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Posted: By GUS BILIRAKIS
"Brush your teeth" is a phrase many parents repeat to their children every day. Yet despite parental vigilance and regular brushing, even best efforts at good oral hygiene can still fall short. This is why having access to dental health care is so important.
Unfortunately, obtaining regular dental visits is difficult for many low-income families who do not have access to affordable dental health insurance. Left untreated, ailments of the mouth can lead to abscess, and in extreme cases, death from the spread of bacteria.
Starting today, oral declarations of citizenship from U.S. and Canadian citizens will no longer be allowed at land and sea border crossings. Citizens from the U.S.
"I am tremendously pleased that this legislation includes provisions addressing issues for which I pushed hard during my first year in Congress," said Bilirakis, a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, who introduced legislation on each of these issues. "When I authored legislation on a 3.5 percent military pay raise, the creation of a single point of healthcare assistance for wounded warriors and the improved eligibility of benefits for America's veterans, it was my hope that they would be signed into law one way or another."
The Hill's Congress Blog posted Gus's thoughts on the President's seventh and final State of the Union Address.
Gus pointed out some of the important issues brought up last night by the President, like the economic stimulus package agreed to last week with House Congressional leaders.
"Tonight, President Bush outlined his priorities for the year ahead, including the call for approval of an economic stimulus package that provides immediate short-term economic stimulus.
"The legislation passed today will provide immediate relief for millions of Americans, and spur both businesses and consumers to contribute to the sustained growth of our economy," said Rep. Bilirakis.
"I am encouraged by the bipartisan manner in which this legislation was passed, and I call on the Senate to move this bill as quickly as possible in order to get it to the President's desk and signed into law. The economic slowdown and difficulties faced by American consumers businesses are mounting, and immediate action is key for this stimulus to work."
Recent federal spending legislation signed into law in December 2007, included more than $131,000 specifically requested by Congressman Bilirakis for the PCPD to purchase digital cameras and laptop computers in order to enhance the Department's ability to fight crime and keep the community safe.
The deal, announced Thursday by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and the White House's lead negotiator, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, would be worth billions in tax rebates affecting more than 117 million families.
"I was encouraged by the swift progress and bipartisan spirit over the past week to put together a package of economic stimulus designed to get much needed relief into the hands of middle income families and small businesses.
On Monday, Gus spoke to members of the Plant City Rotary Club about his work in Congress and his efforts in the House to pass meaningful fiscal stimulus and tax reform.
Today, Gus sent a letter to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Chair of the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and Infrastructure Protection, to request a hearing on pipeline security.
The hearing request has come in the wake of an act of vandalism to a 30-mile-long anhydrous ammonia pipeline in Hillsborough County on Nov. 13. Three teenage boys had drilled a hole into the pipeline in an alleged search for money. This sprang a leak in the pipeline, causing the release of a noxious chemical cloud and the evacuation of thousands of local residents.