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“Our troops in Afghanistan and around the world have performed excellently; they have done everything that has been asked of them. As always, we are grateful and respectful of the enormous sacrifices our men and women in uniform, and their families, have made.”

A report released yesterday by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concluded that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act created or saved between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs, reduced unemployment and increased the GDP between 1.2% and 3.2% in the third quarter of 2009 alone. That's a slight revision showing more jobs and growth from CBO's March analysis based on more precise projections.

From the CBO report:

“On World AIDS Day, we remember, we reflect, and we recommit to ending HIV/AIDS. This year's theme - ‘Universal Access and Human Rights' - is a call to action, a sign of the continued urgency of this moral challenge, and a reminder that HIV/AIDS has not disappeared. The fight to end this disease must go on."

As part of Speaker Pelosi's ongoing efforts to increase transparency and accountability in the House of Representatives, the Speaker directed the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) earlier this year to make the Statement of Disbursements (SOD) - which documents all expenditures Congressional, Committee, Leadership, and administrative offices make - available online. The SOD has been published quarterly since 1964 in its current form but not accessible online. Today, the CAO made the first electronic posting of the SOD and covers the third quarter of 2009.

Speaker Pelosi on the posting:

“The New Direction Congress has passed unprecedented disclosure and lobbying reform laws, created an independent ethics office, and will continue to operate in a transparent and accountable manner.”

This morning, the White House announced that President Obama will participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next month. Speaker Pelosi on the announcement:

President Obama's announcements today underscore the urgency with which this Administration is tackling the global warming crisis.

An emission reduction target by 2020 in the range of 17 percent shows a serious commitment to aggressive U.S. action. This target is based on the Waxman-Markey legislation passed by the House in June, and is both politically achievable and economically viable.