Almost a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt called for health care reform. Since then, six presidents have tried to reform a badly broken system. Because those attempts were not successful, health care costs increased to almost 17 percent of our GDP, contributed to our growing deficit, and left many Americans without coverage. That is why we passed the Affordable Care Act: It cuts costs, and is paid for by law.

Last week this paper asked a very important question: what’s in this health care reform bill for Western New Yorkers? Today I’m very pleased to answer that question.

It’s often said that small businesses are the backbone of our economy.

More importantly, small businesses are the heart and soul of the local community; they hire our friends and neighbors, they spend what they make right down the street and we feel their gains and their losses deeply and profoundly.

Because of that, I was relieved to see that the health care reform legislation approved by three House committees last month included important provisions to help small businesses cope with the skyrocketing costs of offering insurance to their employees.

The recent debate over health care reform – or more importantly – reform of health insurance, has veered into new and confusing territory with the sudden focus on a “public option.”

I wanted to take this opportunity to separate the myths from the facts on this issue, and to state in the clearest possible way my position on the question.

One of the most basic functions of Congress is to vote on and approve an annual budget for the operation of the federal government.

Yet that seemingly simple and straightforward task has become increasingly complicated and tumultuous over the years, and even more so in the three years since Democrats took back control of the House from Republicans.

It’s never easy to ask Congress to pass a law that will make life harder on members and the staff that work on our behalf. But that’s exactly what we are doing next week.

The bill is necessary because right now there is a huge loophole in the law; specifically, there is nothing to specifically regulate or prevent members or staff from profiting on knowledge they gain because of their job.

Visit many farms that raise cows, pigs or chickens today and you will find many, if not all, of the animals pumped full of antibiotics.

This disturbing trend has ominous implications for all of us – but especially those of us that eat any of that food.

The problem starts with farmers who are raising animals in closed, confined and often inhumane conditions. Because the animals are so closely packed together, they are liable to get sick and bacteria and illness is rampant.

An episode of "Friday Night Lights" showed the football coach of the Dillon Panthers, who also happens to be the schools's athletic director, scrambling to find someone to cheaply run the girls volleyball team. He settled on his wife, Tami, who complains strenuously about the lack of funding her sport gets compared to the well-heeled boys.

Sadly, the TV show reality is a reflection of the continued double-standard that many girls contend with at high schools from coast to coast.At large schools and small ones, rural ones and urban ones, girls who want to play a team sport are often faced with fewer opportunities than boys. And it isn't supposed to be that way. In fact, it was 37 years ago this month that Title IX went into effect -- making it law that girls must get the same opportunities to play sports as boys.