Dear Friends,

It's great to be back in touch with you during this month of two special holidays.

We recently observed Veterans' Day, on which we honor our Nation's servicemen and women, past and present. Soon, we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving and sharing our blessings with friends and families. Of course, also in November, we heard the voices of our collective citizenry in the voting booth and hopefully, the choices they made will shift the course of our nation's policies for the better.

There is no shortage of change on the horizon. Thanks to the visionary leadership of our Founding Fathers and the many sacrifices of our veterans, we remain that "shining city on the hill" that we set out to be. At the same time, we are a far different nation than we once were. Over time, our marketplace production, the interests of our consumers, and even our value sets have grown increasingly more diverse.

With that in mind, our local, state, and federal leadership must remain attuned to our values and priorities. Those priorities include:

• ensuring that small businesses are represented in economic negotiations and "bailout considerations,"

• ensuring that our farmers can maintain stability of production by having access to reliable lines of credit,

• working to ensure that we have access to quality health care and affordable education, and

• instituting a foreign policy that keeps our nation safe and our resources intact.

The eleventh day of this eleventh month reminded us of the sacrifices of our service members, from Lexington and Concord to the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan -- sacrifices that have given our industries, farmers, and innovators the freedom to excel and America to become, and remain, the greatest nation on earth.

It's no secret that times are tough -- as tough as they have been in a quite a while. But in good times or bad, we owe a debt to those who have sacrificed on our behalf, as well as to future generations, to remain engaged citizens, to be part of the solution, to do everything in our power to move this country forward for the benefit of all. Even as we reflect on the recent election, we should keep in mind that America is neither a president nor a governor, America is not Washington, DC, nor is it a state legislature. America is you and me, and 300 million other men, women, and children lucky enough to be part of this great, ongoing experiment in representative democracy.

This season, I will be offering prayers of thanks for your friendship. Please accept my heartfelt, warm regards as we approach this Holiday season. I value the opportunity to stay in touch.


Best Regards,

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