Hats off to the Huffington Post for launching its new Black Voices and recognizing the value of expanding participation in the public sphere. This platform will allow policymakers and others to reach audiences that rely more on digital sources. As such, I would like to take this opportunity to address...

British Petroleum's (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Gulf Coast more than 100 days ago and we have witnessed the devastation ever since. Oil has washed ashore from Texas to Florida and the lives of millions of Americans have been put on hold. The magnitude of the spill...

At the height of the recent economic collapse, the federal government stepped in with billions of taxpayer dollars to save the nation's largest financial institutions from going belly up. Today, the financial system is stabilizing, and some banks are even turning record profits. Sadly, the same cannot be said for...

The Decennial Census, a snapshot of America that began in March, will determine many important issues in our communities including apportionment of congressional seats and the allotment of Federal and State aid for vital services in our schools, senior centers and critical infrastructure projects. With billions of dollars at stake,...

Kevin Powell has opened his campaign for Congress claiming to be an effective agent for change. He presents evidence of his effectiveness as "[m]ost recently, I negotiated the release of six young Brooklynites unfairly detained in Antigua and Barbuda." Like most of his claims of leadership and effectiveness, Mr. Powell's...

For more than 200 years the United States Postal Service has connected Americans, facilitated commerce and provided good paying jobs for millions of Americans. As a result of postal workers' high level of service, the Postal Service has become one of the most trusted organizations in America. But the Postal...

Yesterday I joined a majority in Congress to pass historic health insurance reform legislation, H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act. We told 32 million Americans living without insurance that their fear of getting sick without coverage will soon be a thing of the past. We fulfilled...

This week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform continued its oversight of the Federal procurement system. We focused on the government's use of suspension and debarment, an effective tool, when implemented, for Federal agencies to ensure contractor performance. Federal agencies use suspension and debarment as the last line...

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform began examining the dangers posed by open network peer-to-peer (P2P) software almost a decade ago. P2P was relatively new then and it offered both tremendous promise and unseen dangers. Since that time, we have been told of numerous security breaches as a...

Across the nation, in our communities and neighborhoods, we are experiencing the effects of the economic downturn. Jobs have vanished at rates not seen since the Great Depression, and many know someone who lost their job as a result of the recession.

The Democratic Congress has been focused on...

President Obama held an important meeting yesterday with the top executives of the nation's largest banks. The president convened that meeting to urge these top bankers to increase lending which is an important part of our economic recovery. After being bailed out by American tax dollars last fall, the bankers,...

It has been more than four years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans region. As we all know, the health care infrastructure was particularly hard hit when Katrina flooded the city and surrounding parishes.

I chaired a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing this week to examine...

The American people were justifiably outraged when they learned earlier this year that American International Group (AIG) would pay $165 million in bonuses to executives at AIG's Financial Products Division (AIGFP), the very division that brought the company to its knees. The news came just months after taxpayer dollars funded...

I recently chaired an Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing to examine the role credit rating agencies contributed to the financial crisis. Credit rating agencies play a powerful role in our economy and they played a starring role in the collapse of the financial system last year.

The main...

With the height of the flu season quickly approaching and our children heading back into the classroom, I recently led a full Committee hearing to examine the Obama Administration's Flu Vaccine program. I wanted to hear from the individuals who are responsible for implementing the vaccine plan about its likely...

People are often surprised to learn that the federal government does not provide paid parental leave to its more than 1.8 million hard-working employees. Currently, when federal workers become new parents they are often forced to make the tough decision between staying home to care for their children without pay...