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Several weeks ago I asked my 15-year-old grandson about what makes America different from other countries in the world. After thinking about the question for a few moments he answered, "Freedom." Read more »

President Obama's State of the Union address and his speech at the University of Michigan made broad sweeping comments about education and the issue of rising college costs. As Chairwoman of the Higher Education Subcommittee, I share his concern about Read more »

In December, the President deferred a decision on the pipeline's future until 2013. In response, Congress acted on behalf of our constituents and in the interest of job creation, requiring the President to make a decision. Read more »

With all the news reports of partisan warfare in Washington, DC, you might have missed the big story of 2011: Congress is cutting spending and reining in the even-growing federal government. Read more »

Just before Thanksgiving the congressional "super-committee" announced it was unable to come up with a package of deficit reductions totaling $1.2 trillion. This is a sad commentary on Washington, DC's addiction to over-spending. After all, $1.2 tri Read more »

In October President Obama announced a plan to give relief to people with federally backed student loans. Most of the news media reported that this new plan would save college students piles of cash. Often not reported was the fact that the Obama admi Read more »

The federal budget deficit will hit $1.3 trillion in 2011, topping one trillion dollars for the third year in a row. This unprecedented flood of red ink concerns me as well as millions of Americans. That's why I've voted hundreds of times under Read more »

"Congress needs to focus on job creation." That's a common refrain heard these days in the halls of the Capitol, on the opinion pages of newspapers and from the talking heads on cable news. With unemployment in North Carolina still hovering around 1 Read more »

Over the past few decades, Congress raised the national debt limit more than 70 times, usually with little or nodebate. Each time very few people even batted an eye. This history of blindly increasing the debt limit has been cited by many liberals as a r Read more »

When our Founders poked their finger in the eye of an imperialistic colonial power in the 1700's and declared their independence, the success of a new nation built on the concept of freedom was far from certain. However, as we know, despite the long Read more »