I think “jumping in head first” describes my first month better than “getting my feet wet!”

I took my first vote the same afternoon I was sworn in. In under a month I have spoken on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives in support of bills to raise the federal minimum wage, lower subsidized student loan rates, and end tax breaks for big oil companies who have made record profits.

I was a co-sponsor of those bills as well as ones to restore ethics to our government, implement the 9/11 commission recommendations, lower prescription drug costs for our seniors, and support life-saving stem cell research - all part of a bipartisan agenda to help working families across the country.

And I have been busy meeting and talking with constituents in the 24th District regarding how I can best serve them.

I don't see the challenges I face as a freshman as all that different from my fellow lawmakers.

I do have to read and study and listen closely to get used to the process.

But there are advantages to being a freshman - a lot of things were wrong with the last Congress, and coming in fresh, I can look at issues and problems with a much-needed new perspective.

Take fiscal responsibility - a priority Washington seems to have forgotten. I know how to stay within my financial budget and I'll do the same for the federal budget in Congress.

On issues like crime prevention and policing, I bring experience as a former district attorney.

It is my job to bring the best of upstate to

Washington so I can

make the daily lives

of people in Auburn better.

I don't view that as an obstacle, but as a challenge that will not only help upstate New York, but benefit our entire country.