This article appeared in The Washington Post, July 4th 2010

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors' approval last month of a new land-use plan for Tysons Corner is an important accomplishment. This fall, the supervisors are set to discuss a series of new taxes to fund $1.5 billion more in road improvements for the area in addition to the multibillion-dollar Silver Line Metro extension. That's another matter entirely. The people in the eastern part of county want to know: When will the focus -- and the money -- shift our way?

Once the primary north-south artery on the East Coast, U.S. Route 1 began a steady decline in Fairfax with the completion in 1952 of the Shirley Highway (which later became I-95/395). But U.S. 1 still has much to offer, including the longest business corridor in Fairfax County -- 7.5 miles from Interstate 495/95 south to Fort Belvoir.

Today, I attending our Pre-Session Public Hearing at the Fairfax County Government Center with most of the rest of the Northern Virginia Delegation. We heard from about 70 Northern Virginians over the course of about four hours.

Many of the people we heard from were physically or mentally disabled, their family members, or caretakers. Many people struggled through their conditions to simply speak or to relate what they go through on a daily basis, others asked us to sustain funding for Medicaid waivers just so they could have some semblance of a normal life. We heard from an eight-year old with ostogenesis imperfecta and a brain injury who spoke from her wheelchair and had the most incredible smile before, during and after her comments notwithstanding her daily struggle.