In a fiscal environment that requires Congress to maintain fiscal restraints it has become increasingly difficult to fund major transportation projects. However, the U.S. depends on a modern, comprehensive and interconnected nationwide surface transportation system. To combat this complex problem we need to promote the access to and use of innovative financing tools to get the job… Read more »

Good gracious. How did we miss it? Tax Freedom Day really snuck up on us this year. Tax Freedom Day is of course, that date on the calendar, after which we are earning money for ourselves. Prior to tax day we are working for our share of the federal tax burden. Perhaps it crept up on us because it is three days earlier this year than last year. In fact, it comes three weeks… Read more »

Would it mean anything, if I told you that in 25 years practicing obstetrics and gynecology, never once was it necessary to consider using the procedure known as intact dilatation and extraction. The procedure known more commonly as partial birth abortion. That's 25 years, and over 3000 babies. Indeed four of those years were at the world-renowned Parkland Memorial hospital in… Read more »

He refused to cooperate with 17 United Nations resolutions, but it doesn’t mean Saddam Hussein had anything to hide. He massacred tens of thousands of his own people, but it doesn’t mean he wanted to continue the killing or take it to other countries. Saddam funneled money to suicide bombers, but that doesn’t mean he actually supported the idea of terrorism or reveled in its… Read more »

Erasing the Mistakes of the Past: Reforming Medicare for the 21st Century An op-ed by Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26) The U.S. Congress is on the verge of correcting a problem that has existed since Medicare was created in 1965. Four decades have passed since the inception of Medicare, and seniors still have no comprehensive drug benefit. As a physician, I would see… Read more »

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released a new report that shows an increasing number of Americans go without health coverage. According to the latest report, nearly 44 million Americans are without health coverage having risen by 1.5 million people between 2001 and 2002. As you read varying news accounts of this new report, it is important to keep in context the state of the economy: … Read more »

There is a natural tension between competing constituencies in the arena of vying for federal dollars. Funding for research for health care may at times intersect sharply with those dollars required for engineering research. But sometimes, it may all coalesce and condense around a single event or group of events that serves to demonstrate the importance of collaboration. We… Read more »

As part of a government reform team on a recent official visit to Iraq, I witnessed that nation's true ``shock and awe'' story. I saw the progress of a fledging, free nation. I came away knowing we have every reason to be optimistic. My disappointment is that, watching the evening news since my return to the United States, I can scarcely recognize the country and situation I have… Read more »