With great sadness we learned of the death this week of Lance Cpl. Jacob Meinert of Fort Atkinson who was killed supporting combat operations in Afghanistan. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, community, and fellow marines. Jacob died in service to a grateful nation. We mourn his loss and honor his sacrifice.

In Washington, this is the time when House Members meet with our leadership to discuss our legislative focus in the year ahead. As I said last week, our primary objective in 2010 is to save and create jobs as we work to stimulate the economy and recover from the recession.

It appears that House and Senate negotiators are close to reaching accord on a final health care reform bill. President Obama and key members of his Administration have been deeply involved in these negotiations as all parties try to iron out their differences. As in any compromise, our final bill may not be all I hoped for and all I'm working for, but it will help lower costs, improve access to health care, and rein in abuses of the insurance industry. We all recognize that the status quo is simply not acceptable. As soon as a final bill is produced, it will be available on-line for you to review.

This kind of transformational reform of our health care system is extremely complicated. It takes time for people to accept and adapt to change. But I firmly believe that, like Social Security and Medicare, the health care reform we are creating will have profoundly positive and far-reaching effects on our families and our economy.

As our Caucus met Thursday, House Speaker Pelosi pointed out that the stock market was above 10,700, an increase of 4,000 points since this time last year. A year ago our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was at minus 6 percent. We expect that the GDP in the 4th quarter of 2009 will be up to 4 percent - a 10 percent increase since a year ago. These are signs that the recovery plan and stimulus package we instituted are working, but there is much, much more to do. Our goal is to see that all Americans who want a job, have one.

Of course, events on Capitol Hill were overshadowed by the tragedy in Haiti. Here at home, we were contacted by some local families who had relatives serving as a mission team in that country. Working with State Department personnel, we were able to connect those Wisconsinites in Haiti with our Embassy personnel there and thankfully, they are all safe and awaiting transport  home.

Another group of medical professionals in South Central Wisconsin was preparing to leave for Haiti when the earthquake struck. They and many others around our state are courageously volunteering to go to Haiti to help the search, rescue, and recovery efforts. At this time, our government is advising that financial assistance, through reputable, well-established, charitable organizations, is the very best way to help.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Haiti and the emergency responders from the U.S. and all parts of the world who are with them in this time of tremendous need and suffering.