In asserting a direct linkage between the effort to achieve stability in Iraq and the Israeli-Arab conflict, the Iraq Study Group report has committed a grave error.

The report states that the US cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it “deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability Read more...

In 1994 I came to Washington as a citizen legislator with no prior political experience. I was a doctor who spent 20 years in a healing profession before being elected to the United States Senate.  In my acceptance speech, I pledged to my fellow Tennesseans that my wife Karyn and I would go to Washington for 12 years with a mission to accomplish and then come back home to Tennessee.  And that’s exactly what we’ll do.

Today I look back and believe, as I did then, that every person can make a difference.  But to make a difference one can’t really do it alone.  Without the enduring love of my wife and family, without the support of Tennesseans, without the trust of my colleagues, and without the determination of my staff, nothing I’ve accomplished would have been possible.

As I reflect on my career in the Senate, a few moments will always stand out in my mind:  victories like the $15 billion funding for global HIV-AIDS, prescription drugs for Americas seniors, and confirming John Roberts and Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. Read more...

For about a decade I've been helping Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.) to raise the awareness of what underage drinking, is actually doing to America. Coach Osborne (R-Neb.) came in six years ago and made it a huge priority, and we're grateful that the STOP Act went to the president. The American Medical Association estimates the cost to the United States of underage drinking at $53 billion annually, based on the destruction caused and the problems that it creates.

The industry acts like it's not a problem sometimes, and clearly from Hollywood to Madison Avenue it's considered cool to drink. But binge drinking among children, and what it does to the brain for 13 and 14-year olds—to actually consume alcohol at the level that some people consume it—is information that the country needs.

This act pulls together all the different agencies and coordinates these activities. Half the people are in denial about the problem; the rest of the problem is that nothing's coordinated. It's a hodgepodge right now, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy doesn't even recognize this hardly as a problem. Read more...

As a Member of Congress—as someone who lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident—it is time Congress speak clearly and decisively about reducing underage drinking in our communities.  Congress did just that in passing the STOP (Sober Truth on Preventing) Underage Drinking Act.   This bipartisan, bicameral bill is the first major national legislation to address the public health crisis of underage drinking in our country.  And it has now been sent to the President for his signature.

When this bill becomes law, it will signal that we can do something about everyday young people engaging in behavior that leads to alcoholism.  The average age kids start drinking is 13, and 7 million young people describe themselves as "binge drinkers."  And alcohol plays a role in the 3 leading causes of death among young people.

The STOP Act is a comprehensive bill that will increase resources for drinking prevention coalitions like Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which we know already have a positive impact on teenagers.  It will fund additional research and create a committee that delivers an annual report on the progress we are or are not making.  And it will review alcohol advertisements targeted toward young people.  And lastly, the STOP Act would help us fund a national media campaign directed at adults.  Too often, parents ignore signs in their own children—they refuse to belief their own child could have a problem.  And we need to turn that around.  I am delighted that the STOP Act will now become law.

The performance of Special Inspector General Stuart Bowen and his staff has been outstanding.  The SIGIR has uncovered waste, mismanagement, and fraud on a massive scale, involving billions of squandered taxpayer dollars.  This waste and mismanagement shortchanges our soldiers in the field and impedes the overall effort to bring stability to Iraq.  The SIGIR’s reports have provided a comprehensive picture of the status of the reconstruction, vividly demonstrating the consequences that flow from the poor planning and weak oversight of contracts.  Far too often, reconstruction dollars have been squandered through cost overruns, delays in the completion of projects, poor contractor performance, or outright fraud.

The fact is the SIGIR has brought to light many of the abuses that have occurred during the Iraq war.  He and his staff have courageously traveled throughout Iraq to inspect projects, large and small. They found that the Coalition Provisional Authority could not account for nearly $9 billion dollars it distributed to Iraq ministries. They determined that the government had lost track of thousands of 9-millimeter pistols and hundreds of assault rifles and other weapons distributed to Iraqi forces. They determined that Halliburton wasted $75 million on a failed pipeline project, after ignoring an engineering consultant’s advice that the project required further study.  These are just a few of the examples of the SIGIR’s exceptional work.

The SIGIR’s work must continue while American taxpayers are spending billions of dollars to reconstruct Iraq and while lives of American troops are on the line in Iraq.  That’s why Senate approval of this bill should reassure the American taxpayer that we will vigilantly track the spending of their hard–earned tax dollars.  I urge the House to act quickly to ensure that funds for Iraqi reconstruction are well spent.

Building superintendents and logistics administrators with no appreciation for the vision and purpose of an entity often assume dictatorial powers in revered institutions. The brusque discharge of departing members of Congress reflects this kind of crude mindset. Suddenly the moving, plastering, painting and wiring become fanatically urgent matters. Instead of sharing the inconveniences with those who are remaining and with the newcomers, all of the burdens of transition are dumped on the departing. This Neanderthal thinking appears to be inevitable, traditional and non-partisan – and thus the homeless and powerless retirees are expected to silently comply.

It is imperative that our more enlightened House leadership, which recently activated an Office of House Historian, should notify those in charge of accommodating the departing that our values have changed. If our history is important, then our departing members must be important. We are now beginning to understand why the tribes who put their elderly out on a hillside to die were dominated and replaced by tribes who saw their retirees as vessels filled with valuable experiences and vital information.

To end my preamble and state the grievances of the departing more directly let me focus on the tiny pig pens with two chairs. Immediately behind me is Harold Ford, the man who was almost elected Senator for the state of Tennessee. To my right is a stall containing Martin Sabo, once the Chair of the Democratic Budget Committee and the long-time manager of the Democratic baseball team. For all of us it is impossible to meet with even one person in private. Certainly the hope is that no group of young constituents will show up to ask why, if we are elected to serve until the session ends in January, we have been pushed into some kind of untouchable status. Read more...

In the next Congress, taxpayers' interests will be defended by a cohort of committed fiscal conservatives in the Republican Study Committee. On Wednesday, RSC members took their first step forward by electing Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX) as their new leader, taking the reins from Rep. Mike Pence's (IN) able hands.

Hensarling is the type of leader Republicans need in order to get back on track. Aggressive and outspoken on earmarks and government waste, Hensarling rarely backs down from a challenge, especially when taxpayer dollars are at stake. Besides a sterling track record on budget issues, he understands that the Republican party needs to reclaim the trust of the American people as the good stewards of the public purse.

Hensarling's bid was supported by a "who's who" list of young congressional conservatives, including Rep. Pence (IN), Rep. John Shadegg (AZ), Rep. Jeff Flake (AZ), Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) and Rep. Marsha Blackburn (TN). These are the same folks who unveiled a proposal earlier in the year that would balance the budget through spending restraint, protecting economic growth by safeguarding the Bush Administration's tax cuts, and committing the resources needed to fight the war on terror. In fact, had the Republicans made the right choice to follow the model laid out in that document, maybe voters would have been more approving of Republican efforts.

Conservatives haven't had much to cheer about recently, but Wednesday's RSC election may offer a sign of the changes on the horizon. With Democrats in control of Congress, and by extension, the Federal purse strings, the RSC elected a fighter to lead the resistance movement. To be effective, House conservatives -- who will now be a "minority of the minority" -- must find creative ways to influence the bloated and back-room budgeting process. The "guerilla" tactics of a vibrant RSC will be needed now more than ever to restore the Republican Party's credibility in the battle for limited government.

The release of the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report containing its recommendations on how the U.S. Government should proceed in Iraq was eagerly anticipated by all, except, perhaps, by President Bush. The report clearly showed that the current policies in Iraq, implemented by President Bush, outgoing Secretary Rumsfeld and the rest of the President's war cabinet, have failed and that a new course of action is desperately needed - something that I and the "Out of Iraq" Congressional Caucus have been saying for months.

Unfortunately, the President's mismanagement of the war posed to the ISG the incredibly daunting and difficult task of recommending a course of action that will provide stability in Iraq and the Middle East, restoring the credibility of the United States and rebuilding our military that has for some time been strained from multiple deployments. I agree with some of the ISG's recommendations. For example, I agree that diplomacy with Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria, is vital to bringing stability to Iraq. I also believe that the United States should resume the Israel/Palestine peace discussions, which have been dormant for far too long under this administration. Further, I also believe that shortly after the fall of the Hussein government, the administration should have outlined milestones to show the progress (or lack thereof) being made in Iraq. Read more...

Tom Davis and I got the D.C./Utah House vote bill further than anyone anticipated. We're disappointed about the Republican leadership's decision against consideration of the bill during the lame duck not for ourselves but for residents of the District and Utah and all those who joined this fight for justice over the past four years. We recognize that this decision may be final, but we will continue to seek passage until Congress completes its business and adjourns this week. Otherwise, we will re-introduce the bill as our first order of business in the 110th Congress.

We are not novices about House and Senate procedures, and we know that time has been our major opponent in this race. We also know that things have never been easy --or fair-- for the District. That has been the rule for my entire 16 years in the Congress, and it has been true for the District ever since its creation at the dawning of the Republic. I therefore am not in the least discouraged. After four years of arduous negotiations to get a viable bill and one that both Democrats and Republicans could support, giving up is not an option. Until the gavel goes down sine die on the 109th Congress, we will be in the struggle to get the D.C. House vote passed.

How heartbreaking to see a bill for Utah, the most Republican state in the union, and for Democratic D.C. stopped on the brink of passage by the House and Senate. Our hats go off to Governor Jon Huntsman and to the Utah legislature, who jumped through hoops to meet the unexpected requirements of the Judiciary Committee only to be disappointed after all. Very special thanks are due to the two Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett and to Senator Joe Lieberman who wrote to the Republican and Democratic Leaders this week and asked them to "move to hold the bill at the desk and pass it before the 109th Congress ends."