In the Steven F. Austin Colony, which was the first colony, Texans first established a provisional government in 1835 with the intention of writing a declaration of independence soon after.

Texas has been hit especially hard this year by a continuing drought, threatening high winds and increasingly destructive range fires. Simply, these conditions have lead to extremely adverse conditions in the agriculture industry.

In too many cases, the moms, the dads, the sisters and brothers of children with cancer must stand by a hospital bed and watch helplessly as this horrible disease consumes the life of an innocent child.

Currently, the United States provides 22 percent of the U.N. annual budgets, over $900 million in fiscal year 2007, and some of that funding goes to the Human Rights Council.

On this National Agriculture Day, when we all should be taking time to thank and pay tribute to America's farmers, ranchers and their families who produce the food for our tables, we are finding those same people in dire need of our help and support.

There can be no argument about the Lone Star State's significant contributions to American history, and we must remember the actions and the sacrifices of those who made Texas independence a reality.

Our farmers and ranchers have never faced as many problems as they do today with drought, range fires, high gas prices and an ever tightening budget on agriculture subsidies.

The President of Iran has called for the destruction of Israel and the West and has even denied the holocaust took place. Iran and its terrorist arm Hezbollah are responsible for the current conflicts between Israel and Lebanon.

I believe the previous administration shrunk from some of our responsibilities as a superpower and made the world a more dangerous place.

We're making it more difficult to obtain the necessary ingredients to produce meth and tightening criminal penalties for those who deal in this dangerous drug.

Peacekeeping funds are an important and necessary part of what America does for humanity and the rest of the world.

We're going to be examining, how can we more properly screen and vet people coming into the United States? We will also be looking at the border.

We can't really have a serious debate about reform on immigration if we don't have operational control of the border. ... With the executive order out there, with the urgency of the threat, I think it's very likely that we'll get something passed, later this year.