Our nation faces a painful economic transition. We have suffered a net loss of 2.8 million manufacturing jobs in the last four years. Those were jobs with decent wages and benefits.

The economic growth we have seen hasn't reached the paychecks of the vast majority of American workers. Wages have barely budged, while health care costs and energy costs have risen brutally.

I share the increasing frustration that millions of Americans feel with our situation in Iraq--the contrived reasons given for invading and the lack of any realistic plan for the aftermath of our invasion, and with the Bush Administration's failure to state clearly what has to happen for our military to come home.

The Administration has said simply that we should stay the course, but has not declared our port of destination. It is hard to believe there is a course, that we are not simply drifting rudderless.

Our military forces have served admirably. Through no fault of our troops, most Iraqis now see them as an occupying army.

Many Iraqis believe that the United States intends to occupy Iraq on a long-term basis and dominate the elected Iraqi government, rather than to respect that government as the legitimate government of a fully sovereign nation.

Iraqis' suspicions about our intentions undermine the legitimacy of the Iraqi government, and fuel the insurgency that continues unabated.

If our presence in Iraq is truly not for Iraq's oil or for a permanent staging area for military operations in that part of the world, we need to say so. We need to state clearly that we do not intend a long-term occupation of Iraq and that Iraqis will decide their own future.

It is inexcusable that in a country as prosperous as the United States, so many of our citizens are not able to afford health care. More than 45 million Americans lack any health insurance and millions more are underinsured. More than 18,000 Americans die every year who would not have died if they had health insurance.

It is easy to talk about supporting the troops. But in thought times likes these, those who have served our country deserve more than just talk. I have fought to provide real benefits for returning soldiers. I voted for a new GI Education Bill to restore the promise of a full, four-year education for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The GI Bill following World War II provided opportunity for millions of Americans, and we should do no less for those who are fighting for us today.

The public schools are where we deliver on the promise of equality of opportunity. I know because I have lived it. Every opportunity I have had, including the opportunity to serve in the United States Congress, I owe to the education available to me in North Carolina's public schools.

Congress needs reform our immigration system. The first step is to secure our borders. Funding is a simple place to start. We must adequately fund the agencies responsible for protecting our borders. Congress must also provide enough funding for the agencies that process the paperwork of people seeking to enter our country to determine who should and should not be here.