By JUSTIN ANTHONY MONAREZ, Scripps Howard News Service

WASHINGTON - Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Texas, never completed a college degree, but he holds the same rank as other formally educated members of Congress.

The only credential that mattered was winning the election.

"They put their pants on the same way I put my pants on," said Ortiz, who went from shining shoes as a young boy to representing the 27th District in South Texas.

WASHINGTON - Purple blossoms of midnight salvia and stems of blue chiquita salvia adorn the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden at the White House and thousands of other back yards.