Some pundits have labeled the Congress since 2001 as the "Do-Nothing-est" Congress in our nation's history.

Whether that's true or not, Congress has to do better.

As a member of the next Congress, my first priority will be to work to change this image, and to correct the things that have gone fundamentally wrong over the years. It's a big task. Frankly, I don't know how far I can get. But I owe it to all of you, just as every member of Congress owes it to their constituents to do a better job.

In today's tough economic times, we face harsh realities both at home and in the halls of government.

I promise to bring my penny-pinching ways to my office, the same as I practice at home.

In my home, we eat a whole lot more home-cooked meals than almost anybody we know, and macaroni and cheese is on our menu more often than I care to admit. It's time for Congress to stop eating so high on the hog, and see how Main Street lives.

My last two decades working in a wide range of high-tech companies taught me that to succeed, we must work smarter and we must strive for leaner, more efficient practices.

With the economic chaos left to America by the current administration, this means cutting expenses, cutting waste, and as much as I hate to say this, cutting Federal services until we can reach a balanced budget and begin reducing our enormous Federal debt.

It won't be easy, and it won't be pleasant. Two years ago, when I campaigned for smaller government, I admitted that to make the necessary cuts to the Federal government that were required to balance the budget, we would experience a recession just from the nearly trillion-dollar Federal spending cut that was necessary.

Congress failed to take those measures. Now we're already in a recession. It's going to get harder before it gets easier.

And that is the inconvenient truth of a government that's spent more than it's brought in, for 8 years.