Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about empowering people to catch up to give them the tools at their disposable that make it possible for them to access all the hope all the promise all the opportunity that America offers. And our programs to help them should reflect that.

A recent Pew Hispanic survey found that more than 70 percent of illegal immigrants from Mexico are interested in a guest-worker program and then returning home.

Of course the Republicans have long wanted to privatize Social Security and destroy it. But Social Security has been the most important and valuable social program in the history of the United States.

You can only get really unpopular decisions through if the electorate is convinced of the value of the environment. That's what natural history programmes should be for.

In the old days... it was a basic cardinal fact that producers didn't have opinions. When I was producing natural history programmes I didn't use them as vehicles for my own opinion. They were factual programmes.

I've declined every congressional benefit I could decline federal health insurance the retirement program the 403(b) program which I think is overly generous. I've got self-imposed term limits of six terms if I have the privilege to serve that long.

Well there are about 10 million children that aren't covered by health insurance. About 3 million qualify for Medicaid but don't get it so we're going to reach out and bring more of those kids into the Medicaid program.

The H-1B visa program which helps sustain our rapidly growing economy and also helps meet the health care needs of families living in rural New Mexico.

During the last regular session and the most recent special session measures that I see as little more than Band-Aids were applied to three health programs in the state.

We need a vibrant Medicaid program and strategies to expand affordable access to health care for all especially for the specialty care services that community health centers do not provide.

We see tremendous excitement from small-business people about the administration and about the attention and commitment that the president has to do things that really make a difference. I think they recognize that health care is one of those. I think they recognize that what we've been doing in the Recovery Act with our loan programs has mattered.

I would prefer a public option that would be a competitive option that would allow people to buy into a Federal Employee Health Benefits Program which is a series of private plans.

Half of all women who are sexually active but do not want to get pregnant need publicly funded services to help them access public health programs like Medicaid and Title X the national family planning program.

The U.N. Population Fund has a maternal health program in some Cameroon hospitals but it doesn't operate in this region. It's difficult to expand because President Bush has cut funding.

We are particularly interested in the mental health programs and policies that support our troops and their families before during and after deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Originally created to serve the poorest and sickest among us the Medicaid program has grown dramatically but still doesn't include the kind of flexibility that states need to provide better health care for the poor and disadvantaged.

Under President Obama's new health care law Medicaid will become a very different health coverage program than first envisioned.