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I was honored to be chosen by the people of the Third District to continue serving as their Representative in Congress. The district boundaries have changed, but the top priorities remain the same: getting Americans back to work, providing greater...

As your representative, my goal is to get things done to restore economic opportunity for the middle class, promote job growth, and make a difference in the everyday lives of Third District residents.

The last 10 years were indeed a "lost decade" for manufacturing employment in the Chicago region, as the Sun-Times reported last Sunday. But as the Sun-Times also noted, the country as a whole fared no better, shedding one-third of all factory jobs.

Nobody knows better than Third District residents the great need to improve our streets, highways, and public transportation. Traffic is worse than ever, delays are longer, and reliability is sinking.

This week, the Senate is expected to take decisive action to defend American workers from unfair trade by passing a bipartisan bill to crack down on China's currency manipulation. As someone who has long fought for such legislation and who voted for a

As an institution, Congress is almost never popular. But when the public's approval of Congress reaches a record low, as it did this summer, it is a sign that something is seriously wrong. Americans are not just unhappy about the bad economy and the

Job creation is our nation's most pressing task and has long been my top priority. While cutting the deficit is also crucial, if we do not get Americans back to work we will not be able to balance the budget and build a brighter future.

American workers are the best in the world. For as long as I have represented the Third District, I have worked to make sure that trade occurs on a level playing field, creates American jobs, and benefits American workers and companies.

A year ago last week, following months of careful study, I voted against the health care law. I did so because the law is not fiscally sustainable, does little to reduce costs for most Americans, threatens seniors' access to care by cutting Medicare f

As the 112th Congress gets underway, Republicans control the House, while Democrats hold the Senate and the White House. Now more than ever, getting things done for the good of our country will require members of both parties to cooperate.

America faces many challenges – from growing the economy and putting people back to work, to tackling the deficit. But as middle-class Americans continue to suffer, too many political leaders only seem interested in bickering and partisan politics.

Imagine a football game in which one team's players are constantly held by their opponents, but the referees never call a penalty.

During his recent visit to Ford's Southeast Side assembly plant, President Barack Obama reiterated his goal of doubling U.S. exports in five years and lauded the resurgent American auto industry, predicting a return to its glory days.

As America struggles to emerge from recession, leaving Third District families with no choice but to continue tightening their belts, my top priority remains encouraging job creation while opposing reckless spending.

For generations, manufacturing has been the heart and soul of the American economy and our middle class, as well as a critical contributor to U.S. national security. In the Third District, small- and medium-sized factories – many of them family owne

Manufacturing has been a pillar of the American economy for generations, and remains a valuable path to the middle class for millions of families. Today, the manufacturing industry provides good-paying jobs to 11.6 million Americans, including roughly 560

My decision to vote against the Senate health care bill was the result of months of careful study and analysis, and of listening closely to my constituents. As I have said many times, I strongly believe reform is needed to lower soaring health care cos

For the last year, while Washington spent much time absorbed with other issues, I have been arguing that job creation should be our number one priority. Now that the massive health care bill has stalled, Congress should work on taking smaller, measured st

As 2010 begins, most of us are hoping and praying it will be a much better year than 2009. Like you, I was saddened and sometimes outraged by what I saw happening last year. But amid the bailouts, bankruptcies, soaring unemployment and partisan acrimony,

Now that the health care bill has moved from the House to the Senate, House leaders and the Obama Administration are talking about turning to job creation. I have never lost my focus on jobs because nothing is more important right now than reviving the ec

As the debate over health care reform continues, my goals remain the same: to reform the health insurance industry to facilitate quality coverage for all Americans, and to rein in the surging cost of health care, without compromising the quality of care a

A year ago this week, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. said the world's financial system was on the verge of collapse. Congress was given a $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan and told it was needed to avert catastrophe. There was great pre