Last November my administration was tasked with tackling the many challenges facing Puerto Rico, including, rampant crime, high unemployment and an economy in deep recession. Sadly, ever since losing the election, instead of joining me in addressing these challenges, the previous administration has chosen to focus on misrepresenting the outcome of the 2012 Puerto Rico plebiscite on self-determination. Falsely claiming that a majority of Puerto Ricans voted in support of statehood, Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi and his allies from the prior administration continue to spread in Washington the politics of division.

In their zeal to attempt to demonstrate support for statehood, the New Progressive Party has worked tirelessly to mischaracterize the results of the plebiscite – so much so that both houses of the Puerto Rican legislature felt it necessary to pass a joint resolution on Wednesday to set the record straight. 

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The message from Congress is clear: inconvenience trumps hunger.

Several weeks ago, Congress passed the Reducing Flight Delays Act of 2013, giving the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) the flexibility to spend up to $253 million of its current budget to ensure that more flights depart on time. As a frequent flyer, I certainly appreciate it when my flight takes off on schedule. However, as the president of Bread for the World, I find lawmakers’ swift action on air travel irresponsible, considering that people living in hunger still face drastic cuts to anti-poverty programs.

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In a U.S. economy where tens of millions are struggling, guest workers on H-2B visas are trapped at the bottom. These so-called “low skilled” temporary workers occupy fields from hospitality to construction to landscaping to food processing — alongside 24 million U.S. workers in the same sectors. And the job quality of those 24 million depends on whether guest workers can blow the whistle on abuse.

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The upcoming incentive spectrum auction offers a chance to inject vitally needed spectrum into the broadband marketplace.

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Last month’s tragic attack on the Boston marathon leaves us wanting answers — not just about why it occurred, but why we failed to prevent it. One tempting answer is that the FBI could have prevented the Boston attack if it had more power and fewer legal encumbrances. That seems to be the wrongheaded if understandable impulse of former Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who at last Thursday’s House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the Boston attack, urged Congress to review the Attorney General Guidelines that regulate the FBI’s surveillance and investigation power.

In our democratic society, a thought crime is no crime at all. Yet Lieberman and some members of Congress suggested that the FBI should be able to keep investigations open based on a person’s religious and political beliefs. That change would be ruinous to an agency that prides itself on upholding the Constitution, and it would not help prevent terrorism.

Big Oil is back to its old tricks, this time trying to convince Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency that the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) cannot work and should be eliminated.

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“No thank you, I don’t want to join the national marrow donor program today. If you register, aren’t you forced to undergo an invasive, expensive surgery to save a stranger? I don’t want to risk my own health for someone else’s.”
It's shocking that people in our country have that mindset, let alone have the courage to say those thoughts out loud, right?

Working at “Be the Match” foundation, a part of the national marrow donor program, these past few weeks has really opened my eyes to the types of people and myths this foundation deals with and must overcome to ensure its success.

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 There are three distinct phases of leadership when attempting to implement change: vision, structure and implementation. This same process can be applied to congressional leadership regarding U.S. financial reform.

Congress’s recent action to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to avoid furloughs of air traffic controllers is an indication that the fiscal sequester is starting to bite. Less visible, but no less real, is the harm to our economic growth that will result from drastic across-the-board sequestration cuts to agencies that support scientific research.