Accomplishments in the 109th Congress
I am a senior Member of the House Committee on Government Reform. I am the Ranking Member of the Committee’s Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources Subcommittee and I am a member of the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee. During the 109th Congress, I have continued my work to combat illegal drug use in this nation and to reduce the impact that drug trafficking has on our communities by introducing legislation to protect those who witness crimes and by co-sponsoring legislation to ban assault-style weapons. I also recently secured federal funding to help rebuild the Dawson Family Home as a safe haven for at-risk youth in Baltimore.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to combat illegal drugs.
I believe that our natural resources are borrowed from our children rather than inherited from our parents – and it is our responsibility to preserve these resources for the generations yet unborn who will come after us. For this reason, I have consistently voted to oppose drilling in the Alaska and to expand the preservation of wilderness areas.
I am also a strong supporter of the development of alternative energy sources. I oppose short-sighted energy measures supported by the Bush Administration that have expanded tax credits available to profit-rich oil companies while doing nothing to promote the development of renewable fuels. I believe that our exclusive reliance on oil to power our nation not only threatens our environment but also leaves us dangerously dependent on unstable foreign nations to meet our energy needs, creating a national security threat. I am therefore a co-sponsor of multiple measures to support the creation and expanded use of renewable energy sources.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to preserve our natural environment and expand alternative energy sources.
There are approximately 46 million Americans who lack health insurance in the United States, including some 700,000 who lack insurance in the State of Maryland. I believe that health care should be available to everyone in the United States regardless of ability to pay. I am therefore a sponsor of several measures that would provide universal health care coverage. I have also worked to ensure that care provided in the United States is of the highest possible quality by leading the effort to improve the oversight and regulation of clinical laboratories and by bringing increased attention to diseases such as prostate cancer.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to ensure that every person living in the United States has access to high-quality health care.
As a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Government Reform, I believe it is imperative that we provide the level of support to security at our nation’s ports – where only 5 percent of the 11 million containers that arrive in the U.S. on an annual basis are physically inspected – and to our public transit and train systems that we have thus far reserved for aviation security. I have worked throughout the 109th Congress on legislation to achieve this objective.
Following the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I joined a Congressional delegation on a tour of the Gulf Coast region and I have participated in a series of hearings on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and on the federal response to the hurricanes. Appalled by the inability of FEMA to meet the needs of Hurricane survivors in a timely manner, I am a co-sponsor of legislation to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and re-establish it as an independent agency.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to strengthen homeland security in our nation.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price of a home in the United States is now more than $200,000. The rapid rise in housing prices we have been experiencing makes the dream of homeownership increasingly unaffordable to many working families – particularly families of color. Fewer than half of all African American and Latino families in the United States own their own homes, and data released according to the requirements of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act show that minorities receive a disproportionate percentage of sub-prime loans issued in the United States.
My life changed at the age of 10 when my parents bought their own home, and I will continue to fight to give every family the opportunity to buy a place of their own. I will also support programs such as the Community Development Block Grant program and HOPE VI, which are so essential to the revitalization of urban neighborhoods and which have been continually threatened with budget cuts by the Bush Administration.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to expand homeownership.
I am a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, including the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit, and Pipelines, and the Subcommittee on Railroads. During the 109th Congress, I was the only Member of the House of Representatives from Maryland chosen to serve on the conference committee that produced the $286 billion transportation bill that will guide federal investments in highways and transit through 2009. This bill contains significant increases in federal funding for transportation in Maryland.
During the 109th Congress, I also served as the lead Democrat on a special working group convened by the Transportation Committee to examine the management of Amtrak. The Democratic members of the working group recommended that a steady, reliable federal funding stream be put in place to enable Amtrak to focus on improving its operations and rehabilitating infrastructure along the Northeast Corridor.
Click HERE to learn more about my work to improve transportation in our nation.