5. Rep. Peter King

Holding the line for the widely unpopular President George W. Bush must be a hell of a chore, and King has taken his beatings. He got a thumbs-up from Democrats and Republicans alike when he went public with his criticisms of a proposed deal to transfer security operations at New York and New Jersey ports to a Dubai-based company. King, the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, felt in post-9/11 America that a country such as Dubai had no business having that responsibility. His tough stance on immigration reform, however, might have lost him some of his new friends on the Democratic side of the aisle. You may not always agree with his words but King continues to prove himself to be a vocal leader.