We need to improve education in our country. We need to improve the quality of it and increase access to it. We must commit to ensuring that every child in Louisiana has a chance to get a world-class education so they can compete in the new global market. That means we need to drastically overhaul No Child Left Behind. I agree we should hold schools accountable for educating our children and that we should hold them to certain standards, but the No Child Left Behind legislation sets different benchmarks for each state and it is severely underfunded.

Higher energy costs and a dependency on foreign oil are hurting Louisiana and America. We need to take immediate action to lower gas prices, by using the strategic petroleum reserve, by increasing drilling in Louisiana and domestically, first on-shore and then off-shore.

Some 50 million Americans, including 9 million children,  are without health insurance. Our health care system is in dire need of improvements. The first question when you go to your doctor should be “How are you?” not “How are you going to pay?” We must broaden coverage and access to ensure medical care is available and affordable to everyone, not just the privileged.
 

Jim will fight to provide long-term hurricane protection with his 5-point Plan. The Harlan Plan is a comprehensive hurricane protection plan that provides (1) flood gates to keep storm surge out of the entire Lake Pontchartrain basin, (2) levees to withstand a category 5 storm surge, (3) restoration of the native Louisiana wetlands, (4) accountable administration of the Mississippi River beginning with the accelerated closing of MRGO, and (5) A national coordinated plan for flood prevention and mitigation, response and recovery.

One thing we can all agree on is that every sovereign nation must secure its borders. National security is a paramount concern for our future and our children's future, particularly in a world where our enemies are no longer identifiable, national armies. Single individuals illegally crossing our border can deliver a devastating blow to our nation, as we witnessed on 9/11. That's why leaving our borders unprotected is an unacceptable risk.
 

As an Eagle Scout and leader of my sons' troops, I enjoy spending time outdoors. I value the natural resources of Louisiana and will protect it so my children and grandchildren can continue to enjoy it. I will also work to make sure environmental laws are effective, but not so complicated that it interferes with the safe development of business endeavors. Industry and environmentalists can work together for the common good. 

I believe that had I been in Congress, I would have sounded the alarm bells a long time ago about the dangerous games Wall Street speculators were playing with our economy and would have pushed for legislation to prevent the need for our government to step in and prop up our financial system. I would have fought to tighten oversight of the financial transactions that led to this mess. Since Congress did nothing to prevent the crisis from happening, I believe that government intervention was necessary to stop what Warren Buffet says would be the Pearl Harbor of economic disasters.

I like to hunt and as a gun owner, I have a deep commitment to the Second Amendment and protecting that constitutional right. Gun ownership and hunting is a way of life for many in Louisiana, and I will protect that tradition. But this does not mean we can ignore the fact that guns in the hands of criminals, terrorists, and others that pose public dangers are a threat to all of us. We can aggressively crack down on violent gun crimes while also protecting the robust rights of hunters, farmers and ordinary gun owners like you and me.

At $10 billion a month -- total cost so far is more than $845 billion --  the war in Iraq is diverting our attention and resources away from our needs at home as well as the ongoing hunt for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan.
 
We need a responsible and phased withdrawal that allows our brave troops to exit with honor.  When we leave, we should do so with confidence that the Iraqis are trained well enough to maintain security in their country and protect the Democratic progress they've made.
 

To combat the global threat of terrorism, we need cooperation from all of our allies. Gone are the days when national armies were our only enemies. Today, a single individual with a suitcase bomb could kill thousands on American soil. The threat of nuclear weapons in the hands of unfriendly and rogue nations puts us at greater risk of attack than we were during the Cold War.