By Congressman Joe Pitts

The election on November 4 represented an historic moment in American history.  Senator Barack Obama was elected as the nation’s first African-American President. I congratulate President-elect Obama for a well-run campaign that captured the imagination of the American people.
 
President-elect Obama will be sworn in on January 20, 2009.  The theme for the inauguration will be "A New Birth of Freedom," a line taken from President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.  There is something truly poetic about Senator Obama being sworn in 200 years after the birth of another politician from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln, the man who saved the Union and ended the tyranny of slavery.

The inauguration will be not only a ceremony to usher in the next President, but an affirmation of our nation’s ideal as the land of opportunity—and this is cause for celebration.  

However, the inauguration will also be the first day in office for the President of a nation that faces very serious issues.  The economy is still in trouble, we are engaged in two wars abroad, and our fiscal house is in serious disrepair.  I plan to work with an Obama Administration on these and other issues where there is room for compromise.

During the campaign, Senator Obama spoke at length about the need to set aside partisan differences for the betterment of the nation.  I hope his words were indicative of what will happen, because there are issues before us that will require big ideas, bipartisanship, and political will to succeed.  Perhaps the most daunting task in public policy will be navigating the coming entitlement tsunami as Social Security and Medicare are pushed to the point of collapse by a seismic shift in the demographics of our nation.   

However, I also intend to stand for the principles that I have always advocated: limited government, individual freedom, personal responsibility, family values, and a strong commitment to the defense of our nation. 

Though Mr. Obama’s party will control both the legislative and executive branches, fully 46 percent of the electorate, representing nearly 60 million people, supported Senator McCain, and even many of those who voted for Senator Obama do not believe more spending and bigger government are the answers. 

I share with Mr. Obama a desire to move our nation beyond its dependence on oil from abroad, including expanding use of clean renewable and alternative fuels. These are very important issues.  However, I will also continue to call for an expansion of American made oil and natural gas until the day when renewables can make up a greater share of our energy needs.

I share with Mr. Obama the desire to return to fiscal responsibility.  This presents a great challenge at a time when deficits are at an all-time high and revenue will sink as we weather a recession.  I will work with Mr. Obama and my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to restore fiscal responsibility to our government, just like I did during the Clinton Administration when we were able to achieve a balanced budget.  However, I do not believe the way to get there is by increasing taxes and redistributing wealth.  The American people work hard for what they have, and the government should not take money from people simply because others have less.  Instead, we need to ensure that every American has the ability to succeed. 

I share with Mr. Obama a desire to scrutinize every aspect of government and eliminate duplicative, unnecessary, and underperforming programs.  However, I do not wish to simply replace old programs with new government intervention in the lives of Americans.

I share with Mr. Obama a desire to see our troops return home from Iraq, but I do not believe we should allow the efforts of so many to go to waste by precipitously removing our forces just at the time when we seem to be winning the fight against our extremist enemies who know that a stable democracy in Iraq is anathema to their violent ideology. 

I did not vote for Mr. Obama.  Nevertheless, the election of our first African-American President is a victory for America and a vindication of America’s ideals. 

January 20 will rightly be a time to celebrate the great promise of America as the land of opportunity.  But when the celebration is over, I look forward to working with President Obama in order to move our nation neither left, or right, but forward.

Congressman Joe Pitts represents the 16^th Congressional District of Pennsylvania.

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