Six years and two months after former President Bush stood under the infamous “Mission Accomplished” banner atop the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln and announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq, U.S. combat troops have removed themselves from Iraq’s urban areas into more secure and remote bases of operations.

Our brave men and women now are slated to conduct limited operations from these posts to keep major transportation avenues free from insurgent obstruction and to provide assistance to Iraqi security forces if the Iraqis request it. Gone are the days of major U.S.-led combat operations that do not have the approval of Iraq's leadership and probably are Iraqi-led.

As families across the nation get set to celebrate our nation’s independence, it is important to take a moment to reflect on the bravery of the men and women who defiantly stood up to the English Empire and fought for the right to live in a free, democratic, and sovereign nation. Whether reflecting on one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, a nurse tending to wounded Americans soldiers, a gunpowder manufacturer or a private fighting against the vaunted English Army, it was their collective effort that paved the way for our framers to develop a unique system of government that was based on representation rather than repression.

In conjunction with my Reagan Legacy Foundation, I recently marked the 22nd anniversary of my father’s famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin by publicly announcing an agreement with the Mauer Museum to permanently house a wing dedicated to Ronald Reagan and his leading role in ending the Cold War and reuniting the German people.

President Barack Obama has undertaken the expansion of healthcare to the roughly 45 million Americans who do not have health insurance. Having about 1 American in 7 with no health insurance is undeniably an undesirable situation that deserves our attention and concern.

This is not just a matter of compassion, either, but also of practicality. About the most expensive way imaginable to deal with routine illness is to provide it in hospital emergency rooms, yet this is the only alternative for millions of people. In addition, the uninsured commonly defer going to a doctor, and with the looming threat of infectious diseases to all our families, we are all at risk when millions go without needed treatment.