In the last 5 years, American employers have lost over $150 billion of productivity to depression alone. That is more than the GDP of 28 different States during the same period.

And how the government communicates about homeland security is central to how the public responds.

In the 5 years, well over 60,000 American families have been broken apart by the absence of insurance because the only way for parents to get treatment for their children is to turn the custody of those children over to the State.

I believe that successfully addressing our national security needs while protecting our basic freedoms and civil liberties requires continual Congressional oversight, and I will continue to work to assert the role of this body in carrying out this grave responsibility.

As the bill requires, any terror alert system must give people and organizations some indication about what steps they must take to improve their own security and assist in the Nation's security.

Franklin Roosevelt said the test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance to those who have much; it is whether we provide enough to those who have too little. This reconciliation package fails that test as well.

Democrats believe that government should reflect the sense of community that Americans demonstrated after Katrina - the sense of community that has defined and united America throughout its history.