For as long as this nation has known war, we have embraced the heroes it has produced. Americans have rightfully noted the honor and nobility of courage under hostile fire and thanked those who perished in their defense.

The U.S. Armed Forces are the best trained, best equipped fighting forces in the world.

How we continue to fund Medicare and Medicaid into the future is a pressing issue of national concern.

And yet 50 percent of the kids who start high school in the United States today do not finish high school.

The Children's Safety Act will help protect children from the perpetrators of these vile crimes by strengthening notification requirements for sex offenders and increasing criminal penalties.

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivable, a violation of mankind's most basic duty to protect the innocent.

I do not believe that the Social Security system is in crisis. The Social Security Administration itself recently reported that the system is able to pay full benefits as they are defined today until at least 2042.