Two thousand and nine was an historic year.  We began on a triumphant note with the inauguration of Barack Obama, our country’s first African American President.  Yet there was no time for celebration—there was other history in the making.

President Obama and the 111th Congress inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and our nation was hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs a month.  Congress moved immediately to respond to the crisis with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which the president signed into law in February.  The Recovery act has created or saved 2 million jobs to date and led to the biggest six month economic turnaround in 29 years.

Although we have made great strides in minimizing and reversing the effects of the economic downturn, our economy has yet to fully recover.  Unemployment is still over 10 percent and that’s why our legislative priorities have focused on spurring job creation and fixing our economy.

In June, the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which will revitalize our economy by creating new jobs, increase our national security by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and preserve our planet by reducing the pollution that causes global warming.  This legislation makes America the global innovation leader in clean energy and creates home-grown, American-owned jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.  It also protects existing jobs and helps energy-intensive industries transition to a cleaner, more profitable future.

Congress knew the only way to prevent future financial meltdowns and to protect our citizens from another housing and banking debacle was to reform a financial industry run amok.  The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act passed by the House in December protects American consumers and restores responsibility and accountability to Wall Street.  It also ensures that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair and transparent and it protects taxpayers from future Wall Street bail outs by putting an end to "too big to fail" financial firms.

At the end of a very busy and historic year, the House also passed the Jobs for Main Street Act, which redirects TARP funds from Wall Street to Main Street. This measure will create or save jobs here at home with targeted investments for highways and transit, school renovation, small business, job training, affordable housing and hiring teachers, police and firefighters. These are key drivers of economic growth that provide the most return on our taxpayers’ investment.

We’re now finalizing a health insurance reform bill that will provide access to quality affordable health care for all Americans as well as put people back to work.  A recent report from the Center for American Progress shows that health reform legislation will slow the growth of medical costs and allow employers to create 4 million jobs over the next decade by lessening the burden of skyrocketing costs on small and medium-sized businesses all across America.

As a former history teacher, I am often reminded of the admonition of philosopher George Santayana, “those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”  President Obama and this Democratic Congress have taken steps to ensure that this economic crisis doesn’t happen again.  A previous Democratic President and Democratic Congress, of which I was proud to be a part, proved that by using pay-as-you-go principles, it is possible to turn historic deficits around.  I am confident that we are moving in the right direction again by reinstituting PAYGO rules and taking aggressive steps to jump start the economy.

Despite the significant economic gains of the last year, my colleagues and I are well aware that there is still much work to be done.  Given the opportunity to work, I believe we will make positive history once again.