When I awaken each morning, I thank God and the people of Maryland's Seventh Congressional District for the honor and privilege of being in a position to serve.   Your electing me to represent you in the House of Representatives is one of the highlights of my life.  I will continue to do everything within my power to live up to the tremendous amount of faith you have placed in my hands.

In the midst of Congressional debates and television interviews, I never forget the words written on the small door sign attached to our Seventh Congressional District office in Washington: "This office belongs to the people of the Seventh Congressional District of Maryland."

I wish every Member of Congress would install a similar sign and live by the words on our office door.  In the midst of the incredible, distracting media attention we receive, life as a Member of Congress requires a clear set of values and an ability to remain focused upon the needs and interests of the people.

When the media's attention is devoted to our public mission, I accept that media exposure as a necessary and appropriate aspect of public life.  However, when television and newspapers seek to transform us into celebrities, I believe they are following misguided priorities.

Compared to the caliber of the people I will mention, we who serve in your government are not extraordinary.  Rather, as I often say, we are ordinary people called to an extraordinary mission.

We should not allow ourselves to be distracted from our core empowering mission by the barrage of media reports and images.  This is why I am so grateful to you who have offered advice and counsel about my work in the Congress.

I hope that you realize how much I have valued the informal advice you give as we stand together in the grocery checkout line.  Through your service on my citizen advisory panels, and through your comments at my Job Fairs, "How to Pay for College" Seminars and Business Seminars, you have helped me to better represent the people of Maryland.

I must thank all of you for helping me to do my job.  Away from the cameras, and without public acknowledgment, you have given tangible expression to the most powerful principle of American political life - the People shall govern.

This principle is the reason I so often speak of the unsung heroes and heroines of our community.  Our true leaders are those of you who work "from dark to dark" teaching our children, protecting our streets, helping young mothers, attending to elderly neighbors and giving the voluntary service by which people of faith live their lives.

Our American principle that it is the people who govern is why I question the media's tendency to make celebrities of those who exercise the people's power in Washington.   I believe that we should reserve our highest admiration, and our deepest gratitude, for our neighbors who serve others in need far from the television lights.

We are taught that "by faith, the elders obtained a good report."  I could fill this entire edition of the Afro-American with the names of Baltimore citizens who have earned that "good report."

If the media needs celebrities, we all would benefit from placing a television spotlight upon people like Irona Pope, who has dedicated her life to uplifting our children and helping her neighbors. Our public debate would be enriched by the intelligent opinions of community leaders like Ricky Phaison, who gives hope and direction to people addicted to drugs and those in recovery. The nation should learn from the example of Barbara Stokes, who has responded to the tragic death of her son by leading addicted youngsters back to health from a church basement in Druid Heights.

Our faith in ourselves is strengthened when we think of Rev. Harley Wilson's struggle to uplift his Collington Square neighborhood, the George Gilliam family's leadership training for college students, Barbara Green's daily advocacy for young people or Bev Thomas' successful campaign to expel alcohol and tobacco billboards from the eyes of our children.

Noted religious scholar, Dr. Charles N. Swindoll, demonstrated great insight when he wrote that "...men and women of God, servant-leaders in the making, are first unknown, unseen, unappreciated and unapplauded. In the relentless demands of obscurity, character is built....[T]hose who first accept the silence of obscurity are best qualified to handle the applause of popularity."

Our media seems determined to create celebrities, a choice guaranteed by their freedom of speech.  I choose to celebrate the lives of the people whose countless contributions sustain our freedoms.