"The people know that there is a need to give our seniors access to affordable prescription drugs; to expand healthcare to the 44 million uninsured Americans; to strengthen and extend the solvency of Social Security and Medicare; to modernize our schools; and to pass a real Patients' Bill of Rights.  For the sake of hard working families and in the spirit of economic fairness, there is a need for Congress to raise the minimum wage, to ensure equal pay for equal work, and to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor.  And we must continue to  promote peace in the Middle East and international debt relief.

"It is clear what needs to be done.  With a projected budget surplus of up to $1.9 trillion, we have the resources do it.  All that we are missing is the political will and a commitment from the Republican leadership in Congress to get the job done.

"Our nation is in the enviable position of having a budget surplus.  We must invest that surplus in the future so that this century is one of more opportunity, income equality, and social and economic justice."