As America prepares for the holiday season, it is important to pause and reflect on what we can do for others as well as ourselves. I hope that Congress will give a gift of life, health and hope by helping people around the world with something that most Americans take...

Forget the "dangers" of same-sex marriage: there is a much greater threat to traditional American values: the creeping danger posed by re-defining pizza and french fries as "vegetables" in our school lunch program. The traditional definition of vegetables can help lead us to a future where we are happier, healthier,...

Like many of you, when I heard this I thought it had to be a headline from The Onion. But sadly I've realized that there are too many agri-businesses and politicians who are willing to allow our childhood obesity epidemic to continue. They don't care that our military...

It is unfortunate that we are seeing an attempt in Congress to scapegoat America's unions for the economic problems that beset us.

After all, it was not America's grocery clerks, nurses, teachers, postal workers and electricians that nearly caused the meltdown of the economy. It wasn't America's labor unions that...

The observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and the days leading up to it were very moving. Accounts of that horrific day, the flood of emotions, and the shared remembrances with people who were there with me in Washington will linger for some time.

Never...

President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress tonight is going to be unique in the history of our nation. It's not because it was the first time a President's request to address a joint session was initially refused by the Speaker of the House, nor is it that...

Sometimes legislative hearings are long and boring. Sometimes they are excruciating. Yet rarely are they embarrassing.

I think yesterday marked a first in terms of a blatant effort at intimidation and retribution against the American Association of Retired People (AARP) for having the temerity to support health care reform.

The stakes are higher for the Obama administration and the American people than merely some or all taxpayers receiving lower taxes temporarily or unemployment benefits extended thirteen months.

This deal represents a victory for the immediate and the modest issues over the major challenges and long-term. It guarantees that these...

This is a birthday message I sent to my children following a Thanksgiving conversation about the tax cut dynamics.

Dear Anne and Jon,

I'm sorry to be in Washington, DC and miss your birthday dinner. It's frustrating that after so many years of you on the other side of...

Today, my campaign is launching an ad telling voters what we're proud of in this Democratic Congress.

I'm proud that we passed a healthcare bill to end the abuses of insurance companies.

I'm proud that we are finally bringing our troops home from the misguided war in Iraq.

And I'm...

While I appreciate Matt Bai's article in The New York Times focusing on my commitment to cut wasteful government spending, such as military and agricultural subsidies, I would like to point out one area where I take modest exception to how my comments have been interpreted in this...

The House is voting on legislation to address the horrible tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico and prevent future incidents.

It's more than unfortunate that it's taken this and several other tragedies for us to finally make these common sense and overdue changes to the laws regulating oil and gas...

As those on the far right begin their chest thumping for the Fourth of July, crying for independence and freedom from the "tyrannical government" that now occupies the White House and controls majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, here's what I'm celebrating on Sunday.

More freedom...

Fifty days ago, I would have hoped today -- World Oceans Day -- to call for a renewed commitment to protecting our most majestic resource: our oceans. I could have reminisced about my own memories on the Oregon coast and around the world, and the shared human experiences of being...

Today is National Ride Your Bike to Work Day, where commuters across the nation -- from the 3rd District of Oregon to the nation's capital -- will be encouraging people to drop their car keys and pick up a helmet.

At a time when oil from the BP Deepwater...

Some have likened the legislative process to making sausage. Understand this analogy was not meant to be flattering, but sometimes this process works better than you think...and people do like sausage. I think this is what is happening on Capitol Hill this week.

After leaving an intense, hastily called, late-night...

For the past many weeks, my office has been bombarded with calls from people calling for passage of health insurance reform, and I am firmly with them. After more than a year of public debate, tonight the Budget Committee will take a major step towards final passage of...

As weather paralyzed the nation's capital with record snowfall, scrambling schedules and disrupting plans, I was able to participate in a short, one-day trip to Haiti. Normally I would think twice about the usefulness of spending less than six hours on the ground in a country, but my deep personal...

Senators who are filibustering and throwing sand in the gears to delay health care reform desperately need a reality check. It is ironic to me that members of Congress enjoy some of the best health insurance in the world through our government-administered health care, and yet so many are working...

Last night I had planned to leave the office early to read and get a little extra sleep before the big health care day.  I am reading Fighting Bob La Follette’s biography, at the suggestion of Fighting Dave Obey, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee.   

Around 10:30, my phone rings. ...