I do believe that the majority of elected officials worked very hard and their heart is in the right place.

Everyone without extraordinary research skills ought to be able to know what is happening inside the government, how it operates, where their tax dollars are going. Then they can make better decisions in the electoral process.

It should not take award-winning investigators to find out how this government operates.

We've seen it again and again. From civil rights to women's rights to marriage rights, this country has reinvented itself in the quest to make real the transcendent values that Lincoln proclaimed in his historic address - that all men are created equal in a nation conceived in liberty.

One hundred and fifty years after Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, equality for many Americans remains elusive.

Anytime a member of Congress wants to travel abroad - which we do from time to time as part of our official duties - we are required to check with the House Committee on Ethics as to whether the trip follows the ethics rules by which federally elected officials are bound. Not so with Supreme Court justices.

While everyone is entitled to a little vacation now and then, America's top legal officers should adhere to basic measures to increase accountability and restore the public's trust in government.

The policies we debate and enact in Congress have a real impact on people across the country. Climate change, immigration, economic inequality - each of these issues have become hot button, partisan topics, but support or opposition on these pressing issues shouldn't come down to party.

Immigration is not about visa numbers or building a fence. It is about reclaiming our roots as a nation of immigrants and a refuge for those who have been cast aside.

We must not let politicians who believe they are above the Constitution interfere with the personal health decisions of women. It is the job of a woman, not a politician, to make informed decisions about her own pregnancy.