Solomon Ortiz Quotes

I worked with the March of Dimes to enact legislation for a national birth defects prevention program to provide surveillance, research and preventive services aimed at reducing the rate of birth defects.

This nation’s 23 million small businesses need a budget that reflects their value to the economy.

Supporting the troops has got to mean more than bumper stickers on pickup trucks, my friends. We need to give them what they need.

As a father and grandfather, I have witnessed firsthand the joy of new life entering the world. I know the pain and apprehension that goes along with premature births and birth defects.

This Congress has promised all manner of border security and port security to the tune of billions of dollars… yet we have – to date – funded our promises for port security at only $900 million. That’s quite a distance between what we say and what we actually do.

To date, nearly 100,000 Hispanics have died with AIDS. Since Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, our challenge is even greater.

Over the last five years, the Administration and the majority in Congress have appropriated less than $900 million for port security grants – despite the Coast Guard’s determination that $5.4 billion is needed over 10 years.

Small businesses drive this economy and it is unacceptable that the President’s budget proposal does not give them the tools they need to be successful.

For my constituents, owning a home is the culmination of many years of hard work and the realization of the American Dream. At no time should a local entity take those years of hard work solely to increase their tax revenue.

I have fought to protect those benefits that ensure better salaries for teachers across the Nation such as grants to pay off student loans and funding for Teach for America. Still, we must all do more to show our continued appreciation for our Nation’s leading role models.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Peace Corps as it reached its 45th anniversary on March 1, 2006.

To honor our national promise to our veterans, we must continue to improve services for our men and women in uniform today and provide long overdue benefits for the veterans and military retirees who have already served.