Developing a memorial in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is fitting and long overdue.

Dr. King, acknowledged as a peacemaker throughout the world for his promotion of nonviolence and equal treatment for all races, sparked the modern day civil rights movement. The movement and its legacy made it possible for millions of African Americans to enjoy rights and privileges not previously available. Because of Dr. King's courage and tenacity, America is a better place.

The 43-members of the Congressional Black Caucus salute those who have made a national memorial for Dr. King a reality.

I am endorsing Congressman John Shadegg for Republican Whip in the 110th Congress because he will best lead the effort by House Republicans to formulate the ideas and solutions necessary for us to regain the majority.

I remember serving in the minority for two years when I was first elected in 1992. Day after day House Republicans had to fight back against a Democrat-controlled Congress that was leading the country down the wrong path. Fortunately I had the opportunity to participate in drafting the historic Contract with America. We crafted bold ideas and policies that resonated with the American people, and they overwhelmingly sent such a substantial number of Republicans to Congress that the election earned the title of the 1994 Republican Revolution.

Today we need similarly effective leaders who can generate the level of optimism necessary to regain the majority of the House in 2008. I believe that John Shadegg has the leadership skills, he has the ideas and solutions and he best understands how to get the job done.

He will deliver the sound ideas and policies that people care about nationally to the White House and to the American people. It is time to redefine ourselves and again earn the trust of American voters, and I am confident in the ability of John Shadegg to get the job done.

The following is the first in a series of three posts from Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). The other parts of his Guide to Congress for incoming lawmakers will be published later this week.

In an open letter to new Members of Congress, I have put together a series of suggestions based on the experience of somebody who was a freshman member twice, coming in a special election, and then at the end of year, choosing to go through new member orientation, to see what I had missed.

The most important point is not to rush the organization of your office. The key date is not when you're inaugurated, but the week of February 26th, which kicks off “March Madness. Read more...

As Democrats prepare to take over the reins of Capitol Hill come January, our top budget priorities must be to restore fiscal discipline.  At the same time, we must protect middle-class tax cuts and review all areas of federal spending.  We should also reinstate a strong pay-as-you-go rule and other budget enforcement tools, and work to close the tax gap – the difference between the amount of taxes owed under current law and the amount actually paid.  We also will work to strengthen Social Security and prepare for the coming retirement of the baby boom generation.

Post-game analysis of last week’s elections will continue to pour in, especially as Leadership elections take place this week for the Republicans; however one consensus seems to be that the quest for incumbency beat the quest for integrity. As a party the Republicans failed to notice the cumulative effect the constant barrage of negatives was causing to Congress as a whole – and especially those perceived to be in charge. While the Jack Abramoff and Mark Foley scandals were not seen as directly affecting many Members it did help give Congress record low approval ratings (to find an industry less approved of then Congress one would have had to look to the media – the fine people at The Hill aside of course.)

If you think the scandals were simply partisan then look at the recent poll numbers of incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-0% FRCAction Scorecard rating) – a Newsweek poll from November 10th has her with only a 34% approval rating. And if American voters were tired of Republican corruption they will be quickly reminded the Democrats invented the term political scandal. Already Mrs. Pelosi is going to have to deal with putting a former judge who was actually impeached for taking bribes (Alcee Hastings (D-FL-0%)) in charge of the Intelligence Committee. She has also endorsed John Murtha (D-PA-28%) for Majority Leader – despite continuing revelations of ethical misconduct. If William Jefferson (D-LA-14%) wins his runoff, Speaker Pelosi can claim a trifecta of corruption before she even picks up the Speaker’s gavel in January. Read more...

I would like to commend my colleagues who voted against granting permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Vietnam yesterday.  Despite my continued action and the work of many of my colleagues in Congress, Vietnam has consistently refused to protect and improve the human rights situation for its people.  Just two months ago, the Vietnamese government arrested my constituent, a U.S. citizen, Cong Thanh Do and held him in prison for 38 days in Vietnam without charge.

The failure of H.R. 5602 last night shows the Vietnamese government that its repeated violations of human rights have not gone unnoticed.  Before Congress rewards Vietnam by changing voting rules to pass a PNTR measure, the Vietnamese government should exhibit a good-faith effort to improve its respect of human rights, free speech, and freedom of religion.

I would welcome the help of any Senator - Republican or Democrat - who wants to limit earmarks and wasteful spending. The Democrats are not inheriting a Republican problem but an institutional problem. Blaming Republicans won't be good enough anymore. The American people want the favor factory to be shut down, not turned over to new management.

There should now be less doubt about whether overspending and pork projects are bad policy and bad politics. This year, in particular, pork did not save our vulnerable incumbents but helped drag them down. The challenges facing our country are too great and complex for members of Congress and their staff to continue to be distracted by endless earmarking.

Some have said that Republicans and Democrats now need to govern from the middle. I disagree. We do not need to govern from the center as much as we need to govern from conscience. When politicians have the courage to argue their convictions and lose their political lives in an honest battle of ideas the best policies will prevail.

Veterans Day is now over, but it’s important to remember that honoring our veterans should be more than a one-day or one-week commitment.  Sometimes it is all too easy to take for granted our freedoms as we go about our daily lives.  We must not forget those freedoms are defended by our military.

Five constituents of our congressional district have died in Iraq serving our country.  Their ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten.

I thank my colleagues for working with me to pass my legislation making it possible to create the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery from the former Joliet Arsenal.  Thanks to the leadership and volunteerism of our local veterans, we worked together to create that special place to honor and forever remember those who sacrificed for our nation’s freedom. Read more...

We were just a few days into this election year when Jack Abramoff entered his guilty plea. Members of Congress immediately dumped contributions from the lobbyist and his clients. They recognized then that any association with a corruption scandal could be politically fatal. So why, as the 2006 campaign progressed, did they forget that? Why, when opinion polls were saying a sizable portion of the electorate thinks Congress is corrupt, did it take Election Day polls for incumbents to get the message?

According to our campaign finance research at the Center for Responsive Politics, nine officeholders learned the real cost of being linked to corruption -- they received contributions from Jack Abramoff, and they lost last week. Other incumbents barely held on to their seats, polling significantly worse than in 2004, and two more are still fighting to remain in Congress. Several more members didn’t even make it to Election Day because of the Abramoff scandal or other disgraces, and their (Republican) party lost those seats. And don’t forget those members who got money from an Abramoff client -- not even the lobbyist himself -- and lost or barely held on.

It wasn’t just Abramoff who cursed these incumbents, of course, and except in Bob Ney’s case, there isn’t any public evidence yet that this year’s losers accepted Abramoff-related contributions illegally. But the scandal highlighted a long-standing perception problem that the 110th Congress will have to address: The public knows, or thinks it knows, that money buys access and influence in government -- and, understandably, they don’t like that. Last week, voters showed that their influence can be far greater than any campaign check.