The President’s plainspoken remarks this evening are a clear call to all who wish to live in liberty. Tonight, I heard our leader’s emphatic statement for democracy around the world and major reforms in social security, health care and energy at home. On my recent mission to Iraq, I had the pleasure of meeting with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He stated that Iraq has its roots in ancient civilization and that he relished the opportunity for Iraq, “to spread the cause of democracy to other areas of the Middle East, which will make the cost and the risk of liberating Iraq worthwhile.” It was this remark that I recalled most as I watched the quiet but determined march to democracy during the January 31st elections in Iraq. Our soldiers have been fighting and working hard so that a victory for freedom could exist in the Middle East where it never has before. The elections represent a dramatic and decisive blow against terrorism and dictatorships everywhere. We carry this responsibility proudly. The work in Iraq will continue to be difficult-but freedom and the Iraqi people have secured a critical victory. It was a privilege that I could be there two weeks before this momentous occasion. But tonight, when Marine Corps Sergeant Byron Norwood’s mom, Janet, embraced Safia Taleb al-Suhail, one of Iraq's leading democracy and human rights advocates whose father was assassinated by Saddam’s regime, there was not a dry eye left in the House of Representatives chamber. Nothing could have prepared me for the historical moment. I was moved as I have never been before. President Bush also discussed a bold domestic agenda. The President clearly stated the problems with social security in its current form. If you accept that there is a problem, then you know it is prudent to act now. Some might say that 2018 is far away, but as Bush remarked, “If you have a five-year-old, you're already concerned about how you'll pay for college tuition 13 years down the road.” He is correct. We must plan now for the future. Social Security, enacted in 1935, is not ready for the 21st Century. Four years after the enactment of social security, major medical breakthroughs, such as penicillin, began to extend the lives of many Americans. No one receiving benefits today, or in the near future, should have to face the prospects of having their benefits cuts, but if we do our job correctly, this will never be the case. I have no doubt that augmenting the current social security system is a necessity. I believe that to capture the time-value of money for younger workers should include their ability to possess personal investment accounts. We are becoming an ownership society, and I believe that the next generation can benefit best from having a security net in place with social security with the flexibility to invest. I agree with President Bush that a solution has yet to be revealed, but I too welcome the discussion ahead. Many proposals are being presented in Congress, and I am carefully reviewing the options. I ask you to focus on the facts, study the issue and then make-up your own mind. This is your retirement, after all. As always, health care remains a top priority for the President as it does for me. Without a doubt, one issue that I believe Congress must address is medical liability reform. Health care costs are on the rise, and a direct link can be made to lawsuits. If we continue down this path, we will see fewer and fewer doctors in high-risk specialties like obstetrics and neurosurgery. This is a solvable problem, and Texas’s recent tort reform is an example of the type of legislation we need at a national level. President Bush is committed to tort reform, and I will continue to carry this mantle in the House of Representatives. Continuing down the path of great reforms like the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit for seniors, I believe we will make a move to restructure and improve America’s ailing Medicaid system. This state-federal program is complex and requires a great deal of coordination, but through my committee assignment on the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, I plan to play an important role in this redesign. The work of health savings accounts has provided thousands of individuals with health insurance who have never had it before. These plans move us closer to an ownership society where people, not corporations, insurance companies or the government, make decisions about their health care needs. Only patients and doctors should make those decisions, and HSAs and AHPs help move us all in that direction. In closing, I wanted to remark on one other topic from the President’s State of the Union Address for 2005, and that is his national energy policy. Energy is something that many people do not realize they utilize everyday. From your alarm clock going off in the morning to the gas you put in your car to drive to work, Americans consume many resources. I lived through the 1970s and the “energy crisis,” and I know there are ways to avoid such calamities in our future. We must continue to focus on more renewable energy sources. We must also focus on utilizing energy sources from within our own borders. A perfect example of where we get our energy is the Barnet Shale located underneath North Texas. But an even larger energy source, the Artic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is waiting to be tapped. I have been to visit ANWR through my previous work on the House Transportation Committee. This large, marshy wasteland is not full of pristine, snowcapped mountaintops. It is an uninhabitable place where no human or beast can survive. It is a perfect untapped example of an energy source available to us immediately. Now, as a member of the House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee, I hope to work towards developing a comprehensive, national energy policy. Tonight, we head a confident leader outline a bold plan for the 21st Century. President Bush’s State of the Union Address spoke to a nation ready for action and poised on the edge of greatness. The United States consistently looks not only to be a leader, but a leader by example. We push for greatness in others as we push for it ourselves. Our challenge is to continue making the impossible, possible for ourselves and to provide others liberty and freedom. I plan to work alongside President Bush to protect social security; refine our health care system; implement a national energy policy; and people throughout the world who yearn to live in freedom know they have a friend in the USA.