Democrats Take Charge of Congress

Democrats are ready to achieve results on an agenda that the American people overwhelmingly support. We have reached out to Republicans to raise the minimum wage, provide tax relief for working families, cut the cost of health care, and make college more affordable.

- House Democrats have already passed key elements of an aggressive legislative agenda. In two days, the Democrat-led House of Representatives have revamped lobbying rules and pay-as-you-go budget rules.

- Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid have pledged that Democrats will do away with the "do-nothing" Congress by:
o Raising the minimum wage,
o Providing tax relief for working families,
o passing real ethics legislation to end the corruption of culture,
o and making health care and college more affordable.

- A majority of Americans support Democratic Party goals for the new Congress. According to a recent AP poll, 80 percent favor an increase in the minimum wage.

o The AP poll also showed that 69 percent support the government taking steps to make it easier for people to buy prescription drugs from other countries and 56 percent support easing restrictions on using federal money to pay for research on embryonic stem cells.

o More than eight in 10 Americans back raising the minimum wage, cutting interest rates on student loans and letting the government haggle with drug companies for lower prices for the Medicare prescription benefit, according to a poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for CNN.

- In the coming weeks, House Democrats will work to pass the rest of the "First 100 Hours" agenda, which includes:
o Making America more secure - implementing the independent 9/11 Commission recommendations;
o Giving Americans a raise - increasing the minimum wage;
o Making college more affordable - cutting the interest rate in half on federally subsidized student loans;
o Making health care more affordable - negotiating for lower prescription drug prices;
o Beginning on a path to energy independence - ending subsidies for Big Oil and investing in renewable energy and energy efficiency;
o Giving hope to families with devastating diseases - allowing stem cell research.

- It is encouraging that President Bush has finally expressed a willingness to work with Democrats to make balancing the budget and erasing the deficit that he created.

- Democrats are willing to work with Republicans as we get to work in moving America in a new direction, with an agenda that puts the priorities of the American people first again.