Our busy first work period begins today in both the House and the Senate with ethics and lobbying reform so that we can change the way Congress works and do the real work we were elected to do. Next, we will take up a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage to give millions of American families an opportunity to achieve the American Dream, reform the Medicare Prescription Drug program to save seniors, the disabled, and American taxpayers money, and act on the 9/11 Commission Recommendations to fully secure our ports and borders and ensure that our first responders have the resources they need to keep America safe.

As we move into the second Senate work period, we will work toward full-funding of stem cell research, address global warming and put America on a path toward energy independence, ease the financial burden of college tuition to increase accessibility for hardworking students and their families, strengthen and rebuild America's military, enact comprehensive immigration reform, and enact pay-as-you-go legislation so that Congress has to cover its costs just like American families do.