Most
of us are affected by diabetes in some way. You, your parent, spouse, or child
might have diabetes. Or maybe your friend or coworker does. In addition to the
people who have been diagnosed with this disease, 25% of the people who have it
don't even know it yet. Diabetes is pervasive; nearly 24 million children and
adults in the United States
have it. Diabetes is costly; it costs the country $174 billion dollars annually,
and the 20th District of Texas just under $500 million dollars per year.
I have been asked how the election of Senator Obama will change Washington. I posted some of my thoughts on the newspaper "The Hill" in their Congress Blog. You can read my reply below, or go to
The Hill's web-site to read it there.
One the most commonly voiced concerns about the steps
the federal government has taken so far to mitigate the effects of the credit
crisis is that they have focused too much on the banks and not enough on the
individuals. I have mentioned some of the opportunities we have created -
including
the
housing bill's provisions to help homeowners to restructure their mortgages
- and the troubles of the banking industry
are at the heart of this
problem. But protecting innocent, hard-working Americans is the whole point of
this exercise, and I agree that more needs to be done.
October 15, 2008
Over recent weeks, I have worked
to keep you abreast of the happenings surrounding the financial upheaval. Of
course, there is much that we still do not know or understand about what led us
to this point or about what our next steps will - or should - be. There is a
lot of good information available, however, as people begin to piece together
the details. Let me caution you not to trust to any single source for all of
your information. This is too complex a situation for any one person to explain
it all, and even the best of us make mistakes.
October 13, 2008
When we passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, there were some
people who thought that the plunging stock market would immediately start
rising again, that home foreclosures would stop, and that everything would be
right with the world. Those of you who have been following this situation or
reading my newsletters, however, knew that passing the bill was only the
beginning of a long process to get us out from under the credit crisis.
War isn't over when it ends, nor
is a soldier's battle done just because he has come home. As the war in Iraq
continues, we have seen more and more of our veterans returning home bearing
serious psychological wounds. Just as we owe it to them to provide care for
their physical injuries, we must provide our wounded warriors with mental
health care. There are some battles even the strongest cannot win alone, and
there are resources out there to help.
October 03, 2008
Since Monday, we have seen a hint of what a failure to act might mean for our
economy. The stock market plunged by nearly eight hundred points, the largest
drop in history. Car manufacturers are reporting that sales have plunged as
people have been unable to secure car loans. Small businesses have been unable
to purchase supplies as manufacturers increase costs and tighten payment
restrictions. Americans have lost their jobs. In light of all of this, senators
who, on Monday, decried the House proposal to stabilize our economy voted on
Wednesday for a similar plan of their own, and it looks like the House of
Representatives will vote on Friday.
October 01, 2008
On Monday, the House of
Representatives voted down HR 3997, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of
2008, by a vote of 205-228, rejecting our efforts to recapitalize the credit
system. I was sorry to see this step taken.
September 28, 2008
As I have mentioned before,
Members of Congress from both parties were fairly united in rejecting the
bailout proposal that President Bush first sent to Congress a week ago. That
Paulson Proposal sought to invest unlimited and unchecked power in Secretary of
the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, Jr., and Republicans and Democrats both said no.
As my late father, Henry B. Gonzalez, once said of another financial situation,
back when he was Chairman of the House Banking Committee, "The issue is power,"
and no one man should have that much power.
September 27, 2008
I know that the news out of Washington, DC
has not been the most comforting you could hear, so I want to begin by offering
you some reassurance. The money in your bank accounts is safe. The Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation insures $100,000 per person at banks and the National
Credit Union Administration does the same for credit unions. The failed
investment banks like Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers are very different from
the banks where hard-working San Antonians keep your savings. I spoke with a
number of San Antonio's
leading commercial bank and credit union presidents on Friday and they have
assured me that they remain sound and that your money is safe.