JAMES T. WALSH

Medicare and Social Security have created the healthiest and most financially secure generation of senior citizens in American history.

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is one of the most vicious crimes conceivable, a violation of mankind's most basic duty to protect the innocent.

And yet 50 percent of the kids who start high school in the United States today do not finish high school.

As a civil rights leader, Mrs. King's vision of racial peace and nonviolent social change was a fortifying staple in advancing the civil rights movement.

But as someone pointed out earlier, it is not really about fairness; it is about taking finite resources and applying them where they will have the most effect.

Our soldiers and their families are benefiting. They deserve good, quality housing and they need it.

We must never forget or diminish the sacrifices of those who gave everything for this nation.

Everyone agrees that our ultimate goal is to establish a free, open and democratic Iraqi government and bring our men and women in uniform home as soon as possible.

With this realization, came a growing need for men and women willing to take up arms in an effort to protect our American way of life and the freedoms so many of our ancestors died to entrench.

I believe, based on the activities, and I am not an expert on terrorism by any stretch, but I believe that when they attacked the United States and they attacked New York and Washington, D.C., they thought they could defeat us.

What they will try to do is get symbolic victories. Symbolism is important to them. They have little else. But they will strike, I believe, at centers of media, of financial, of American power, of American culture; and that is where we should place our bet.

We have a responsibility to make sure that the limited resources we have are spent efficiently and effectively and that programs achieve their mission.

The IRA has abandoned its armed struggle in pursuit of its goals by political means. This must be fully acknowledged. Continued challenge does nothing but obstruct and inhibit the peace process.

Personally, in my home, the district in central New York, the Air National Guard base, not 5 years ago, the commandant came through and said, This is one of the sorriest looking bases I have ever seen.

The Children's Safety Act will help protect children from the perpetrators of these vile crimes by strengthening notification requirements for sex offenders and increasing criminal penalties.

I do not believe that the Social Security system is in crisis.

New Yorkers should know that no one in the Administration, at the Department of Defense, or at the Selective Service System is advocating the reinstatement of the mandatory draft in any form.

Any Congressional agreement of an arbitrary time table to bring our troops home before we have accomplished our mission is unacceptable and could potentially increase the risk to our soldiers.

The selfless actions of these heroes have removed them from their families, businesses and homeland to fight, so that others may experience the liberty awaiting our troops upon safe return to America.

The U.S. Armed Forces are the best trained, best equipped fighting forces in the world.

Medicaid is a vital safety net for New York's poor and vulnerable, young and old alike.

Rest assured that my support for any eventual reform package will be based firmly upon what is in the best interests of the people of Upstate New York, not any party or president.

For far too long, the people of Northern Ireland have been denied an equal voice and equal representation in government. It is time for the Assembly and Executive to be up and running and the people's business to be addressed.

The Federal appropriations process is a marathon, not a sprint, and we are at the beginning of that process.

I do not believe that the Social Security system is in crisis. The Social Security Administration itself recently reported that the system is able to pay full benefits as they are defined today until at least 2042.