Patrick On The Job

This Guest Opinion from Patrick Murphy appeared in the Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday (concentrating on the Courier Times and the "newspaper of record" because the Inquirer is so lousy anymore)...

During the campaign of 2006, I pledged to voters in the 8th Congressional District that, if elected, I would work hard to change the direction of our country. One week into the new session, I am proud to report that we have delivered on several of the things you heard me talk about on the campaign trail.

I promised during the campaign that I would continue to reach across party lines and seek fresh ideas to solve the problems facing our district and our nation. I will do just that in Washington.

Before the aggressive “100 Hours” legislation began, Democrats got to work on day one to pass a new set of rules and landmark ethics legislation – the first of its kind. The next piece of legislation we passed was “Pay-As-You-Go” budgeting or PAYGO, which forbids any piece of legislation from even being considered unless we figure out how to pay for it first. Getting our fiscal house in order is a critical priority – that is why I chose to speak on this important issue for my first official statement on the House floor.

Last week, Congress acted without delay to make America more secure by enacting the recommendations of the bipartisan 9/11 Commission, to raise the minimum wage for American workers, to allow for embryonic stem cell research and to make prescription drugs more affordable.

This is bread-and-butter legislation that will improve the everyday lives of families in Pennsylvania and I am proud that we have been able to pass these measures out of the House. Our work is not yet done. We need to make sure these bills quickly become law.

Last week, all of us heard as President Bush called for more troops for Iraq. We were hopeful that he would listen to his generals, the Iraq Study Group or the millions of voters who said it was time for a change, but he didn’t. I have called for a surge in diplomacy, rather than escalation in military action. While we can’t bring all of our troops home tomorrow, I do believe that the Iraqis need to come off the sidelines and that American troops should start coming home.

I pledged on the campaign trail that I would support much-needed improvements to our healthcare system. That begins by finally allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. This is a practice that works in the military, and will work for Medicare as well. By purchasing prescription drugs in bulk, we can lower prices and increase accessibility for millions of Americans.

I don't know if the bill to negotiate drug prices has passed yet, but it's close.

Much has been made, both during our campaign and during the first week (of) the “six for ‘06” agenda. These items are not just the Democratic agenda; all of them (sic) enjoy broad bipartisan support. I will work with members of both parties to secure their passage, because progress will not be a victory for any one party, but for all of the American people. I am pleased to report, however, that we have gotten right to work on these issues.

This week we will vote to make college more affordable and to finally repeal government subsidies to Big Oil so that we can start working toward energy independence. I have rolled up my sleeves and am grateful for the opportunity to work for the families in the 8th District and I encourage you to share ideas as well. Please join the debate, contact my offices and let me know what you want Congress to focus on, because we are going to need fresh ideas from Democrats and Republicans to get our country moving in the right direction once again.

Here is Patrick's contact information, by the way.

Good to see that Patrick has been true to his word, though I can't imagine that anyone seriously believed that there would be a doubt about that.