With integrity, civility, and fiscal responsibility as our guide, Democrats intend to move forward with the agenda for change on which we were elected. We will:

• Make America safer by implementing the recommendations of the 9/11 commission.

• Make our economy fairer by raising the minimum wage and ending taxpayer subsidies for sending jobs overseas.

• Make college more affordable by cutting the interest rates on student loans.

• Improve healthcare by allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices and promoting stem-cell research.

• Achieve energy independence within 10 years by investing America's energy dollars in the Midwest instead of the Middle East.

• Guarantee a dignified retirement by improving Medicare, protecting Social Security, and making it easier to save for retirement.

While both sides are speaking the words of reconciliation, nothing will really change until they can trust each other. After six years of partisan trench warfare, that will not be easy. It begins with a cease-fire on the rhetoric of cheap shots and ultimatums. Karl Rove and other political consultants need to take a long vacation. Both sides need to speak honestly with each other and be willing to compromise.

The legislative work can begin on areas where there is likely consensus: immigration reform, lobbying and ethics reform, and education with the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind.

If that works, Congress and the administration can move on to negotiate tougher issues like establishing long-term budget discipline, expanding energy alternatives, fixing the prescription drug benefit and increasing the minimum wage.

The president's acceptance of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation on Wednesday is an encouraging step. It's an opportunity for a fresh start in Iraq, and I hope it's a precursor to a change in policy.

And, finally, on the war in Iraq, despite the bitter differences, both the Democrats and the president face the same brutal reality. We need a new strategy to stabilize Iraq so that our troops can begin to come home without leaving a disaster behind. The president took an important step by replacing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with Robert Gates. The Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, of which I am a member, will soon make its recommendations, which we hope will provide the beginning of a unified strategy.