Over the last year, I’ve been continuing my work on behalf of everyday Americans to repair the damage left behind by a decade of excessive spending and "Wall Street first politics". What does this mean for you? Specifically, I have been focusing on the issues that families across the country discuss around the dinner table:

1.    Creating jobs and rebuilding our economy on sound footing.
2.    Holding big banks accountable for the economic crisis they helped create.
3.    Getting the deficit under control as our economy recovers.

While we are not all the way there yet, there are some good signs that the economy is finally starting to grow again. In the year since President Obama took office, the Democratic-led Congress has stemmed the tide of job losses. For example, the United States was losing more than 700,000 jobs a month when President Bush left office, now more than a year later we’ve cut those job losses 97%. This combined with several key economic indicators are showing we are finally on the right track again:

• The economy is growing again – GDP has swung from negative 6.4 to 5.7 percent growth—the biggest 9 month swing in nearly 30 years.
• American’s pensions and savings are rebounding – The stock market has increased from around 6500 when President Obama took office to over 10,000 now.
• American companies are producing again – Manufacturing has grown 6 months in a row to the highest level in six years.

All this has occurred due in part to critical programs put in place during the 111th Congress.

Despite all these signs, I know that what matters in the end are the things happening in your city, in your community and in your home. I know millions of families are hurting right now. I receive heart-wrenching letters every day from constituents worrying about where their next paycheck will come from, how they will put dinner on the table and where they will find the money to pay the next bill. These are proud people who have never asked for a hand-out, and yet they have nowhere else to turn to. I take this knowledge with me every day to the floor of the House of Representatives. I judge every bill that comes across my desk against this standard. In this regard, I have been fighting for a jobs bill to provide relief to Main Street, not Wall Street. The House passed its version of the bill in early December, and the Senate passed a version of its own last week. I am working to ensure that a bill arrives to the President’s desk and that any jobs bill focuses on growing your family.