This week, I voted to support three major pieces of legislation that will help increase border security and crack down on illegal immigration.  The three bills, which all passed the U.S. House of Representatives, were the Community Protection Act of 2006, the Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006, and the Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 2006.

These three bills can make an immediate impact in securing our borders and securing our nation.  Every day, criminals successfully exploit our immigration laws and the results have been more drugs and violence in our neighborhoods.  The legislation we passed today is a good first step at addressing the problems created by illegal immigration.  The next step is adopting strong interior enforcement measures and policies that punish employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.  I call on the Senate to listen to the American people and support the stronger border enforcement policies the House passed this week.

This week Congressmen Barrow and Boswell took the lead in helping states maintain healthcare coverage for low-income children during a projected funding shortfall in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in fiscal year 2007.

I co-sponsored the "Keep Kids Covered Act" because it provides the funding needed by states to fill the expected shortfalls in FY 2007 and ensure their SCHIP programs remain in operation without disrupting coverage for children.

President Bush has created more uninsured Americans than jobs during the six years of his Administration. The Barrow-Boswell legislation is critical to ensuring more Americans, particularly vulnerable children, do not lose the good healthcare coverage they have today.

The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act includes new provisions to further strengthen congressional authority and oversight, and provide clear rules for electronic surveillance if the President notifies the Congress that he has reason to believe that an attack is imminent that would result in death or serious injury or substantial economic damage. The rules will include time limits, written notification, full justification, and clear identification of the groups and their affiliates believed to be about to launch an attack.

We listen to our enemies. Our intelligence community must be able to gather information to protect us, and react rapidly to threats. At the same time, we must ensure that the liberties of Americans are protected. We can do both.

We should not allow another Congress to conclude without ensuring that our troops and their families are protected from profiteers.  Currently, the exploitation of our troops' names and images is allowed in commercial endeavors.  For this reason, I introduced H.R. 5755, the Soldiers Targeted by Offensive Profiteering (STOP) Act, which will require that our troops or the families of our fallen soldiers give written permission for any commercial use of their name or image in connection with their military service.

The STOP Act directs the Secretary of Defense to prohibit the unauthorized use of a soldier's name and image in commercial activities, and gives the Attorney General the authority to seek an injunction for violations.  H.R. 5755 has 94 cosponsors in the House - 50 Democrats and 44 Republicans - and has gained wide support from the veteran and military communities, including endorsements from the American Legion and the Military Officers Association of America.

The STOP Act isn't about supporting the war or opposing it.  It's about respecting the rights of our men and women in uniform.  Our soldiers serve, and some give their lives, to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.  At the core of those freedoms is freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment.  I would not dream of going against everything these men and women are bravely fighting for by trampling on that right.  The bill specifically targets commercial speech.  It would only apply to people selling merchandise containing the names or images of our soldiers.

This bill isn't about financial restitution or even putting more people in prison.  It's about getting these vendors to respect the privacy of our soldiers and their families.  Nobody has the right to put the name or image of another private individual on a T-shirt or bumper sticker and sell it for a profit.

Our elections are too important to allow the possibility of fraudulent and illegal voting practices and that is why I supported H.R. 4844, the Federal Election Integrity Act of 2006.  This bill would ensure that state and local governments have effective means to prevent non-citizen immigrants from illegally registering and voting in federal elections.

The Federal Election Integrity Act would require voters in federal elections to provide a photo ID by 2008.  By 2010, voters would be required to provide a photo ID that can only be obtained with proof of citizenship.  Federal law already makes it a crime for non-citizens to vote in federal elections and this bill would give state and local governments the tools they need to enforce the law.  H.R. 4844 is important legislation and will preserve the democratic integrity of our electoral process.

The ability of news reporters to assure confidentiality to sources is fundamental to their ability to deliver news on highly contentious matters of broad public interest. Without the promise of confidentiality, many sources would be reluctant to provide important facts to reporters, and the public would suffer from the resulting lack of information.

Congressman Pence and I have introduced the Free Flow of Information Act because the public's right to know should be paramount in a particular federal case. In many instances, the critical information which alerts federal prosecutors to initiate a criminal investigation or provides civil litigants with facts giving rise to a private cause of action is contained in a news story which could only have been reported upon assurance of anonymity to the news source.

Campaigning for Vermont's U.S. House seat I have heard a great deal about how the high cost of health care is hurting Vermonters.

Congress must do more to increase access to affordable, quality health insurance and we must work to control the costs in our health care system. I have proposed several common sense interim steps - including expanding and encouraging health savings accounts, allowing individuals and businesses to buy insurance across state lines and over the internet and expanding tax credits to help small businesses provide coverage for their employees.

Congress must also act to reform the nation's medical malpractice system. While my opponent does not support meaningful malpractice reform, I have heard from Vermont doctors how frivolous claims and unjustified settlements are driving physicians out of the state and forcing others to limit the procedures they're willing to perform. Malpractice insurance routinely eats up between 10 and 25 percent of a physician's income. Furthermore, defensive medicine - doctors performing tests and prescribing medications just out of fear of a malpractice claim - has been estimated at 10 percent of the cost of health care today. This must change.

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Yesterday I joined over ten thousand people at the American Cancer Society's Celebration on the Hill, which honors cancer survivors and those who are no longer with us. From across the country survivors and their loved ones, including several of my constituents from the Central and South Coast, came to Washington, D.C. to advocate for additional resources to continue this difficult struggle. With everyone wearing the same color t-shirt, the National Mall was transformed into a sea of purple. What a glorious sight!

The folks visiting our nation's capital today came from many diverse backgrounds, but they were united in their message of hope and dedicated to the goal of eradicating cancer. As I met with these Celebration Ambassadors I was both humbled and inspired.

I took their message of hope with me during yesterday's meeting of the Energy and Commerce Committee which was dedicated to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget. The research conducted by the NIH is a matter of life and death.

The research funded by the NIH provides hope for millions of cancer survivors, their loved ones, and the doctors, nurses, researchers and other health professionals that help fight this battle against cancer. I have been relentless in my fight to see funding for NIH increased. It is my hope that yesterday's Celebration on the Hill will convince more of my colleagues to join me in supporting this life saving research.

Hurricane Katrina made it painfully clear that we need a strong and functional National Flood Insurance Program to be there for our constituents in times of crisis.  One way to do that is through increasing participation in the program.  That is why I have introduced bipartisan legislation to create a grant program to educate property owners about their flood risk and about the importance of flood insurance - the Flood Insurance Community Outreach Grant Program Act of 2006.

This grant program has already proven to be successful. It is based on an educational outreach initiative by our local flood control agency - the Sacrament Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA).   Last year, SAFCA conducted a flood insurance outreach effort with a $162,000 FEMA grant, which had impressive results.  SAFCA targeted 45,000 policyholders in the American River Floodplain (they had been released from federal flood insurance requirements in February of 2005).  For FEMA to recoup its initial grant to SAFCA, 550 Preferred Risk Policies had to be sold to property owners. SAFCA did this more than twenty times over.  One year after the outreach 74% had maintained their flood insurance and of this group 43% now carry preferred risk flood insurances.

Through this local effort we learned two things.  The first is that people whose houses, apartments and businesses are vulnerable to flooding will purchase and retain their flood insurance when they are informed of the risk they face and the options available to them.  And that our floodplain managers are our best partners to reach these individuals.

The bottom line is that this grant program will, in addition to ensuring people who live in flood plain have the financial protection they need in case of a flood, strengthen the national flood insurance program itself by increasing the number of people who carry and retain their flood insurance.

And that moves the National Flood Insurance Program towards the stability it needs.