Free market capitalism has done more for the soul of the human race than any other system. And it's created the highest standard of living.

I believe it's time to put our best ideas on the table and work toward a bipartisan solution, with the single goal of leaving the Social Security system stronger than we found it.

The fact is that one of the earliest lessons I learned in business was that balance sheets and income statements are fiction, cash flow is reality.

We have so many people retiring that we do not have enough people paying into the system to be able to provide the benefits for those collecting those benefits.

If we do not act now to strengthen Social Security, the system that so many depend upon today will be unable to meet its promises to tomorrow's retirees, and it will burden our children and grandchildren with exhaustive taxes.

Madam Speaker, before being elected to Congress, I ran a manufacturing business that did a significant percentage of our sales outside the United States.

Iraq can emerge as a beacon of hope and democracy in the Middle East, and the world, with our help.