Congresswoman Kathy Castor returned to Tampa for the August congressional recess glad to be home and eager to discuss what she's been up to since leaving for Washington in January.

She's a particularly busy freshman. She appears to be a favorite of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and with the Democrats in control, received two plum committee assignments.

The Rules Committee has given her insight into the legislative process and kept her focused on particular bills; the Armed Services Committee, and particularly her position on the terrorism subcommittee, has opened her eyes to how scary the world can be.

Castor is championing issues she has long favored - health care, the physician's shortage, education - and she's working with Republicans to get things done.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Tribune's editorial board, she talked about her early experiences in Washington. What follows is an edited reading of our conversation.

What it's like to be a freshman representative?

It has exceeded my expectations: the pace, the number of bills, the committee hearings. After being sworn in, they usually adjourn for three weeks and come back for the State of the Union, but we started right then and there. We've met in session for 105 days, compared to the last Congress' time frame of 85 days. My goal was to not be the typical freshman member. After the November election, folks said, "Well, don't expect to pass a bill, don't expect to speak on the floor." If I'm going to be measured by that, I have hit a home run.

I got there at the right time with the changeover in the Congress and have tried to use every bit of knowledge of what's happening on the local level to my advantage. You all know that health care has been a great interest of mine from the time I was a county commissioner, and I've been a leader there on the Children's Health Insurance Program. I was very proud to be a leader on that effort.

How did you come to lead the fight for children's health insurance?

In the Florida delegation I have been the one from the local level with a lot of knowledge of how it works. Remember, when it started here in Florida, my mother was education commissioner and Lawton Chiles was governor. Their overriding goal was to make it easy for parents to get information on how you can sign up for health care. I watched over the years as Florida instead made it much more difficult for parents to sign up. At one point they had a waiting list and it became embarrassing and they just said, "We're not going to keep a waiting list or print the application for parents anymore." A lot of provisions in my bill make it easy to sign up.

What did you take away from the effort?

I have to thank Ronda Storms. The debate was very intense that morning because I had managed the Head Start bill and the Water Resources Development Act bill and one of the Iraq bills, but &hellip they were trying to block us procedurally on a number of different fronts. &hellip It was good experience, but there's nothing like serving in local government on the firing line, and nothing on the floor of the House or Rules Committee will ever compare to the Hillsborough County Commission.

How is the culture different?

It can get very heated there, but it is rarely personal. Some of the histrionics you'll see, or the intense debate, people really do walk off the floor and it's left there. It's a higher level of professionalism. That doesn't mean everybody's your best buddy, but it's much more collegial.

The Democrats took over with a promise to be less partisan, yet Congress appears as divided as ever. Have you seen any culture change?

In policy there has been. We did pass a landmark ethics bill, so that was part of the promise. But you can't get caught up in the partisanship, and you have to stay focused on what you're doing for your district. I've really tried to do that, working with Bill Young on health care and the other members on the Armed Services Committee. We have a great win on red tide research. Connie Mack and I filed a bill early in the year, and I surprised him a little bit because I worked behind the scenes to get it into the appropriations bill. Now we have $90 million for three years authorized for red tide research. I'm never going to be able to explain the ratings of the Congress, but I'm going to do the best I can for the Tampa Bay area.

Does the Tampa Bay-area delegation have an agenda?

We can do better. Mr. Young is outstanding. I have such great respect for him. He and I work very well together, and I think the world of him. Gus [Bilirakis} is doing well. We had one item on the Homeland Security bill, the conflict between the port credential here in Florida and the transportation worker credential at the federal level. I added an amendment that said the feds have to work with the state of Florida to resolve this conflict in the next couple of years. Gus and Ginny [Brown-Waite] are on the Homeland Security committee and came to the floor of the House to speak in favor of the amendment. That's great, and [Sen. Bill] Nelson has added the Castor amendment on the Senate side, so it looks like it'll pass. But we can do a lot better on a unified agenda.

What is the top priority for the Florida delegation?

The last meeting was on the farm bill. Ron Klein has initiated one on energy. Everglades funding.

After the Walter Reed scandal, the House and Senate passed a Wounded Warrior Assistance Act. In that bill, there are greater resources for our wounded soldiers coming back home. In that act, I added language that authorizes an increase in physician residents in VA hospitals across the country. So all VA hospitals now will have the ability to expand the number of physician residents. We'll keep track of that because I don't want them to say, "here's a couple" and call it a day. It's tough because of the price tag, but we won't give up on that one.

A lot of great initiatives on education, too, with the increase in the Pell Grant, something President Bush said he would do when he was campaigning the first time around. This is the first year Congress has acted, and we've gotten it done, and that means a lot.

How do you think we should resolve the standoff over the date of Florida's presidential primary?

If I had my way and could wave a magic wand, I would have them all go back and set their dates later in the spring next year. I'd suggest it's entirely too early to begin all the campaigning. At the same time, there's a great hunger out there for change. I hear it all the time. Bush fatigue. In any event, if it stays like it is, they just need to count the Florida votes and work next time for a grand solution, such as regional primaries like Bob Graham was suggesting. Ultimately you can't tell a large state like Florida that your Democratic votes aren't going to count.

The farm bill was 750 pages long. How do you make sense of something like that?

The legislation is developed over a long period of time with many hearings, and it's impossible to keep track of every committee hearing. You rely on people you respect, but ultimately you've got to get into it. Florida did well with the Farm Bill, but I would like to see greater reform. I think the subsidies are too high, but there were many positive steps taken in this bill to not make payments to farms or couples that really don't need subsidies. Florida fruits and vegetables did very well.

What about the cost of entitlements? Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are expected to consume 50 percent of the GDP by 2050. Does anybody ever talk about that?

Absolutely. For the first time in many years, the Democrats have put in place the pay-as-you-go rules that were suspended under the Republican Congress. It means that we cannot authorize a new program unless there is a way to pay for it. I would have liked to have done more for Head Start, knowing the needs in my District 11, but it's pay as you go and you can't do everything. I'd like to do even more for children's health care, but in the end we're going to have to pay for what we do. The other side is the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds. Social Security looks to be OK in the short-term, the next 10 or 15 or 20 years, but we do have a huge problem with our workforce and our demographics.

Are we going to have to raise taxes?

I don't see that. We may let them (tax cuts) expire.

You don't consider that a tax increase?

That's the way President Bush wrote that law. When you put things in perspective, we're spending over $10 billion a month in Iraq. We're not going to be able to recover all that because we'll have to rebuild the military. They've put us in a terrible position. We're at such a strategic risk right now because of the years spent in Iraq. General Schoomaker testified at our committee that this escalation puts the Army at a huge risk. We will be unable to respond to any other threat to our global security.

What would you like to see happen in Iraq?

I'd like to see the Bush administration, for a change, develop a surge in diplomacy. That sounds kind of pat right now, but there's no unified effort to bring countries together through the United Nations, through the Arab League, anywhere, to try to come up with an end game. Instead you've got Saudi Arabia ticked off and refusing to play any role there because Iraq is now a Shiite-led government. So some of these countries that have the wherewithal and resources to be able to go in and play a constructive role, because of how it's turned out and the Shiites in control, they're not going to do it. Unless the Bush administration says here's the grand plan and we will give up some control.

Do you think President Maliki can pull his government together?

I hope so. It's really going to take a lot of trade off and I think we're delaying the inevitable right now.

Which is?

Which is a real power struggle in the country, but I don't see the Bush administration&hellipand I have a lot of respect for Secretary Gates&hellipbut I do not see a concerted effort to try to get allies and governments across the world to focus on this. I think it's going to take a new president before other countries that are allies give us another chance with a new plan.

Do you feel confident that we're doing enough to protect our ports?

I do. The 911 Commission Report is on the president's desk. That's a big win for the security of ports and airports. There needs to be greater scrutiny and greater level of inspections. The best research going on is at USF St. Pete and their ocean technology.

What's been your biggest surprise in Washington?

The Terrorism Subcommittee and some of the briefings I receive there.

Anything you can share?

No.

Do you believe the Iraq war has increased our nation's safety?

Not at all. Look at what's happened with the resurgence of al-Qaida. The deal that (the administration) cut with (Pakistani President Gen. Pervez) Musharraf - to let him police the tribal areas and trust him. They did not understand the history of the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. With all the CIA operatives we've had in that region, especially in Pakistan, it floors me that they took a hands-off approach. A lot of that is because of going into Iraq. That's where the attention went.