What we are trying to do is give the residents of the District of Columbia their long overdue right to vote. That is why we are here today. The procedure that we are following is fair, it is just, and the important thing for us to remember…

on Thursday, April 12, 32-year-old Utica police officer Thomas Lindsey was shot and killed in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop in Utica, New York, my hometown. A 5/2-year veteran of the Utica police force, Tom served for…

my amendment to H.R. 1401, the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act, would address an important issue surrounding our Nation's efforts to expand electric power to major urban areas, and that is, of course, the safety issue. On the…

Frankly, I can't think of an issue that is more bipartisan than giving each and every American the right to vote. That is exactly what we are attempting to do here today. You know, I can't help but think as a new Member of Congress that…

I just would point out what I stated earlier. In the Tidewater case, the Supreme Court upheld the ability of Congress to designate the District of Columbia, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, as a special creature, as not a State, but…

Mr. Speaker, this Nation was built upon the principle that it was patently unjust to require people to pay taxes to a government within which they had no direct involvement, what came to be familiarly called "taxation without…

I think it is clear, a close reading of the Constitution gives Congress under Article I, section 8 exclusive legislation over all aspects of the District.

I can't help but think that when it comes to giving people freedom and the right to vote, we must find a way to pay for it. In fact, we have spent $400 billion attempting to give the people in Iraq freedom and the right to vote. And if we…

Mr. Speaker, for months I have said that our country needs a plan to ensure the timely redeployment of our troops out of Iraq. The previous Congress failed in their duty to provide oversight and refused to ask the tough questions regarding…

the nearly 600,000 citizens of Washington D.C. have waited far too long for equal representation in this Chamber. They have sacrificed their lives defending this great Nation, paid their fair share in taxes, and helped to build and run…

Democrats made a promise last November to bring accountability back to Congress and the Federal Government. In just a few short months, we have conducted thorough and meaningful oversight on a series of issues that would have been swept…

it is time to rein in this administration's prevalent use of no-bid contracts. I urge all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this rule and the Accountability in Contracting Act. In the last five years, spending on "no-bid"…

Mr. Speaker, accountability is a word often used but seldom implemented. For the last 12 years it is as if Congress forgot one of its principal responsibilities is to demand accountability from the administration and protect the American…

after 4 years, billions of dollars and thousands of lives lost, we simply cannot reward failure with a blank check in the war in Iraq. I refuse to rubber-stamp more failed policies. In the weeks ahead, we have the opportunity as…

the treatment some of our wounded military personnel are receiving at Walter Reed Army Hospital and other facilities around the Nation is outrageous and should be fixed immediately. The conditions and the neglect that many of these wounded…

Mr. Speaker, foreign investment creates jobs and serves as a vital component of our Nation's economy. However, we as a Nation cannot afford to sacrifice the safety and security with a foreign investment review process that jeopardizes…

Americans are outraged with the present course in Iraq. Here we are more than 4 years later with 3,100 of our brave men and women killed, fighting a war that has cost our Nation $370 billion. It has become overwhelmingly clear that the…

the American people and both Democrat and Republican Members of Congress are demanding a new direction in Iraq. It is long past time for Congress to debate whether or not the President's latest troop escalation will actually change the…

as a former DA from upstate New York, I know firsthand the scourge that methamphetamine has laid upon our rural areas. And I represented a district that was both urban and rural, and I saw that methamphetamines did to the rural areas what…