Washington, D.C. – Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15) was sworn into office for his 7th term by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a ceremony at the U.S. Capitol which marked the start of the 111th Congress on Jan. 6. “We are beginning a new era of politics here in Washington, one where the needs of the American people will finally come first again,” Hinojosa said of the occasion.

The new session marks Hinojosa’s 13th year as the U.S. Representative for the 15th Congressional District of Texas. “In the coming year, we face difficult challenges, but also enormous opportunities. Our first order of business is to work with President-elect Obama’s team to create a fiscally responsible stimulus plan that will generate and save millions of jobs in the next two years – and make our economy stronger in the long run. I look forward to working with the President-elect and my fellow Members of Congress on an agenda to get Americans and our economy back on track again,” Hinojosa stated.

“While this is the worst financial crisis that our nation has seen in a generation, it provides us with the rare chance to build a foundation for a stronger, more competitive nation. By modernizing our infrastructure to create jobs and grow small businesses across America, we can better ensure that the turmoil we have seen in recent months does not happen again. We will strengthen the middle class, not just Wall Street CEOs and special interests in Washington. We will work hard to ensure maximum return for every taxpayer dollar that we spend,” continued Hinojosa.

“As a senior member of the Education and Labor Committee, I will continue to fight to make a quality education available to every American student. This session we will work to make sure that we invest in and fully implement the new Higher Education Act. We will look closely at how to improve the No Child Left Behind law so that it results in real academic success for all our students. In the coming months, I will also spearhead efforts to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act to modernize our job training programs and expand adult education. The time has never been more critical to make sure that more students graduate prepared for a 21st century economy,” Hinojosa concluded.