I was honored today to be one of the first to receive the Global Action for Children’s Champion Award.  We all get into public service or become deeply enmeshed in policy issues such as global health for the same reason: To make a difference. And is it ever needed.  Every single day, 27,000 children die from preventable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea and complications during childbirth, many of which result from malnutrition.  Each year, some 4 million newborns die in the first 4 weeks of life. That’s not just a tragedy – it’s a catastrophe.  I hope you will take a minute and listen to my remarks on this issue and I urge you to do all you can to help children across the world.

My congratulations go out to Marc Mellon, a resident of Redding, CT, for being chosen to sculpt the front side of the official Presidential Inaugural medallion. Along with the Trumbull Marching band who is set to perform in the Inaugural parade, it’s nice to see Connecticut residents playing such significant roles in this historic event.

From the Danbury New-Times:

I wanted to share a great story about one of the CT Inauguration ticket lottery winners who will be joining me in DC next week.

From the Hartford Courant:

Tickets to Inauguration a Thrill for Middletown Resident

By Melissa Pionzio

It had been a week of winning - something Middletown resident Ethel Peltz said she has rarely done in her 80-something years - win things.

This morning I gave my opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the nomination hearing of Secretary-Designate of State, Hillary Clinton. I have had the pleasure of working closely with her on a wide range of issues for many years, and I look forward to our continued partnership and to her leadership as Secretary of State. I have no doubt she will do a remarkable job.

On Tuesday, after meeting with Secretary Paulson, I indicated that I was supportive of the Administration’s plan to use the authority granted by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. In developing the financial rescue package, we in Congress recognized the need to attack this crisis on multiple fronts. I am encouraged that the Administration has chosen to do just that, and am hopeful that these efforts will help unfreeze our markets.

Download the podcast here:

Remarks as Prepared: The Committee will please come to order.  We gather this morning at an extraordinary and perilous moment in our nation’s history. The landscape of our nation’s economy has been radically re-shaped by the United States government over the course of just a few days and in a totally ad hoc manner.  Companies that form the foundation of our financial markets are shrinking and disappearing practically overnight.  Their insatiable appetite for risk has permeated all sectors of the financial services industry, and has spread beyond our shores.  It has felled giants like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers; brought others to their knees like Merrill Lynch, A.I.G., Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac; prompted the largest thrift failure in our history – IndyMac Bank; and eliminated the final two independent investment banks – Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Senator Chris Dodd held a meeting with some of his Democratic and Republican Banking Committee colleagues to discuss the legislation that he has drafted based on the Treasury Department's proposal as received by Congress over the weekend. For a summary of the legislation, click here.