America is only as good as the families that comprise it. Strong families, blessed with hope and opportunity, filled with ambition and dreams and guided by faith and principle are the heart of America. Growing up in the close-knit community of Swain County, NC I learned from my family and my church to love God, respect life, and to help those less fortunate than myself. Those fundamental principles have shaped who I am today.

Some of my earliest memories of growing up are of going to church with my grandmother. Sitting beside her on those Sunday mornings listening to our pastor taught me lessons that I have carried through my life - lessons that have truly carried me through my life. Those lessons have influenced every decision I have made. Lessons that made me a Democrat and lessons that made me stand up to make a difference in the direction of our country and our children's future.

I was blessed with the ability to play football and had a successful career at the University of Tennessee and was drafted into the NFL. But throughout those games -- and the seeming importance of each one -- I never forgot the lessons learned with my grandmother and the importance of my salvation. No award I received or games I won could match the feeling of kneeling at an altar with a young man and helping lead him in prayer to his salvation.

That is why throughout my football career I tried to give back all I could. I traveled across the country speaking to young people with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and discussing the importance of conducting yourself with high moral character through the Character Counts program. I understood that professional athletes were role models, whether we wanted to be or not, and we were responsible for setting good examples. Being an athlete was not about building yourself up for glory and fame, but rather it was about helping others and building up the team so everyone achieved more.

These are lessons that too many of our children are not learning and lessons too many politicians in Washington have forgotten or are ignoring.

I decided to run for Congress because we need to restore integrity and a sense of duty to our national legislature. For too long money and the thirst for power have corrupted those elected to serve the people of this nation. We have watched profits become more important than people. We have watched families struggle because their jobs have been sent overseas, so that huge corporations could make a higher profit. We have allowed millions of people to go uninsured to protect the profits of the insurance companies. We have slashed education funding for working class children, so that the wealthiest among us could have more. It's not right, and we all need to stand as one and move our nation forward together.

I am often asked how I will be able to maintain my values and withstand the lure of power and wealth. I often share with them this story.

On my first day of the eighth grade my mother gave me a note that read, "Heath, make every decision as if I am standing next to you. For when I am not, the Lord always is." I followed that advice throughout my school years. Now, I make my decisions as if my wife and children were standing beside me. In Congress, I will make my decisions as if the families of this district were standing beside me.

That story goes back to my faith, the lessons I learned from my mother and grandmother, and my belief in the Lord. Proverbs 3:6 tells us that, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path." It is a verse that has carried me to this point in my life and a lesson that will carry me through the temptations of Washington D.C.