Be it a "wardrobe malfunction" or a fake news report, the American people lose when programming and editorial decisions are moved out of our communities and into corporate boardrooms. The health of our democracy depends on media outlets that are responsive to local needs, receptive to diverse views, and responsible stewards of the public airwaves.

By now, it should be clear as day that the FCC's attempts to loosen U.S. media ownership rules threaten these values. In 2003, when the Commission tried to railroad through major rules changes with minimal public input, it was met with ardent opposition by millions of Americans from across the political spectrum, Members of Congress from both parties, and groups ranging from the National Rifle Association to MoveOn.org. In 2004, a U.S. Circuit Court echoed this outcry, calling portions of the rules "irrational" and "patently unreasonable" and sending the FCC back to the drawing board.

If further proof was needed, we received it last week in the form of revelations that the FCC may have suppressed two taxpayer-funded studies on the impact of media consolidation. The first study concluded that local TV stations air more local news than stations owned by networks or media conglomerates, directly contradicting arguments made by the FCC during the 2003 debate. The second found that the number of radio station owners fell by 35 percent between 1996 and 2003, offering further evidence of consolidation in that industry.

I recently authored a letter, cosigned by 33 colleagues, urging the FCC Inspector General to investigate this matter. If the FCC can't be trusted to present the results of its own studies to the American public, how can it be trusted to act in the public's interest when it comes to ownership of our airwaves?

My bill requires timely notice to individuals whose sensitive personal information could be compromised by a breach of data security at federal agencies. Until now, there has been no requirement that people be notified if their information is compromised. Under this legislation, the Administration must establish procedures for agencies to follow if sensitive personal information is lost or stolen and there is a reasonable risk of harm to an individual. And we provide a clear definition of the type of sensitive information we're trying to protect.

Next, we give the agency Chief Information Officers the authority to ensure, when appropriate, that agency personnel comply with the information security laws already on the books.

Finally, we ensure that costly equipment containing potentially sensitive information is accounted for and secure. Half of the lost Census Bureau computers simply were not returned by departing or terminated employees. The agency did not track computer equipment, nor were employees held accountable for failing to return it. This is taxpayer funded equipment, containing sensitive information, and we need to know what we have and who has it at all times.

This bill is a first step, and I'm glad it's going to be attached to Chairman Buyer's VA legislation today. But if new policies and procedures are not forthcoming quickly, or if they lack the teeth to get the job done, I will revisit this matter with additional legislation.

Years ago, Secretary Rumsfeld in a probing internal memorandum asked about the metrics for measuring success or failure in the war on terror and the Iraq war. He raised an important question whether we were creating more terrorists than we were capturing or killing. Reports about the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) give a clear indication that the tragic answer to the Secretary's inquiry is ‘yes, the problem is getting worse not better.’

Contrary to the President's public declarations over the last several weeks, the Administration's ‘stay the course’ doctrine is failing under almost every metric including the most important -- whether we are reducing the number of jihadists bent on killing Americans.

The White House asserts that these reports are ‘not representative of the complete document.’  Congress should test that optimistic assessment with real oversight hearings, something this majority has thus far been unwilling to do. But unless we are willing to confront the cold hard facts, the Administration will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.

With the end of the fiscal year just days away, the Bush administration and its Republican allies are trumpeting what they call “lower deficits.

The author of this post is a former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services

Today, I was pleased to join consumer, patient and industry groups to announce the formation of a broad bipartisan coalition to build public support and increase funding for one of our most important federal agencies, the Food and Drug Administration.

The Coalition for a Stronger FDA believes that the FDA must be given the resources it needs to build on its position as the world's premier consumer protection organization. The members of the Coalition understand that a stronger FDA is critical to not only protecting the food supply, but also ensuring that the next generation of medical innovations reach the market quickly and are as safe and effective as possible.

This is not a partisan issue. In fact, my two predecessors at HHS - Secretary Donna E. Shalala and Secretary Louis Sullivan - are serving with me as co-chairs of the Coalition. As Republicans and Democrats, we appreciate the important role the FDA plays in our daily lives by regulating roughly 25 percent of all consumer spending. Read more...

Nebraska exports more than three billion dollars worth of meat, grains, and renewable fuels every year making my state the 4th largest exporter of agriculture products in America. Nearly one fourth of Nebraskans are employed in farm or farm related jobs.

As Nebraska’s Senator and as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I represent Nebraska’s many agriculture interests because it is my job, but I am honored to know that my work has been noticed by two major farm groups.

I want to thank the Nebraska Farmers Union Political Action Committee and the National Farmers Union Political Action Committee for giving me their endorsements.

I appreciate the recognition and I will continue to fight for family farms, to increase the use of renewable fuels, to maintain a strong safety net for producers, and to make sure agriculture is treated fairly on world trade markets.

It is a shocking fact that in the United States at least one out of every ten pregnant women smokes. That number is even higher for women on Medicaid. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that pregnant women on Medicaid are 2.5 times more likely to smoke than pregnant women not on the program.

Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke among pregnant women are known to be major causes of miscarriage, stillbirths, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The resources exist to reduce this problem. We just need to target them more specifically.  This is why I introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at helping women on Medicaid stop smoking during pregnancy.

The Smoke-Free Mothers and Babies Act of 2006 amends the Social Security Act to encourage states to provide pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid with access to comprehensive tobacco cessation services. The bill offers states an enhanced “federal medical assistance percentage Read more...

It should not have taken a request from Congress for this information to reach the light of day.

The American people deserve better from their government.  If we're going to ask and sometimes demand information from the public, we owe them a better way of knowing when that information goes missing.  And a far better way of securing that information in the first place.

The sad reality is, we are incapable of storing, moving, accessing and securing information.  We spend tens of billions of dollars a year on information technology.  You'd think we could secure information by now. But we are still an analog government in a digital economy and culture. It's time for that to change, before people lose confidence entirely in our ability to protect them.

Rep. Tom Davis is chairman of the House Government Reform Committee.

During the past two weeks, the House has overwhelmingly approved five bills that will secure our borders and restrict the flow of illegal aliens into our country. The comprehensive Reid-Kennedy plan has proved to be incomprehensible. It is time for the Senate to act on the House-passed border security legislation.