As a member of Congress, I took an oath to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. I did not swear to uphold only the sections I liked. The Bill of Rights contain civil liberties so fundamentally important that no matter how unpopular at times, these rights are guaranteed and no president, no Congress and no person can deprive them from us. The Second Amendment, hated by some, is a fundamental right as well. I, and millions of others, see the wisdom of the Second Amendment even as many do not. But whether you see its wisdom, all public officials were sworn to uphold it.

And this is where I part ways with the president. On Wednesday, President Obama sought to undermine constitutional guarantees when he unveiled 23 measures, in a combination of executive orders and proposed new legislation, to restrict gun ownership.

Over the past few months, bipartisan meetings of Congressional legislators have been taking place behind closed doors on immigration. This is highly unusual when compared to other hot-button issues like taxes and gun control, which are both currently high-profile debates. Despite the productive talks and alliances, Democrats and Republicans are still calling on President Obama to take leadership on immigration. The president certainly has a role but Congress legislates, however; not the president.

The President has a mixed record on immigration reform that has taken far longer than he initially said it would. This situations requires Congress to take action on immigration legislation without the president to modernize the country’s immigration system.  

Our nation and our children are safe and secure when law-abiding Americans are allowed to defend themselves without interference from politicians.
 
Not only have gun bans and anti-gun laws utterly failed to reduce crime or protect innocents, statistics prove anti-gun measures actually increase crime and lead to tragedy.
 
For example, in the 22 years prior to 1990 federal enactment of “gun-free school zones” there were two terrible mass shootings on school or university campuses.
 
In the 22 years after the gun ban there were 10.

When former SEIU Associate General Counsel Craig Becker left his post at the National Labor Relations Board in December 2011, he quickly segued into a cushy job as the AFL-CIO’s co-general counsel. Likewise, a year later, former management lawyer Brian Hayes exited the board after his two-year term and immediately landed a plum position representing management with one of the nation’s prominent labor law firms.
 
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In 1935, Congress established the NLRB as a body made up solely of “three impartial Government members” to represent the public interest in labor disputes. An impartial NLRB was seen as crucial because of the contentious nature of labor relations in the United States.

The movie “Lincoln” is the riveting drama of the president’s securing the crucial votes needed from the opposition party to pass the thirteenth amendment to the constitution that outlawed slavery. Stunningly, Lincoln rounded up impossible-to-get votes from die-hard opponents of freedom for African Americans, and he did so in 18 days.  
 


Contrast that with the record of the 112th Congress, which broke all previous records of low numbers of bills enacted. Among the many initiatives left undone was passing the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. This legislation should have reauthorized the 2001 Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which expired in October 2011.

A delegation exceeding 100 Puerto Rican citizens recently visited Washington D.C., calling upon members of Congress to respond to the results of a political status plebiscite held in Puerto Rico in November 2012. The delegation included representatives from all status options: statehood, independence, and sovereign free association. Their common plight: to convince Congress that based on the democratic majority of Puerto Rican voters, the time for decolonization is now.

Did you know that if the federal government completely zeroed out spending on national defense, education, foreign aid and infrastructure, we would still be operating in the red? The U.S. spent nearly $40 billion on foreign aid last year, and that’s just over one percent of our total spending. Even if we eliminated every last penny of foreign aid, the impact would be minimal. That’s because 62 percent of what your government spends is on autopilot. 2012 marked the fourth consecutive annual deficit that exceeded $1 trillion. This can’t go on.

There is nothing in life more uncertain than its end. Too many of our friends and loved ones have died too soon. But just the same, we have all seen those who have survived months or even years beyond the best doctors’ prognoses. These are miracles, triumphs of the human spirit, and show us how a caring environment can sometimes sustain us longer than modern medicine.
 
That is one of the reason many families make the decision to bring their loved ones into hospice care to face their final days. Hospices are designed to address the stress and anxiety that comes from the process of saying goodbye and facing the end of life, as well as to minimize pain for those whose disease has progressed beyond the potential for a cure.

“Corporate America isn’t the friend to Republicans that most people assume.” So said a senior aide to a House Republican leader in an article by Jackie Calmes in today’s New York Times.

The fumbling Republican Party leadership, stumbling and staggering to new and lower ratings from the public and fellow Republicans, does not need to tell supporters of corporate businesses and capitalism that their conservative caucus now rejects identification with big business. It appears that this Congressman and his staff find the corporation support for both parties distasteful at best and traitorous at worst.