The fiscal cliff has passed, and it should be clear now that the driving force behind it was always taxes. Ronald Reagan said that a person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is not a 20 percent traitor, and it was the case in Congress that a majority voted for compromise, and a minority voted to go over the tax cliff...

America starts the New Year with challenges ahead of us. We need leadership to match. No one is more frustrated than I am at the way negotiations over the fiscal cliff first stalled and then fizzled. At an hour where the common good of our nation is at stake, it became somehow impossible for our elected leaders to talk to one another, much less give the Congress something to vote on and the President something to sign...

I suspect I am not the only parent in Southern Missouri who is hugging my children a little bit tighter this Christmas. The tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut, have touched every family this season. That community has endured a week of funerals and suffered the loss of its most innocent citizens -- 20 sweet first-grade children...

Federal spending is the dominant political discussion in the nation right now, and for very good reason. The fiscal cliff has given us a crucial decision point. We can make a very good choice for the future of our country, or a very bad one -- but a choice must be made...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (MO-08) will resign from Congress on a timeframe designed to give Missouri Governor Jay Nixon the flexibility to schedule a special election to coincide with the April 2, 2013 state-wide General Municipal Election...

When General George Washington resigned his commission to the Continental Congress, he cited his pride in our nation, our independence and sovereignty, and the patronage of Heaven. This week, I announced my intention to retire from the U.S. Congress -- and I have come to understand a little bit better what Washington felt as he left the service of our nation not knowing how he might be called to serve in the future...

The news is full of reports about the seriousness of the issues confronting our nation at the end of this year. Deficit reduction, entitlement reform, a new Farm Bill and taxes are all on the table. All are serious issues, but the tax issues are the most immediate and have the greatest effect on working American families...

I can't begin to explain how much I love Thanksgiving. It is a quintessentially American holiday, it revolves around the dinner table, which is the heart of my home, and it is a day designed to make us mindful of all the sacrifices involved in settling the New World, establishing our independence as a nation, and building the strong traditions which make America the freest society in the world...

The advertisements have stopped and the election is over. It's time for our leaders to govern. The last few months have been about applying for the job, and starting now it is time to do the work. By comparison, the campaigning should look easy. Americans have expressed their preferences. Now we should heed their desire for their newly-elected public servants to get something done for the common good...

On Veterans Day, we recognize all those who have so honorably served our nation in uniform. They've made incredible sacrifices for us, and we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. There is another group for whom our veterans make great sacrifices, and that is for one another. ...

Estimates keep climbing for the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, both in lives and dollars. It's hard to imagine the destruction in a community where a wall of wind and water submerges tens of thousands of homes, knocking out power, communications, emergency response and the local economy...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Pink ribbons adorn everything from medical clinics to our bridge in Cape Girardeau to NFL football fields in an effort to raise awareness about this deadly disease and the importance of early detection to save the lives of its victims...

In the last month, I have been lucky to see many of the parts of our rural health care system in Southern Missouri. They are working well, thanks to the dedicated medical professionals who staff our hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and doctors' offices...

This week, a congressional panel started the first of several inquiries into the organized attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, which left four Americans dead. Among those murdered was Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya. ...

October marks the beginning of the new fiscal year for the federal government, and I am sorry to say that our national budget is beset by the same problems that plagued the year which came before it. FY 2012 saw the federal government spend $3.8 trillion, rack up $1.1 trillion in deficit spending, and add it to a $16 trillion national debt...

When Andy Williams started to build his Moon River Theater in Branson 20 years ago, he was placing his trust in the people of Missouri. We didn't disappoint him. Now, Missouri has lost a great friend with the passing of Andy Williams, an icon who surpassed the musical art form to touch our lives in a distinctly American way...

Texting and talking while driving are really getting out of control, and the results are catastrophic. Two years ago, more than 3,000 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver. Some 416,000 more were injured. For fatal accidents involving drivers under the age of 20, 11 percent were reported to be distracted...

As a member of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption, I have a unique opportunity to recognize the contributions of Missourians in our congressional district who devote their time and talents to making the selfless act of adoption possible. The greatest thing that these organizations and adoptive parents do is to create a family for children who need the love, support and sanctuary of a home...

How does what happens in Washington, DC affect me? I encounter that question throughout our Southern Missouri congressional district more, perhaps than any other. The best example I can give, these days, is the Affordable Care Act, also called ObamaCare (by the President and proud members of his own party). More than any other law in recent history, the ACA is basic evidence of how powerful the bureaucracy has become, and how bad that news is for the rest of us...

In the first week of August, an epidemic of child deaths swept the country. Eight children perished under totally preventable circumstances in one week, and 15 others have lost their young lives in the same way already this year. In the last three years, one hundred children were killed under tragic conditions, children of parents who never thought this could happen to them, children lost to a simple but fatal oversight...