Rep. Dennis Kucinich

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is not a benevolent organization. NATO is not about the North Atlantic and it's not about our collective defense.

NATO is a cost-sharing organization that finances aggressive military action. By hiding behind the claim that the organization provides for 'common defense,' NATO allows us...

This week, Congress is considering two pieces of legislation relating to Iran. The first undermines a diplomatic solution with Iran and lowers the bar for war. The second authorizes a war of choice against Iran and begins military preparations for it.

H.Res.568: Eliminating the Most Viable Alternative to War...

Upon the solemn 42nd anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University we remember with love and compassion those who were affected. There are many of us who remember where we were when the news broke that the students had been killed. We will never forget how this tragedy changed our nation. News of the shootings sparked massive nation-wide protests and defined the way a generation of Americans interacted with its government.

What happened as a result of the shootings is well-documented. What we still don't know, to this day, is why the shootings took place. An audio recording of the events of May 4th may have answers.

The only known audio recording of those events was made by Terry Strubbe, who placed a microphone out of his window and recorded 29 minutes of audio. At least two copies of the Strubbe tape were made, with one ending up in Yale University's Kent State Collection in 1989. In 2010, the Cleveland Plain Dealer engaged forensic audio engineers to examine a copy of the Yale recording made by Alan Canfora, one of the thirteen victims of the Kent State shootings. That analysis found that shots were fired before the National Guard opened fire. That evidence could be significant, because it could connect an FBI paid informant who was on campus that day and who possessed a gun that might have been the one caught by Strubbe's microphone.

As Chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, I requested that Yale University make another copy of the Strubbe tape to ensure its authenticity, and sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting that the Department of Justice undertake a forensic analysis of this authenticated recording. The DOJ concluded that the tape was unintelligible, but that the sounds preceding the fire from the guardsmen were likely to be the sound of Strubbe's dorm room opening and closing.

Despite the detailed response from the Justice Department, significant questions remain. There was no attempt to reconcile major discrepancies in conclusions among expert analysts. The role of Terry Norman, the FBI informant on campus that day was not discussed. In order to lay these questions to rest, I wrote to the Justice Department requesting the full analysis used to reach their conclusions.

The Kent State shootings remain a significant event in American history, and my heart goes out to the families of those affected by this tragedy. Nothing less than a full investigation is...

Yesterday, the president announced that the U.S. signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Afghanistan, committing the United States to the country for a long time to come. The agreement addressed the transition to Afghan-led security forces by 2014. Human and monetary costs to the U.S. will continue to skyrocket.

Rich Trumka is right.

The AFL-CIO president is calling for massive infrastructure investment. After decades of neglect, our infrastructure is crumbling as maintenance and replacement schedules get pushed back. Much of our aging infrastructure is beyond its useful life or at full capacity. We need to invest in repairing and renewing our crumbling infrastructure before disaster strikes.

There is a simple way to pay for needed investments which doesn't require taxing or borrowing. Congress has the power under Article 1, Section 8, of the United States Constitution to originate money, and Congress can use this power to pay for upgrading our infrastructure. We can provide direct investments and grants to the States to deal with their infrastructure needs

I've introduced a bill, H.R. 2990, The National Emergency Employment Defense Act (The N.E.E.D. Act), to allow our nation to fund this much-needed investment.

H.R. 2990 enables money to be issued by spending it into circulation on programs approved by Congress -- without taxing or borrowing. A priority is the repair or replacement of infrastructure, starting with the $2.2 trillion the American Society of Civil Engineers reports we need to spend over the next 5 years to make it safe. It also calls for grants to the States, to enable them to make investments in their own infrastructure renewal programs.

This investment in infrastructure is long overdue. This investment alone would create millions of well paying jobs across America. We simply can't afford not to do this. We need to act.

Learn more about the N.E.E.D. Act

When FirstEnergy discovered the cracking in the concrete wall of the aging shield building at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant and until the public hearing held by the NRC at my request on January 5, 2012, FirstEnergy consistently told the public that the cracks were confined to "architectural...

During this year's Super Bowl, many Americans were subjected to a biased piece of political advertising by D.C. corporate lobbyists that was offensive to working people.

An anti-worker front group calling themselves the "Center for Union Facts" aired a distasteful and misleading ad promoting a piece of...

During an interview last month on CBS' Face the Nation, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta set the record straight on Iran: "Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No." But if you read recent news reports lately, you'd think otherwise.

The media coverage on Iran is...

Today the House of Representatives is voting on legislation to repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program. This is counterproductive.

Seniors need our help. Congress should not even be taking a vote on whether to repeal the major provision in the health care law that tries to help...

This is not a progressive issue or a conservative issue. This is not a Tea Party issue or a liberal issue. This is an American issue. Money is destroying our politics and our political system. The signs are everywhere. A "super PAC" supporting Mitt Romney spent $3.5 million to knock...

To the young men and women who are braving the overreaction of local authorities to raise their voices against the corruption and manipulation of our nation that emanates from Wall Street: I say to you that your presence is making a difference. You are exercising the right every American holds...

Today President Obama submitted three free trade agreements to Congress based on the flawed North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) model that has been devastating to our economy, American workers and to labor and environmental standards. Hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been displaced and outsourced as a...

Tonight I wish to speak to this Congress and to my fellow Americans about international policy and its relation to the domestic economy. I will advocate a new direction America must take in the world so that we can meet the needs of our people here at home.
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News outlets recently reported that the Obama Administration waived the Jones Act no less than 46 times following its decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in late June.

The Jones Act, a section of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, requires that only American-built,...

Libyan rebels have entered Tripoli. As gun battles break out across the city, it is timely to enter into a discussion as to how the rebels arrived there. It is time to review the curious role of NATO and the future of U.S. interventionism.

A negotiated settlement in Libya was...

The following speech was delivered at Hempfest on Saturday, August 20, 2011 in Seattle, Washington:

Hello Seattle. On this day, in this place of great beauty we celebrate the beauty of nature The wondrous nature of each other. Our presence here binds us as a community. It empowers us. It...

The Obama Administration continues to use unmanned drones as a tool of war - a tool that according The New York Times, the Administration claims has killed 600 militants in Pakistan and no civilians since May 2010. But the math doesn't add up. Nor does the policy.

Think of the...

First, raise the debt ceiling until December 31, 2012, without it being contingent on cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or increases in taxes or cuts in taxes or cuts in spending.

The attempt to resolve all these issues at once as a moment of reckoning arrives was never...

Here is what we should do to avoid default: increase the debt ceiling with no strings attached.

Here is how to get out of debt: End the wars -- save one trillion over ten years. Repeal tax cuts to the wealthy: Save another trillion.

Medicare for All:...

Last Friday, the president told the nation that he offered a plan that would cut $650 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Last night in his address to the nation, the president didn't want to 'bore' Americans with the details of his plan but threatened...