The American economy has always been driven by the entrepreneurial nature of its citizens, and blocking access to affordable health care will only suffocate growth within the small business sector of our economy.

I believe it is incumbent upon Congress to act aggressively to ameliorate fear and help our country take the essential steps that will make our communities and lives safer.

We must have a relentless commitment to producing a meaningful, comprehensive energy package aimed at conservation, alleviating the burden of energy prices on consumers, decreasing our country's dependency on foreign oil, and increasing electricity grid reliability.

The current system punishes communities which make the investment in creating landfills, only to have them filled by states which refuse to adequately address their waste issues.

Among the many important provisions in the energy bill are the creation of an estimated half million new jobs, increased oil production, blackout protection, controlling fertilizer costs by stabilizing natural gas prices and enacting new efficiency benchmarks.

Enrolling in the Medicare Prescription Drug Program will be a great savings for most senior citizens.

We should not forget, no matter how we quantify it: 'Freedom is not free.' It is a painful lesson, but one from which we have learned in the past and one we should never forget.