bill to accelerate the income tax benefits for those who make cash contributions to people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Americans are deeply saddened at the level of devastation caused by the…

I want to commend Representative Butterfield for introducing such an outstanding resolution paying tribute to such an outstanding individual as Mr. Wilkins. As I listened to Representative Butterfield talk about Mr. Wilkins, I couldn't…

I wish to take a moment to voice my strong support for a bill offered by the gentleman from Illinois and my delegation colleague, Mr. Quigley. H. Res. 860, supports two key environmental initiatives within Illinois: the Chicago Wilderness…

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Illinois is a national leader in developing and demonstrating the effectiveness of pioneering child welfare reforms.

We hope that the next phase of reform will allow states to invest Title IV-E funds into prevention services that can demonstrate their effectiveness.

bipartisan legislation introduced by the Chairman, Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) and Congressman Todd Platts (R-PA), which will expand support for proven home visiting programs, is continuing to move forward in Congress.

Democracy, as you know very well, rests on the right to know, on the freely given consent of the governed to be governed.

I think, as you began your remarks, Senator Harkin, about tobacco, it's important for us to recognize that there is no one in this room today who doubts that we should have acted sooner about tobacco.

We are continuing to look for new technologies that we can bring to bear.

As far as the work that is being done and the planning that goes into that work, I think it has been well stated here in terms of the partnership that has been undertaken.

We also commend Representatives Davis and Platts for their sponsorship of similar legislation, the Education Begins at Home Act of 2009 (H.R. 2205)

the establishment and expansion of voluntary home visitation programs for low-income parents with young children.

We will never achieve our goal of 'No Child Left Behind' until we have successfully ensured that 'No Child Starts Behind'.

A federal investment in evidence-based home visiting, as proposed by Chairman McDermott, Congressman Davis, and Congressman Platts, will ensure that more families in communities across the country are given the opportunity to participate…

The Early Support for Families Act builds on both the evidence-based home visitation initiative included in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2010 budget...

the Early Support for Families Act is a strong avenue to assist in achieving this vision

we would like to thank Chairman McDermott, Representative Danny Davis and Representative Todd Platts for their leadership on this issue

So we talk a great deal about these things but do them much less.