The American taxpayer is being ripped off by the Republican
Prescription Drug law.  Any Republican who wants to dispute this fact should
take a look at Tuesday's New York Times.  Under the headline "A Windfall
From Shifts to Medicare" we have yet another example of how the
pharmaceutical companies are reaping record profits while the American
taxpayer is left holding the bill.

Before the Republican law went into effect this year, more than 6.5
million low-income Americans received help with their prescription drug
bills through Medicaid.  Under the Medicaid system, states could purchase
the drugs at the lowest available prices.  While this was good news for the
taxpayer, it certainly cut into the profits of the pharmaceutical companies.

So now, those 6.5 million Americans have been moved into the
Republican plan.  They are no longer receiving the lowest prices.  And the
higher costs, adding up to as much as $2 billion this year alone will be
passed onto the American taxpayer.

And House Republicans still claim to be fiscal conservatives!  House
Republicans sold out to the pharmaceutical companies, and now the American
taxpayers are paying the price.

The President put politics before the American people yesterday when he vetoed H.R. 810, a bill that would have expanded life-saving stem cell research.  How can he claim to value life, when he is depriving millions of Americans the promise of life-saving medical cures?

We have always been a nation of progress and advancement.  But the majority party's election year political pandering will reverse that rewarding course and deprive millions of ailing Americans the promise of life-saving cures.

Modern medicine is moving rapidly toward the development of more effective
treatments for a host of diseases.  Many of the advances being made today by scientists are based on advanced stem cell therapies that are able to target the causes of diseases rather than simply treating the symptoms.  These new techniques are being applied experimentally to a wide range of human disorders, including cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and many other debilitating diseases.

We should pursue all potential stem cell therapies - embryonic , adult and pluripotent - on the basis of the promise of those therapies for effective medical treatment. I respect the concern that the embryos used in embryonic stem cell research are at least a potential life and I grieve for the deep
division in our society over this issue, but the embryos used would
otherwise be discarded. The potential therapeutic value of such research and
the relief from suffering for millions of people justifies the use of those
embryos in these circumstances.

This week, the House and Senate sent a bill, H.R. 810, to the President's desk for his approval. The bill supports federal funding for stem cell research using cells derived from embryos donated, with consent, from in vitro fertilization clinics. These embryos, smaller than the head of a pin, are currently stored in frozen vats or are thrown away. The stem cells that can be collected from the embryos have the potential to form any cell of the body: spinal cord, liver, kidney, skin. Think of the possibilities for the millions suffering from diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's disease, severe burns or paralysis.

Arguments about the ethical nature of stem cell research just don't hold water. I challenge anyone who questions the moral nature of this science to tour a medical research lab and see for themselves. The foundation for these arguments derives from ignorance. In my view, the real moral shame is in the dashed hopes of millions of Americans suffering from incurable diseases who must continue to wait for cures that may be just on the horizon.

As you may know, the President used the first veto of his administration to yield to the radical right and reject the bill. This action has thwarted efforts to invest federal dollars into this important research.

While it is true that stem cell research is legal in the United States, federal dollars that go to our universities are the keys to push such groundbreaking research forward. It is extremely disappointing that we've come so close to supporting this critical research but have missed the goal. I strongly support all stem cell research and will continue to fight for this cause.

All the new timetables in the world are not going to correct the mismanagement, fraud and scientific failings that have become a hallmark of the Yucca Mountain Project.  Nuclear waste can safely remain where it was produced for the next 100 years and there is no need to move this waste given the danger of an accident or terrorist attack.

One fact that every member of Congress should know is that the Department of Energy cannot and will not provide Congress with a new estimate of Yucca Mountain's total cost.  The price tag in 2001 was more than $60 billion dollars, and I would not be surprised to see the final cost swell to five times that amount.

For those who think Yucca Mountain is only a Nevada problem, I would remind Members of Congress that President Bush's plan to turn Nevada into a nuclear garbage dump will send thousands of waste shipments across America's roads and highways.  Communities from California to Maine will be impacted and will be potential terrorist targets as decades of waste shipments pass by homes, schools, hospitals and churches.  More than 50 million Americans will be at risk from shipments of nuclear waste headed to Yucca Mountain.

Today during the Ways and Means Committee hearing on Welfare Reforms, the results and outcomes of the 1996 welfare reform law were discussed.  It has been ten years since this legislation was enacted and I am very pleased to bear witness to the significant accomplishments of this legislation.

Essentially, since its inception, this program has brought millions of Americans out of poverty and into the workforce.  Poverty among families led by single mothers, the group most likely to go on welfare, dropped 15 percent from 1996 to 2004.  The overall child poverty rate dropped 13 percent in the same timeframe meaning 1.4 million fewer children living in poverty.  I am confident that these programs will continue to flourish and bring more Americans out of poverty and into employment.

We can’t let this slow response by the Bush administration become another Katrina.  There are thousands of Americans who desperately want out of Lebanon, but their government cannot seem to do what many European countries have already done - get their people out.

It is up to us in Congress to fix the redistricting system to stop the
current system of using gerrymanders to cut the voters out of the electoral
system. Those partisan practices further divide our nation and increase the
polarization in Washington, which has already crippled our ability to
accomplish the goals the American people want to see us accomplish.

The Supreme Court's June 28 ruling essentially opened the door for
professional politicians to hijack the electoral system every time a certain
party gets control in any state Capitol.

We have introduced bipartisan legislation (HR 2642/S.2350) that would
establish independent commissions in each state to draw district maps and
would bar mid-decade redistricting. Senator Tim Johnson and I are hopeful
more of our colleagues will recognize the importance of putting the House of
Representatives back in the hands of the American people.

I am confident that this bill will pass through the Senate.  With 80 co-sponsors, it is clear that there is much bipartisan support.  The Upper Mississippi Modernization Act that is included in the Water Resources Development Act is especially important due to growing competition in the agriculture world.  We will find ourselves falling further and further behind if we don’t have the necessary infrastructure to get products down the river for export.  I was in Brazil earlier this year, and I can tell you that Amazon River has facilities that would put the Mississippi River to shame