Our growing national debt is a threat to our national defense and to our domestic priorities, including research and development, education, health care, and investments in our economic growth.

As a member of the House Pro-Choice Caucus and a strong defender of a woman's right to choose, my bottom line here is this: women have a constitutional right to access abortion.

I voted against H.R. 4712, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which is nothing more than a shameless attempt to intimidate doctors, spread misinformation about abortion, and decrease women's access to healthcare.

Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy shared more than just being leaders during critical times and the misfortune of lives cut short. They shared a power of will to drive the nation, sometimes single-handedly, toward a destination that few but they realized was attainable.

To find a pool of lawyers from whom to choose, solicit referrals from other professionals you know or deal with - an accountant, banker or business leader. Check out Bar Association listings as well, and don't neglect Internet research.

Fifty years ago, historians advised politicians and policy-makers. They helped chart the future of nations by helping leaders learn from past mistakes in history. But then something changed, and we began making decisions based on economic principles rather than historical ones. The results were catastrophic.

A lot of companies have nice-sounding cultural values like integrity, respect, and excellence, but if those values don't map to specific behaviors, then they quickly get lost. Instead, we see what's called a 'halo effect' where leaders tend to overvalue certain attributes and undervalue others.

Leaders are not pale reflectors of major social conflicts; they play up some, play down others, ignore still others.