Army Sgt. Salvatore Giunta is the first living soldier to be awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. The following are images from the ceremony, his service in Afghanistan and his family life. 

The Senate began debate Monday on a Republican effort to overturn new labor regulations that make it easier and quicker for unions to hold workplace elections. The White House immediately threatened to veto it. 

I am a Republican BECAUSE I root for the little guy.

It is not the prosperous that I love. It is the opportunity that comes with prosperity.

Prosperity brings good things to the little guy. It brings a job. It brings innovation. We almost all have cars because someone wanted to figure out how to sell them to the little guy. It pushes us to be great. It allows any one of us to create a business.

I do not want a government that feeds me, clothes me, and treats me like a disadvantaged child. I do not want a government that treats our most productive people like milk cows. We cannot punish success without making it more scarce and we cannot reward failure without making it commonplace.

I like the little guy, because I am a little guy. I want the landscapers to find work taking care of the property of the wealthy. I want the painters to paint their houses too. I want the contractors to add a wing to the house, or even build a new one. I want every little guy to go home at night proud of what he has done for the day and a little richer for it.

I am a Republican BECAUSE I am an environmentalist. I do not believe that watching Judge Judy from your trailer, or driving a 12 year old rust bucket is environmentally sound.

I do not believe that 800 sequential days off because the jobs have disappeared is good for any person’s health, or any community’s health. I want the personal environment of every citizen to improve. I think that people who are in charge of their own destinies can afford better, less polluting cars, better housing, better water and better health. Their mental state will improve if they do not sit at the TV accepting government payments, food stamps and the sinking feeling that they cannot provide for their own families.

I am a Republican BECAUSE I believe in Liberty. I believe that almost everyone is an expert in their own lives. No one else can be more aware of the myriad of details that make life so rich. I do not believe that a government, any government, knows how to lead an individual life better, or more efficiently then that individual leading the life. Big government is a formula for wasting money trying to come up with one size fits all policies while common sense tells you that one size does not fit all.

I am a Republican BECAUSE any government powerful enough to give you everything you desire is powerful enough to take everything you have.

Jim Yong Kim, an American who is president of Dartmouth College, has been chosen to be the next president of the World Bank. His selection Monday extends the U.S. hold on the top job at the 187-nation development agency.