With patient and firm determination I am going to press on for jobs. I'm going to press on for equality. I'm going to press on for the sake of our children. I'm going to press on for the sake of all those families who are struggling right now. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I am going to press on.

Here are the values that I stand for: honesty equality kindness compassion treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me those are traditional values.

Maintaining healthy forests is essential to those who make a living from the land and for those of us who use them for recreational purposes.

If bringing up the next generation is important why aren't they the best qualified the best paid? Why aren't we as concerned about their career progression as we are about those who work in the education or health services?

The institution of a public library containing books on education would be well adapted for the information of teachers many of whom are not able to purchase expensive publications on those subjects.

But the best thing Washington can do for education is realize that our role is limited. Washington must keep its promises but let those who know our childrens' names- parents teachers and school board members- make education decisions.

Unfortunately the real achievements of children on the ground became debased and devalued because Labor education secretaries sounded like Soviet commissars praising the tractor production figures when we know that those exams were not the rock-solid measures of achievement that children deserve.

Except among those whose education has been in the minimalist style it is understood that hasty moral judgments about the past are a form of injustice.

As a former recipient of these services I can honestly say that the overwhelming majority of TANF recipients are hard-working Americans who are down on their luck and just want an opportunity to better their lives and those of their family through work and access to education.

If we do not provide education for every single American we are consigning those without an education to second-class status.