The nation's fiscal footing is serious business. It is too bad, then, that so much of the conversation around funding the federal government was consumed by policy riders and petty projects championed by narrow interest groups. Congress…

I voted to support funding our Nation's disaster relief programs for an additional year. However, I remain unsatisfied by the work Congress has engaged in this year regarding our Nation's budgeting for disaster. The funding we included…

James Surowiecki outdid himself in the current issue of The New Yorker's financial page as he contrasted the decision of American Airlines to take bankruptcy versus the expectation of American business for how homeowners should behave. It…

One thing that most of the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the majority of the Tea Party advocates agree upon is that the United States is not on a sustainable path. The economy is still floundering. We are in too many cases losing the…

I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy in permitting me to speak on the bill. We will postulate that Iran has been a terrible actor and that having nuclear weapons is a threat to international stability and something that we should resist…

I thank the gentleman from Michigan. A year ago, our Republican friends talked about reforming the process so that we wouldn't have legislation that was in a ``must-pass'' category that was laden with items that were unrelated or…

As America prepares for the holiday season and the new year, it is important to pause to reflect on our good fortune and, on this season of goodwill, what we can do for others. I hope that Congress will give the gift of life, hope, and…

You are going to impose very significant cuts on hospitals. For example, the evaluation and management cap is going to impact dramatically hospitals that a number of us represent. It is going to scale up much higher costs for senior…

As an administrator and policymaker at the local, state, and federal levels, I have often seen the value of common-sense regulations that save lives. I have also seen the challenges associated with cumbersome regulations that can sometimes…

There was a tough article in the Sunday, December 4, New York Times entitled, ``How the Food Industry Eats Your Kids' Lunch.'' This has serious consequences for the 32 million children who rely on school lunches, and often the breakfast…

It's a sign of maturity to be able to retain two different but related concepts in your head at the same time. For instance, taxes should not be raised on the majority of working Americans while the economy is in this very difficult…

I am disappointed by the House passage of H. Res. 470, which ensures that the so-called ``Workforce Democracy and Fairness Act'' will receive a vote in the House of Representatives. This legislation is anti-democratic, anti-union, and…

I oppose this amendment to our Constitution that purports to balance our nation's budget, but instead serves merely as an excuse for Congress to avoid the real responsibilities of governing. When the balanced budget amendment freight train…

Congress seems determined to undermine recent nutrition standards proposed by the Obama administration. It's shameful that we are poised to intervene to make sure that pizza continues to count as a vegetable and that we protect the…

But Senator Hatfield understood that that was wrong. He voted against it. It failed. And what happened? We were able to move forward under a Democratic administration to be able to rein in spending. We balanced the budget for 4 consecutive…

I appreciate my friend for the courtesy of permitting me to speak on this. I am here in honor of the memory of the late, and I think great, United States Senator from Oregon, Republican Mark Hatfield. When the balanced budget amendment…

It is a pleasure to be on the floor with my partner on this legislation, the gentleman from California (Mr. Herger), being able to see it finally brought to fruition. It was actually made a little better with the inclusion of these…

I appreciate the opportunity to be here this evening sharing some observations. It is, of course, always interesting to have shared the floor with my good friend from Iowa listening to his view of the universe, and even wincing a little…

We need to make sure going forward we don't have these aberrations that cause us to go through these gyrations for something that on its face really is not going to yield the economic results. Finally, I hope we can work together in the…

Last December, an item caught my eye in the Harper's Index: the rank of baked goods, pizza, and soda as sources of calories for American children--drum roll, please--number one, number two, number three. That's how our children get most of…

It's sad that we're taking time that should be spent on the economy and making communities safer and stronger to facilitate, instead, less rational and less effective gun safety laws. I deeply appreciate the gentlewoman from New York…

Americans are understandably frustrated by the political process. Attention has appropriately been directed to the perversion of Senate rules that slow the Senate's legislative process to a crawl with very real consequences for the ability…

There is a drama being played out in the divorce and bankruptcy court with the McCourt family and the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's another chapter in the sad war against fans, the very people who make these multibillion-dollar enterprises…

I appreciate your courtesy, Mr. Levin, as I appreciate the opportunity to work with my friend, Mr. Herger, on moving this bill forward. It was only a couple of months ago that we were having a press conference in the Triangle with a…

I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy. I am pleased that the House will deal with the repeal this week. I was honored to be the principal cosponsor with my good friend, Wally Herger, of the Ways and Means Committee and to have a bipartisan…