Speakers of the United States House of Representatives‎

"How often are we forced to charge fortune with partiality towards the unjust!"

"I have no commiseration for princes. My sympathies are reserved for the great mass of mankind …."

"Whether we assert our rights by sea, or attempt their maintenance by land—whithersoever we turn ourselves, this phantom incessantly pursues us. Already has it had too much influence on the councils of the nation."

"It consists in the genius of the nation, which is prone to peace; in that desire to arrange, by friendly negotiation, our disputes with all nations…. But a new state of things has arisen: negotiation has become hopeless. The power with whom it was to be conducted, if not annihilated, is in the situation that precludes it; and the subject-matter of it is in danger of being snatched forever from our power. Longer delay would be construed into a dereliction of our right, and would amount to a treachery to ourselves."

"I am not, sir, in favor of cherishing the passion of conquest. I am permitted … to indulge the hope of seeing, ere long, the new United States, (if you will allow me the expression,) embracing not only the old …."

"What is the nature of this government? It is emphatically federal, vested with an aggregate of special powers for general purposes, conceded by existing sovereignties, who have themselves retained what is not so conceded. It is said that there are cases in which it must act on implied powers. This is not controverted, but the implication must be necessary, and obviously flow from enumerated power with which it is allied."

"In all cases where incidental powers are acted upon, the principal and incidental ought to be congenial with each other, and partake of a common nature. The incidental power ought to be strictly subordinate and limited to the end proposed to be obtained by the specified power. In other words, under the name of accomplishing one object which is specified, the power implied ought not to be made to embrace other objects, which are not specified in the constitution."

"The great advantage of our system of government over all others, is, that we have a written constitution, defining its limits, and prescribing its authorities; and that, however, for a time, faction may convulse the nation, and passion and party prejudice sway its functionaries, the season of reflection will recur, when calmly retracing their deeds, all aberrations from fundamental principle will be corrected."

"If you wish to avoid foreign collision, you had better abandon the ocean."

"Sir, if you wish to avoid foreign commerce; give up all your prosperity. It is the thing protected, not the instrument of protection, that involves you in war. Commerce engenders collision, collision war, and war, the argument supposes, leads to despotism. Would the councils of that statesman be deemed who would recommend that the nation should be unarmed—that in the art of war, the material spirit, and martial exercises, should be prohibited—…—and that the great body of the people should be taught that the national happiness was to be found in perpetual peace alone? No, sir."

"Impart additional strength to our happy Union. Diversified as are the interests of its various parts, how admirably do they harmonize and blend together! We have only to make a proper use of the bounties spread before us, to render us prosperous and powerful."

"The gentleman cannot have forgotten his own sentiment, uttered even on the floor of this House, "Peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.""

"An oppressed people are authorized, whenever they can, to rise and break their fetters."

"All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty."

"Government is a trust, and the officers of the government are trustees; and both the trust and the trustees are created for the benefit of the people."

"The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites the public odium and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments."

"Precedents deliberately established by wise men are entitled to great weight. They are evidence of truth, but only evidence...But a solitary precedent...which has never been reexamined, cannot be conclusive."

"Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character."

"We have had good and bad Presidents, and it is a consoling reflection that the American Nation possesses such elements of prosperity that the bad Presidents cannot destroy it, and have been able to do no more than slightly to retard the public's advancement."

"In the little affairs of human life, whether social or national, I have found that courtesies, kindness, and small attentions are often received with more grateful feelings than those of a more substantial character. We often appreciate more the picayunes than the double eagles, in the currency of social and human life."

"My friends are not worth the powder and shot it would take to kill them!... If there were two Henry Clays, one of them would make the other President of the United States!... It is a diabolical intrigue, I know now, which has betrayed me. I am the most unfortunate man in the history of parties: always run by my friends when sure to be defeated, and now betrayed for a nomination when I, or any one, would be sure of an election."

"The Constitution of the United States was made not merely for the generation that then existed, but for posterity—unlimited, undefined, endless, perpetual posterity."

"It is totally unnecessary for the gentleman to remind me of my coming from a slaveholding state. I know whence I came, and I know my duty, and I am ready to submit to any responsibility which belongs to me as a senator from a slaveholding state. I have heard something said on this and a former occasion about allegiance to the South. I know no South, no North, no East, no West, to which I owe any allegiance. I owe allegiance to two sovereignty, and only two: one is the sovereignty of this Union, and the other is the sovereignty of the state of Kentucky. My allegiance is to this Union and to my state; but if gentlemen suppose they can exact from me an acknowledgement of allegiance to any ideal or future contemplated confederacy of the South, I here declare that I owe no allegiance to it; nor will I, for one, come under any such allegiance if I can avoid it."

"I would rather be right than be President."

"I think that one of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don't encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, and loyal and faithful and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around the camp fire, but are lousy in politics."

"The only explanation I can give myself for spending two hours here is that one or two or three of you will become leaders, as a result of a slightly better understanding of what the term means. The first thing it means is taking risks. Because all of you, if you try to do anything, are going to make mistakes. That shouldn't bother you, because Lyndon Johnson, when he was forty years older than you, made mistakes and destroyed his presidency. Richard Nixon, when he was forty-five years older than you, made mistakes and destroyed his presidency. Jimmy Carter makes mistakes on a daily basis. None of those things should worry you, that's the nature of this business. We're all human and we all goof."

"Everyone of you is old enough to have been a rifleman in Vietnam. A number of you are old enough to have been platoon leaders, or company commanders, depending on the situation, and how rapidly you move up in rank. This is the same business, we're just lucky, in this country, we don't use bullets, we use ballots instead. You're fighting a war. It is a war for power."

"Do you like the state of the Republican Party? Do you think you ought to respect Bill Brock because he has done such a great job? Or Richard Nixon, or Gerald Ford, the only incumbent president since Herbert Hoover to lose an election? They have done a terrible job, a pathetic job. In my lifetime, literally in my lifetime, I was born in 1943, we have not had a competent national Republican leader. Not ever!"

"One of the great weaknesses of the Republican Party is we recruit middle-class people. Middle-class people, as a group, are told you should not shout at the table, you should be nice, you should have respect for other people, which usually means giving way to them. You want to go to the beach, they want to go to the movie, well, you ought to go to the movie, cause otherwise they'll get mad at you. So what do you do? We ended up going to Watergate because we didn't want to offend Richard Nixon. We ended up allowing Gerald Ford to do some things that were incredibly dumb, just unbelievably dumb. Gerald Ford personally cost me a congressional seat."

"Now the reason I am being harshly critical is because I want you all to learn a lesson. When you see somebody doing something dumb, say it. You don't help your party any by neatly sitting off to one side and saying, "God I wish you weren't so stupid." You weaken your party. And when you say it, say it in the press, say it loud, fight, scrap, issue a press release, go make a speech."

"The number one fact about the news media is they love fights. When you give them confrontations, you get attention; when you get attention, you can educate."

"I see myself as representing the conservative wing of the postindustrial society."

"You can have an active, aggressive, conservative state which does not in fact have a large centralized bureaucracy…This goes back to Teddy Roosevelt. We have not seen an activist conservative presidency since TR."

"I'm the guy in the eighth grade who did not go across the floor and ask the girl to dance for two reasons. One is, she might say no and I'd be embarrassed; two, she might say yes and I'd have to dance…"

"There were long periods in my marriage when I was in enormous pain, and I did a lot of things during that time that reflect how much pain I was in. I am not going to argue every point of that story, but I will say that it painted a picture of me that is essentially untrue."

"I have an enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I'm doing it. Ronald Reagan uses the term 'opportunity society' and that didn't exist four years ago. I just had breakfast with Darman and Stockman because I'm unavoidable. I represent real power. And I can also, as an elected official, I can hold a press conference and that's a form of real power. The ambitions that this city focuses on are trivial if you're a historian. Who cares?"

"If Wright ever consolidates his power, he will be a very, very formidable man…We need to take him on early to prevent that."

"The left-wing Democrats will represent the party of total hedonism, total exhibitionism, total bizarreness, total weirdness, and the total right to cripple innocent people in the name of letting hooligans loose."

"The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument."

"The values of the left cripple human beings, weaken cities, make it difficult for us to in fact survive as a country…The left in America is to blame for most of the current, major diseases which have struck this society."

"You’re gonna see weird things coming out of this city over the next few years, because you’re watching the death throes of the machine, and you’re watching its power to smear, and its power to intimidate. And the next time you hear anyone say, ‘Let’s fire Lee Atwater,’ the first thing you ought to know is…they are either left-wingers or they have been intimidated by left-wingers."

"People like me are what stand between us and Auschwitz. I see evil around me every day."

"I think that the mother killing the two children in South Carolina vividly reminds every American how sick the society is getting and how much we need to change things. The only way you get change is to vote Republican."

"It is impossible to maintain civilization with 12-year-olds having babies, with 15-year-olds killing each other, with 17-year-olds dying of AIDS and with 18-year-olds getting diplomas they can’t even read."

"There's something that doesn't fit about this whole case and the way it's been handled…I'm not convinced he didn't [commit suicide]. I'm just not convinced he did. I believe there are plausible grounds to wonder what happened and very real grounds to wonder why it was investigated so badly."

"This is petty…You’ve been on the plane for 25 hours and nobody has talked to you, and they ask you to get off the plane by the back ramp…You just wonder, 'Where is their sense of manners? Where is their sense of courtesy?'"

"I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much."

"I'm willing to lead, but I'm not willing to preside over people who are cannibals."

"This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family."

"On the first day of the 104th Congress, the new Republican majority will immediately pass the following major reforms, aimed at restoring the faith and trust of the American people in their government:"

"Alan Colmes: You're calling "appeasers" people who disagree with the Bush policy administration —"

"Gingrich: Look—"

"Colmes: — comparing them to those who enabled Hitler?"

"Gingrich: Yes."

"Colmes: That's an astounding comment —"

"Gingrich: What's your — what's your — why? Why is it astounding?"

"Colmes: — that's a very insulting comment —"

"Gingrich: It's not an insulting comment."

"We should replace bilingual education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto."

"There is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us, is prepared to use violence, to use harassment."

"Jefferson wanted very small government. Obama is the opposite – he wants government to take care of you, a government that runs virtually everything."

"The things Obama wants us to be bipartisan on are fundamentally wrong and have very little popular support."

"I believe that the Jewish people have the right to a state…Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire."

"I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community."

"By the end of my second term we will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American."

"We're not going to beat Barack Obama with some guy who has Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Island accounts, owns shares of Goldman Sachs while it forecloses on Florida and is himself a stockholder in Freddie Mae and Freddie Mac while he tries to think the rest of us are too stupid to put the dots together to understand what this is all about."

"Can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney? The fact is, you ran in '94 and lost. That's why you weren't serving in the Senate with Rick Santorum. The fact is, you had a very bad re-election rating, you dropped out of office, you had been out of state for something like 200 days preparing to run for president. You didn't have this interlude of citizenship while you thought about what you do. You were running for president while you were governor."

"It's just like this pretense that he's a conservative. Here's a Massachusetts moderate who has tax-paid abortions in 'Romneycare,' puts Planned Parenthood in 'Romneycare,' raises hundreds of millions of dollars of taxes on businesses, appoints liberal judges to appease Democrats, and wants the rest of us to believe somehow he's magically a conservative."

"I endorse Donald Trump. I am going to work very hard for the nominee."

"You are talking about a guy who was smart enough to build Trump Towers, build lots of hotels, build lots of casinos, and own the Miss Universe contest. He is not stupid. For many people, that seems to be inconceivable because they have a university Ph.D. theory of being smart."

"I don’t know if I should say this, but it’s so much fun that I’m going to…Do you really want a two-pirate ticket?"

"I suspect sometime tomorrow that Mike and I will both get phone calls, and one of us will be packing our bags to go to New York and the other one will be going to watch it on TV."

"Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be. Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported."

"I'm going to go out on a limb tonight and you can keep this tape and remind me about it after the election, OK? Donald Trump’s going to win."

"Donald Trump’s going to win because in the end the country is not going to reward big banks and big unions and big bureaucracies and big donors and big corruption by voting for a big liar. And in the end, the country is going to say, you know, whatever Trump's weaknesses may be, he's a sincere guy trying very hard to get this country back on the right track."

"And you can quote me and use my voice saying it. The fact that someone was Vice-President does not make them immune to discovering whether they were involved in corruption. And it’s kind of astonishing to me that the American news media, in its passion for hating Trump, is wandering around saying, “Gee, it would be really terrible to ask the Ukrainians to find the truth.”"

"I will stipulate you are a human being."

"I am fascinated and intrigued with the natural world, whether in its paleontological form or its current form. I am intrigued with watching how animals operate and what they do, and how different systems coexist. I think it is endlessly fascinating. Plus, I like them. I have dogs, I like them. I have given zoos rhinoceroses and a variety of other things, and it is fun. I just went to the zoo in Nagoya, Japan, which is actually a quite nice zoo."

"If we want America to survive as a constitutional republic under the rule of law, which protects the right of free speech and is dedicated to the belief that each one of us is endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we have no choice but to fight to defeat the anti-Americans and reassert our nation.Reagan would understand. Lincoln would understand. Freedom itself is at stake."

"I’ve been active in this since 1958. That’s 62 years. I am the angriest I have been in that entire six decades. You have a group of corrupt people who have absolute contempt for the American people, who believe that we are so spineless, so cowardly, so unwilling to stand up for ourselves that they can steal the presidency. And we will wring our hands, bring in a few lawyers and do nothing…The Philadelphia machine is corrupt. The Nevada machine is corrupt. The machine in Detroit is corrupt. And they are trying to steal the presidency. And we should not allow them to do that."

"And I think we have to take this whole system apart and recognize that this is — this election is a great moment for the American people to decide do they want to have an honest election where they get to pick their leaders or do they just want corrupt machines such as the one that Stacey Abrams is building."

"So I think this is going to be an extraordinarily important election, and I think the odds are very high that if every Republican will vote — my model is very simple, we have to win by a bigger margin than Stacey Abrams can steal."

"He’ll remain a dominant figure for a fairly long period of time, depending on how hard he wants to work at it and how serious it is. People fade pretty quickly if they don’t pay attention. This is a country of enormous restiveness."

"An immense amount got done but it’s also why the left hates Clinton. He signed welfare reform, he signed capital gains tax cut, he signed four balanced budgets. It’s nothing to do with his personal behavior. It’s very much like what happened to the prime minister in Great Britain, Tony Blair: both of them were centrist and both of them were viciously repudiated by their left even as they were popular in the country. It’s just fascinating stuff."

"If the Constitution gives me a way of forcing Newt Gingrich's feet to the fire, a way of forcing American politicians to live up to the letter of the law, then I'm going to do that."

"You deliberately stood in the well of this House and took on these members when you knew they would not be here…It's un-American…It's the lowest thing that I've heard in my 32 years here."

"The assault of the new conservatives—of Newt Gingrich, Bob Dole, Clarence Thomas and the rest of their pack—helped focus the march. African Americans read the message of the Gingrich-Dole agenda clearly. The deepest cuts in spending come not from programs benefiting the wealthy, the corporations, those who pay for their party. The cuts are targeted on the weak—poor mothers and children, the disabled, the elderly, the working poor. The cuts are targeted on the cities—on public housing, public health, public transportation, public water. To win support for this injustice, the poor and the urban are given a Black face, dismissed as hopeless genetically and culturally, and set up for the hit. The Gingrich-Dole strategy doesn't seem new or clever to African Americans; it seems but a tired sequel to the divisive politics of the old South. So the Million Man March called for a political recommitment. Gingrich and his crowd won the Congress by a cumulative total of 19,000 votes in 1994. Eight million eligible African Americans are not registred to vote. There was no conservative tidal wave; they won not because the wave was high, but because our walls were low."

"[T]ake a step back, and you look at the absurdity...Big money dominates the economic life of our country. They decide whether our jobs go to China or reinvested in America. They own the political system. Republican Party had a fundraiser here last month, $16 million in one night. Gingrich goes out around the country, $10,000-a-plate fundraising. That’s the issue."

"[He] reminds me of an arsonist who sets fire to his building without stopping to realize the flames are going to consume his own apartment."

"Let's face it…Gingrich saved our butt."

"He’s articulate and he tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem."

"I think we ought to send Newt Gingrich to the moon."

"Many who have heard my harsh assessments of Gingrich over the past year have assumed that I feel a personal animus toward my former colleague. That’s just not true. That fact is that I remain awestruck that Newt envisioned a Republican majority when his closest allies thought he was crazy. Even an eternal optimist like me laughed at the “Think Majority” sign hanging over the NRCC reception area in early 1994. But Newt was right and we were wrong. The Gingrich Revolution overtook Washington (with a huge assist from Bill Clinton’s overreaching agenda) and good things followed. Within a few years, Congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation, welfare reform, tax cuts and meaningful congressional changes. If Newt’s story ended there, I might have a Gingrich 2012 sign in my front yard. But unfortunately, it does not."

"When Newt showed up, he said we can become the majority, we can take back the House of Representatives. We hadn't had the House since the 1940s. And initially, none of us believed it. But he was persistent and he was tenacious. He kept it up, kept it up, kept it up. And finally by '94 he's the newly elected speaker of the House of Representatives with a Republican majority. So I wouldn't underestimate him."

"He's a stupid man's idea of what a smart person sounds like."

"It seems hard to believe today, but as recently as 2008, tackling climate change still had a veneer of bipartisan support, even in the United States. That year, Republican stalwart Newt Gingrich did a TV spot with Democratic congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House, in which they pledged to join forces and fight climate change together…Those days of bipartisanship are decidedly over."

"He’s bright as hell, but I disagree with him."

"He’s a damn Republican, but I love him. He knows the government, he knows the issues…And I would feel better, even though we disagree philosophically — and I’m not being facetious — I’d feel better knowing that there’s somebody there with the depth and gravitas on the issues that Newt possesses."

"Congratulations, Newt, on last night — that was an amazing interview…We don’t play games, Newt, right?"

"Drilling without thinking has of course been Republican Party policy since May 2008. When gas prices soared to unprecedented heights, the conservative leader Newt Gingrich unveiled the slogan "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less," with an emphasis on the now. The wildly popular campaign was a cry against caution, against study, against measured action. In Gingrich's telling, drilling at home wherever the oil and gas might be-locked in Rocky Mountain shale, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and deep offshore-was a surefire way to lower the price at the pump, create jobs, and kick Arab ass all at once."

"He was the original polariser…He was also, very importantly, one of the architects of one of the most pivotal elections in modern American history, the midterm elections of 1994, when Republicans took over the House and the Senate for the first time since the first two years of Dwight Eisenhower. That election also greatly contributed to polarisation because it wiped out a lot of moderate southern Democrats and replaced them with very conservative southern Republicans."

"On the one hand it's a lovely symbolism that the Dem slate in Georgia represents the old school civil rights coalition between black people and Jews. On the other, it's telling that the exact same tropes from then are being used by the gop in 2020"

"It has always been my ambition since childhood to live such a life that one day my fellow citizens would call me to membership in this popular branch of the greatest lawmaking body in the world. Out of their confidence and partiality they have done this. It is now my sole purpose here to help enact such wise and just laws that our common country will by virtue of these laws be a happier and a more prosperous country. I have always dreamed of a country which I believe this should be and will be, and that is one in which the citizenship is an educated and patriotic people, not swayed by passion and prejudice, and a country that shall know no East, no West, no North, no South, but inhabited by a people liberty loving, patriotic, happy, and prosperous, with its lawmakers having no other purpose than to write such just laws as shall in the years to come be of service to human kind yet unborn."

"In my many years as a Representative in Congress it is my observation that the district that is best represented is the district that is wise enough to select a man of energy, intelligence, and integrity and reelects him year after year. A man of this type and character serves more efficiently and effectively the longer he is returned by his people."

"Too many critics mistake the deliberations of the Congress for its decisions."

"Learn to disagree without being disagreeable."

"A jackass can kick a barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build one."

"You cannot be a leader, and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too"

"You'll never get mixed up if you simply tell the truth. Then you don't have to remember what you have said, and you never forget what you have said."

"Don't try to go too fast. Learn your job. Don't ever talk until you know what you're talking about... If you want to get along, go along."

"Well, Lyndon, you may be right and they may be every bit as intelligent as you say, but I'd feel a whole lot better about them if just one of them had run for sheriff once."

"Remember the folks back home"

"A woman is like a teabag. You can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water."

"Are you serious? Are you serious?"

"Am I going to have to use my ‘Mother of Five Voice’ to be heard?" (to an inattentive audience while campaigning)-Quoted in the October 23, 2006 issue of Newsweek"

"Democrats are not about getting even. Democrats are about helping the American people get ahead, and that’s what our agenda is about. So while some people are excited about prospects that they have in terms of their priorities, they are not our priorities. I have said, and I say again, that impeachment is off the table"

"The word 'campaign' is a war term. So when you go into a campaign you just prepare to go to war. If you think this is an exercise in civic activity...then you are going to be surprised.-1985"

"Why should we put a plan out? Our plan is to stop him. He must be stopped."

"[T]hey had to make up that story about weapons of mass destruction. Because that was the only thing that would sell to the American people, and that wasn't true."

"I have said it before and I will say it again: Impeachment is off the table."

"As many of you know, I come from San Francisco. We don't have a lot of farms there. Well, we do have one—it's a mushroom farm, so you know what that means."

"The American people voted to restore integrity and honesty in Washington, D.C., and the Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history."

"Maybe it will take a woman to clean up the House."

"I say to my colleagues never confine your best work, your hopes, your dreams, the aspiration of the American people to what will be signed by George W. Bush because that is too limiting a factor."

"Members of Congress I have the high privilege and distinct honour of presenting to you, his excellency Bertie Ahern (/ei/hern), the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister of Ireland."

"By making college more affordable for all and more accessible for minority students, the first new higher education authorizing legislation in a decade will help strengthen our nation and America's middle class, and spur a new age of innovation and ingenuity in our country."

"Your recent meetings with Chinese dissidents at the White House are to be commended. However, your participation at the opening ceremony of the Olympics will send a signal to the Chinese people and the international community that could be misperceived as your approval, and that of the American people, for the draconian policies of the Chinese government. Therefore, it is essential that you unambiguously speak out for human rights and meet with the families of jailed prisoners of conscience while you are in Beijing. (In a letter to President Bush prior to his 2008 trip to Beijing's Summer Olympic Games"

""Can we drill your brains?"(responding to attendants who interrupted her speech by chanting "Drill here! Drill now!")"

"The proposed Bush regulations put politics above the health care needs of Americans."

""Why don't we just leave this room today forgetting the word 'earmark'?"-June 2007"

"With Americans worried about losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their chance at the American Dream, the New Direction Congress will work in a bipartisan way to lift our economy and help America's middle class."

"This president goes into office with more expectations than any president I can ever remember in my lifetime.-2008"

"I didn't know you were Catholic. (to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as he got down on one knee to beg Pelosi to find Democratic support for the bailout bill -2008"

"Every aspect of our lives must be subjected to an inventory...of how we are taking responsibility."

"You've heard about the controversies within the bill, the process about the bill, one or the other. But I don't know if you have heard that it is legislation for the future, not just about health care for America, but about a healthier America, where preventive care is not something that you have to pay a deductible for or out of pocket. Prevention, prevention, prevention—it's about diet, not diabetes. It's going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."

"You go through the gate. If the gate’s closed you go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole-vault. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in. But we are going to get health care reform passed for the American people."

"[Under the Affordable Care Act ] everybody will have lower rates, better quality care, and better access."

"I have said to people when they ask me, if this Capitol crumbled to the ground, the one thing that would remain would be our commitment to our aid, I don’t even call it our aid, our cooperation with Israel. That’s fundamental to who we are."

"The racist, homophobic attack on @JussieSmollett is an affront to our humanity, No one should be attacked for who they are or whom they love. I pray that Jussie has a speedy recovery & that justice is served. May we all commit to ending this hate once & for all."

"The actions of the Trump presidency revealed dishonorable facts of betrayal of his oath of office and betrayal of our national security and betrayal of the integrity of our elections"

"Last Tuesday, we observed the anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution on September 17. Sadly, on that day, the Intelligence Community Inspector General formally notified the Congress that the Administration was forbidding him from turning over a whistleblower complaint. On Constitution Day. This is a violation of law. Shortly thereafter, press reports began to break of a phone call by the President of the United States calling upon a foreign power to intervene in his election. This is a breach of his constitutional responsibilities. The facts are these: the Intelligence Community Inspector General, who was appointed by President Trump, determined that the complaint is both of "urgent concern and credible," and its disclosure, he went on to say, that it "relates to one of the most significant and important of the Director of National Intelligence"s responsibilities to the American people." On Thursday, the Inspector General testified before the House Intelligence Committee, stating that the Acting Director of National Intelligence blocked him from disclosing the whistleblower complaint. This is a violation of the law."

"On the final day of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, when our Constitution was adopted, Americans gathered on the steps of Independence Hall to await the news of the government our Founders had crafted. They asked Benjamin Franklin, "What do we have: a republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied: "A republic, if you can keep it." Our responsibility is to keep it."

"Our republic endures because of the wisdom of our Constitution, enshrined in three co-equal branches of government, serving as checks and balances on each other. The actions taken to date by the President have seriously violated the Constitution — especially when the President says, "Article II says, I can do whatever I want.""

"The action of — the actions of the Trump Presidency revealed the dishonorable fact of the President's betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and betrayal of the integrity of our elections. Therefore, today, I am announcing the House of Representatives is moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. I am directing our six Committees to proceed with their investigations under that umbrella of impeachment inquiry. The President must be held accountable. No one is above the law."

"Getting back to our Founders — in the darkest days of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine wrote: "The times have found us." The times found them to fight for and establish our democracy. The times have found us today, not to place ourselves in the same category of greatness as our Founders, but to place us in the urgency of protecting and defending our Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. In the words of Ben Franklin, to keep our Republic."

"It's Sunday morning. Let's be optimistic about the future, a future that will not have Donald Trump in the White House one way or another."

"But it's Sunday morning, let's be optimistic about the future -- a future that *will not* have Trump in the White House one way or another."

"The Trump Administration’s expansion of its outrageous, un-American travel ban threatens our security, our values and the rule of law. The sweeping rule, barring more than 350 million individuals from predominantly African nations from traveling to the United States, is discrimination disguised as policy."

"Whether he knows it yet or not, he will be leaving"

"China would prefer Joe Biden, whether they do, that's their conclusion, that they would prefer Joe Biden. Russia is actively, 24/7 interfering in our election. They did so in 2016, and they are doing so now. And they [the intelligence community] say that to a certain extent, but they need to tell the American People more. The American People, I believe, think they should decide who the President of the United States is, not Vladimir Putin making that decision for us."

"A brazen invitation for something like this to happen"

"I feel very confident that Joe Biden will be elected President on Tuesday, whatever the end count is"

"Today, with confidence in science & at the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician, I received the COVID-19 vaccine. As the vaccine is being distributed, we must all continue mask wearing, social distancing & other science-based steps to save lives & crush the virus."

"@SenSchumer and I are calling on President Trump to demand that all protestors leave the U.S. Capitol and Capitol grounds immediately."

"I have ordered the flags at the Capitol lowered to half-staff in Officer Sicknick’s honor. The sacrifice of Officer Sicknick reminds us of our obligation to those we serve: to protect our country from all threats foreign and domestic. May it be a comfort to Officer Sicknick’s family that so many mourn with and pray for them at this sad time."

"I ask that you immediately cease plans to improperly install Michael Ellis as the new NSA General Counsel."

"Thank you, George Floyd, for sacrificing your life for justice .. your name will always be synonymous with justice."

"I'm never bringing a bill to the floor that doesn't have the votes."

"Let me just say we're going to pass the bill this week"

"Discussions continue with the House, Senate and White House to reach a bicameral framework agreement to Build Back Better through a reconciliation bill."

"All of this momentum brings us closer to shaping the reconciliation bill in a manner that will pass the House and Senate"

"In order to pass both the Build Back Better Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill on time, it is essential that difficult decisions must be made very soon."

"Overwhelmingly, the guidance I am receiving from Members is to do fewer things well so that we can still have a transformative impact on families in the workplace and responsibly address the climate crisis: a Build Back Better agenda for jobs and the planet For The Children!"

"At the same time, we must lift the debt ceiling and hope that we can have a unanimous Democratic vote and perhaps a bipartisan vote to do so"

"The sad loss of Colin Powell is another sad indication of the devastating toll that the coronavirus continues to take on our country. As we pray for the General Powell’s loved ones, we pray for the families of the nearly 725,000 Americans who have been taken from us by this vicious virus."

"I'll let you know as soon as I wish to"

"Election night was not a good night for Democrats"

"Twelve years ago, when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, our nation took an historic step toward fulfilling a fundamental promise: that health care is a right, not a privilege"

"The justice of the Supreme Court has to at least have a code of ethics, A, and B, why should they have lower standards than members of Congress in terms of reporting and the rest?"

"We are visiting you to say thank you for your fight for freedom — that we’re on a frontier of freedom, and that your fight is a fight for everyone. And so our commitment is to be there for you until the fight is done."

"Our delegation traveled to Kyiv to send an unmistakable and resounding message to the entire world: America stands firmly with Ukraine. Our meeting with President Zelenskyy began with him thanking the United States for the substantial assistance that we have provided. He conveyed the clear need for continued security, economic and humanitarian assistance from the United States to address the devastating human toll taken on the Ukrainian people by Putin's diabolic invasion — and our delegation proudly delivered the message that additional American support is on the way, as we work to transform President Biden’s strong funding request into a legislative package. Our delegation conveyed our respect and gratitude to President Zelenskyy for his leadership and our admiration of the Ukrainian people for their courage in the fight against Russia’s oppression."

"This is not right, this is not the path of freedom for our country"

"Today, I joined Dana Bash on CNN's State of the Union for an interview discussing how House Democrats are working to stop gun violence, fighting to enshrine Roe v. Wade into law and taking action on the baby formula shortage."

"Yesterday morning, a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul. Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop. We are grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving. Please know that the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes from so many in the Congress is a comfort to our family and is helping Paul make progress with his recovery. His condition continues to improve."

"And whatever happens, we will respect the results of the election."

"When I came to the Congress in 1987, there were 12 Democratic women. Now there are over 90 — and we want more."

"The Republican-appointed Justices' reported votes to overturn Roe v. Wade would go down as an abomination, one of the worst and most damaging decisions in modern history."

"Several of these conservative Justices, who are in no way accountable to the American people, have lied to the U.S. Senate, ripped up the Constitution and defiled both precedent and the Supreme Court’s reputation — all at the expense of tens of millions of women who could soon be stripped of their bodily autonomy and the constitutional rights they’ve relied on for half a century."

"The party of Lincoln and Eisenhower has now completely devolved into the party of Trump. Every Republican Senator who supported Senator McConnell and voted for Trump Justices pretending that this day would never come will now have to explain themselves to the American people"

"I will never forget the first time I saw the Capitol. It was on a cold January day when I was 6 years old. My father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., was about to be sworn in for his fifth term in Congress representing our beloved hometown of Baltimore. I was riding in the car with my brothers, and they were thrilled and jumping up and down and saying to me, "Nancy, look, there’s the Capitol." And I keep — every time I’d say: "I don’t see any capital. Is it a capital A, a capital B or a capital C?" And finally, I saw it. A stunning white building with a magnificent dome. I believed then, as I believe today, this is the most beautiful building in the world because of what it represents. The Capitol is a temple of our democracy, of our Constitution, of our highest ideals. On that day — on that day, I stood with my father on this floor as he took the sacred oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. All of us who have served in this House have taken the hallowed oath of office. And it is the oath that stitches us together in a long and storied heritage. Colleagues who served before us are all our colleagues. Colleagues like Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Webster, Shirley Chisholm, Patsy Mink and our beloved John Lewis. Personally, it binds me as a colleague to my father, a proud New Deal congressman and one of the earliest Italian Americans to serve in the Congress. And this is an oath we are duty bound to keep, and it links us with the highest aspirations of the ages."

"In this room, our colleagues across history have abolished slavery; granted women the right to vote; established Social Security and Medicare; offered a hand to the weak, care to the sick, education to the young and hope to the many. Indeed, it is here, under the gaze of our patriarch, George Washington, in the people’s House, that we have done the people’s work. My colleagues, I stand before you as speaker of the House, as a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a devout Catholic, a proud Democrat and a patriotic American, a citizen of the greatest republic in the history of the world — which President Lincoln called the last best hope on Earth. Indeed, in the words attributed to another of our colleagues, the legendary Daniel Webster, he said: "Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution of your country and the government established under it. Miracles do not cluster. That which has happened but once in 6,000 years cannot be expected to happen often." Indeed, American democracy is majestic. But it is fragile. Many of us here have witnessed its fragility firsthand — tragically, in this chamber. And so democracy must be forever defended from forces that wish it harm."

"Last week, the American people spoke, and their voices were raised in defense of liberty, of the rule of law and of democracy itself. With these elections, the people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy. They resoundingly rejected violence and insurrection, and in doing so gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. And now we owe to the American people our very best, to deliver on their faith. To forever reach for the more perfect union — the glorious horizon that our founders promised. The questions before this Congress and at this moment are urgent. Questions about the ideals that this House is charged by the Constitution to preserve and protect. Establish justice. Ensure domestic tranquillity. Provide for the common defense. Promote the general welfare. And secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Our posterity. Our children. Babies born today will live into the next century. And our decisions will determine their future for generations to come. While we will have our disagreements on policy, we must remain fully committed to our shared fundamental mission, to hold strong to our most treasured democratic ideals, to cherish the spark of divinity in each and every one of us, and to always put our country first. In their infinite wisdom, our founders gave us their guidance: e pluribus unum. From the many, one. They could not have imagined how large our country would become or how different we would be from one another. But they knew we had to be united as one. We the people. One country. One destiny."

"It’s been with great pride in my 35 years in the House I have seen this body grow more reflective of our great nation, our beautiful nation. When I came to the Congress in 1987, there were 12 Democratic women. Now there are over 90. And we want more. The new members of our Democratic caucus will be about 75 percent women, people of color and L.G.B.T.Q. And we have brought more voices to the decision-making table. When I entered leadership in 2002, there were eight of us. Today, there are 17 members of the leadership. When I first came to the floor at 6 years old, never would I have thought that someday I would go from homemaker to House speaker. In fact, I never — in fact, I never intended to run for public office. Mommy and Daddy taught us through their example that public service is a noble calling and that we all have a responsibility to help others. In our family, my brother Tommy then became mayor of Baltimore also. But it’s been my privilege to play a part in forging extraordinary progress for the American people."

"I have enjoyed working with three presidents, achieving historic investments in clean energy with President George Bush; transformative health care reform with President Barack Obama; and forging — and forging the future from infrastructure to health care to climate action with President Joe Biden. Now we must move boldly into the future, grounded by the principles that have propelled us this far and open to fresh possibilities for the future."

"Scripture teaches us that for everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. My friends, no matter what title you all, my colleagues, have bestowed upon me — speaker, leader, whip — there is no greater official honor for me than to stand on this floor and to speak for the people of San Francisco. This I will continue to do as a member of the House, speaking for the people of San Francisco, serving the great state of California and defending our Constitution. And with great confidence in our caucus, I will not seek re-election to Democratic leadership in the next Congress. For me, the hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus that I so deeply respect. And I am grateful that so many are ready and willing to shoulder this awesome responsibility."

"In this House, we begin each day with a prayer and a pledge to the flag. And every day I am in awe of the majestic miracle that is American democracy. As we participate in a hallmark of our republic — the peaceful, orderly transition from one Congress to the next — let us consider the words of, again, President Lincoln, spoken during one of America’s darkest hours. He called upon us to come together, to swell the chorus of the union, when once again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature. That again is the task at hand. A new day is dawning on the horizon, and I look forward, always forward, to the unfolding story of our nation, a story of light and love, of patriotism and progress, of many becoming one. And always an unfinished mission to make the dreams of today the reality of tomorrow."

"It is clear that House Democratic Members and candidates are strongly outperforming expectations across the country. As states continue to tabulate the final results, every vote must be counted as cast. Many thanks to our grassroots volunteers for enabling every voter to have their say in our Democracy"

"In the spirit of your title of hard talk, you are completely wrong."

"For them to call for a ceasefire is Mr Putin’s message. Make no mistake, this is directly connected to what he would like to see. Same thing with Ukraine. It’s about Putin’s message. I think some of these protesters are spontaneous and organic and sincere. Some, I think, are connected to Russia. Seeds or plants. I think some financing should be investigated. And I want to ask the FBI to investigate that."

"Go back to China, that’s where your headquarters is."

"I want him to do whatever he decides to do."

"Never before had a president of the United States so brazenly assaulted the bedrock of our democracy, so gleefully embraced political violence, so willfully betrayed his oath of office."

"Let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6th. [pause] He did!"

"But let us not forget who saved democracy that day. [pause] We did!"

"The parable of January 6th reminds us that our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care. And we must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections and who respect the peaceful transfer of power. [...] The choice couldn't be clearer. Those leaders are Vice President Harris and Governor Walz."

"had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race"

"Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?"

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is similarly enamored of this rhetoric of bipartisan comity in the face of a Republican Party whose members are caught in the grip of a cult of personality marked by conspiratorial thinking and an open contempt for electoral democracy. “It might come as a surprise to some of you that the president I quote most often is President Reagan,” Pelosi said at the ribbon-cutting for the Washington branch of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. “The good humor of our president was really a tonic for the nation, the gentleman that he was.” And last month, she told an audience in Miami that she wants a “strong Republican Party” that can return to where it was when it “cared about a woman’s right to choose” and “cared about the environment.” Of course, the ideologically moderate Republican Party that Pelosi seems to want resurrected was largely dead by the time she entered national politics in the late 1970s, bludgeoned into submission with the notable help of Ronald Reagan, among other figures."

"I think there’s a deeper divide, between a politics that sees the grass roots as an asset to use and cultivate versus one that treats it as a complication to manage. It’s a “leader knows best” approach that may squander the Democratic Party’s advantage of enthusiasm and drive against a corrupt and unpopular president. It even seems as though for Democrats like Pelosi, the only political actions that truly matter are either in the legislature or at the ballot box. It’s an understandable view for a leadership class whose political memories stretch back to the devastating Democratic losses of 1968 and 1972 (to say nothing of 1980 and 1984). But it’s also bred of a deep aversion to risk-taking, even when circumstances warrant bold action."

"A large number of proud Jewish Americans — raised to believe in civil liberties and open discussion — are appalled by the campaign to muzzle Rep. Ilhan Omar, as well as Speaker Pelosi’s role in it. We’re also appalled that human-rights-abusing Israel is virtually off-limits to debate. … Rep. Omar has made a simple and undeniable point — that AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the funding it influences exert extraordinary power over Congress. Disputing that point is flat-earther terrain. The Capitol Hill farce of an “anti-hate” resolution would provide still more evidence on behalf of her argument. Unfortunately, all the vague media references to Rep Omar’s “anti-Semitic remarks” obscure how truthful and non-hateful those comments were."

"in 2002 and 2003, top Democrats, including current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, raised almost no formal objections to torture techniques, including waterboarding, after being briefed on it by the CIA."

"I think Nancy Pelosi is extremely qualified to be speaker of the House, because she has been speaker of the House. I trust her leadership. I trust her judgment. I think that she is the person we need right now. And perhaps when we move forward and, you know, our politics isn’t as, you know, in a critical sort of era, that, yes, we—if she’s ready to pass the mantle on, I will absolutely support another qualified individual. But currently, I think she would do a good job."

"The Speaker is fully vaccinated and boosted, and is thankful for the robust protection the vaccine has provided"

"The leadership of the party, the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Tom Perez, are creations of corporate America. In an open and democratic political process, one not dominated by party elites and corporate money, these people would not hold political power. They know this. They would rather implode the entire system than give up their positions of privilege. And that, I fear, is what will happen. The idea that the Democratic Party is in any way a bulwark against despotism defies the last three decades of its political activity. It is the guarantor of despotism."

"I don't think people are buying such a performance. I also don't believe that people are buying Pelosi's little kente-cloth, "take a knee in solidarity with Black Lives Matter" trick either...."

"Paid leave should be a national right, rather than a patchwork option limited to those whose employers have policies in place, or those who live in one of the few states where a leave program exists"

"[She is] as effective as any legislative leader I’ve seen in managing a diverse and often contentious group of folks with a lot of different points of view.”"

"Influence and enemies go hand in hand. I learned this lesson explicitly from Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and someone I admire greatly. In the summer of 2019, she invited me on a congressional delegation to Ghana. During the flight, she told me about her journey: from her first campaign in 1987 when she was elected to Congress to becoming the highest-ranking female elected official in United States history, not once but twice. Then she turned the conversation to me. "It is really moving to see the number of people who come out to support you," she said. "Yes, but every time I'm attacked, the attack seems to be amplified by the support," I replied, confiding in her because it might make more sense to her than to most. "Sometimes I wish I could shoo them all away and take the beating myself so that I don't continue to feed the craziness." She sighed and looked at me with a maternal gaze, one that had a lot of knowledge behind it. Nancy is the kind of person who, by the time we landed, knew Ghana's economy down to the percentage change in its cocoa bean exports over the last year but who also put a blanket around me when I fell asleep in my seat. "The amount of money that is spent on ads and anything else to try to take me down is mind-boggling," she said. "The truth is, it is a badge of honor to have many people invested in one's failure. If they weren't this afraid of your power, they wouldn't work so hard to erode it." To hear that message from the powerful being she is meant more than words can express."

"In Munich this past weekend at the Security Conference the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, nailed her anti-Chinese colours to the mast. Despite being a liberal on many issues and the leader of the fight to impeach President Donald Trump, she has joined forces with Trump in preaching that the West must not allow itself to be penetrated by Huawei’s 5G phone technology, (which is cheaper than any Western counterpart). But she appeared to have no response to a former Chinese ambassador to the UK who asked what was wrong with Huawei seeking Western markets when Microsoft, Google and Facebook were such big players in China. The Chinese government didn’t feel its security was threatened by them. He could also have added that if they do anything that the Chinese government doesn’t like China is always able to deal with it... China has not gone to war since 1979. It has not used lethal military force abroad since 1988 ... China does not fly through US airspace."

"The American people deserve to know the truth, that Nancy Pelosi bears responsibility as the Speaker of the House for the tragedy that occurred on January 6th And it was only after Republicans started asking these questions that she refused to seat them."

"("Do you think Nancy Pelosi should be House speaker?") Leader Pelosi is an incredible person and has done an incredible job. But at some point we have to make decisions on whether or not we want to be able to get someone there that can speak to the various challenges and issues of my families back home in the 13th Congressional District. They’re my priority. And right now the stance around Dodd-Frank, the stance around a number of issues are troubling for me. And so that’s why I have been very much saying that probably not. I haven’t spoken to Leader Pelosi. I don’t want to use this as, you know, giving you some general, generic response. I can tell you I most likely want to lean toward someone that will be more in line with the civil rights issues of my district."

"There was a strange aftertaste to many of the calls for grand social reform in 2020. As the coronavirus crisis overtook us, the left wing on both sides of the Atlantic, at least that part that had been fired up Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders, was going down to defeat. The promise of a radicalized and reenergized left, organized around the idea of the Green New Deal, seemed to dissipate amidst the pandemic. It fell to governments mainly of the center and the right to meet the crisis. They were a strange assortment. Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil and Donald Trump in the United States experimented with denial. For them climate skepticism and virus skepticism went hand in hand. In Mexico, the notionally left-wing government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador also pursued a maverick path, refusing to take drastic action. Nationalist strongmen like Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey did not deny the virus, but relied on their patriotic appeal and bullying tactics to see them through. It was the managerial centrist types who were under most pressure. Figures like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer in the United States, or Sebastián Piñera in Chile, or Cyril Ramaphosa in South Africa, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen, and their ilk in Europe. They accepted the science. Denial was not an option. They were desperate to demonstrate that they were better than the 'populists.' To meet the crisis, very middle-of-the-road politicians ended up doing very radical things. Most of it was improvisation and compromise, but insofar as they managed to put a programmatic gloss on their responses—whether in the form of the EU's Next Generation program or Biden's Build Back Better program in 2020—it came from the repertoire of green modernization, sustainable development, and the Green New Deal."

"So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!"

"Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19. We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their request, and looking to the future of our Country,"

"If you had the opportunity to save a million people from preventable death, would you do it? … This is not merely a rhetorical question, but one that members of the Congress will have to answer in the present… Right now, legislation has already passed the House of Representatives that would do just that. And it was included in the newly released COVID relief bill that is being negotiated between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. It would require the Treasury Department, which represents our government at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to support a multi-trillion dollar relief package from the Fund... And they do not cost the U.S. government anything at all — not now, and not at any time in the future. The IMF leadership, and almost all of the 189 member countries — including U.S. allies such as Germany and Canada — are ready to allocate the aid that Congress is considering... It would take almost no effort to include the House or Senate bill that would unblock Treasury’s hold on the IMF funding…"

"What we really expect out of the Democrats is for them to treat us as they would like to have been treated."

"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas everyday."

"Just because you have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to do."

"We lost one of one of the great leaders of our lifetime on Monday. She was a true friend of America, and a champion of freedom. We're going to ensure that Margaret Thatcher’s legacy is honored by the United States government in a way commensurate with her enormous achievements."

"I leave with no regrets or burdens. If anything, I leave as I started; just a regular guy humbled by the chance to do a big job."

"Lucifer in the flesh, I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life."

"When it comes to formulating drug policy, too frequently lawmakers are allowed to simply ignore evidence-and even make up their own. I can't count the number of times I've seen shameless politicians use this strategy to mislead the public about drugs. Take for example, former speaker of the house John Boehner, who opposed marijuana legalization for his entire thirty-year political career. Back in 2011, he wrote a constituent to say "research shows that marijuana use in its raw form is harmful" and that he was "unalterably opposed to the legalization of marijuana." In 2018, following Boehner's 2015 resignation from Congress, he joined the board of Acreage Holdings, a Canadian firm that is the largest multi-state owner of cannabis licenses and assets in the United States. As you might've guessed, Boehner no longer opposes marijuana legalization. Now he's an advocate. Now he believes that laws prohibiting the substance are "way out of step." Boehner is a hypocrite. Don't misunderstand me, I think marijuana should be legalized nationwide. My position is unequivocal. What's more, I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for those who are able to change their minds in the presence of new and better evidence. This is called cognitive flexibility, a hallmark of intelligence. Boehner's newfound position, however, was motivated by greed. He doesn't seem to give one fuck about the extensive harms caused by the prohibitory policies he once supported. These policies compromise the health of synthetic cannabinoid users and facilitate racism in law enforcement. "I don't have any regrets at all," Boehner told National Public Radio. Astonishingly, he said, "The whole criminal justice part of this, frankly, it never crossed my mind.""

"This guy has emotional problems."

"I confess, Sir, I am at a loss to conceive how any man, who has ever read our Constitution as originally framed, or as it now exists, can listen a moment to such an argument. If anything be clearer than another on its face, it is, that it was intended to constitute a Christian State. I deny totally the gentleman's position, that the religious expressions it contains were intended only to show forth the pious sentiments of those who framed it. They were intended to incorporate into our system the principles of Christianity, — principles which belonged not only to those who framed, but to the whole people who adopted it. Sir, the people of that day were a Christian people; they adopted a Christian Constitution; they no more contemplated the existence of infidelity than the Athenian laws provided against the perpetration of parricide. They established a Christian Commonwealth; they wrote upon its walls, Salvation, and upon its gates, Praise; and Christianity is as clearly now its corner-stone, as if the initial letter of every page of our Statute Book, like that of some monkish manuscript, were illuminated with the figure of the Cross!"

"Our Country,—whether bounded by the St. John's and the Sabine, or however otherwise bounded or described, and be the measurements more or less,—still our Country, to be cherished in all our hearts, to be defended by all our hands."

"All societies of men must be governed in some way or other. The less they may have of stringent State Government, the more they must have of individual self-government. The less they rely on public law or physical force, the more they must rely on private moral restraint. Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet. It may do for other countries and other governments to talk about the State supporting religion. Here, under our own free institutions, it is Religion which must support the State."

"A star for every State, and a State for every star."

"There are no points of the compass on the chart of true patriotism."

"The poor must be wisely visited and liberally cared for, so that mendicity shall not be tempted into mendacity, nor want exasperated into crime."

"Slavery is but half abolished, emancipation is but half completed, while millions of freemen with votes in their hands are left without education. Justice to them, the welfare of the States in which they live, the safety of the whole Republic, the dignity of the elective franchise,—all alike demand that the still remaining bonds of"

"But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism."

"Working together, America's military, Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi people have won a major battle in the war on terrorism."

"Child support should do just that – support children, not the federal government."

"We don't have a tax revenue problem in Washington, we have a spending problem in Washington."

"This whole thing is a big gamble, but it's probably the best gamble to take before throwing in the towel and allowing sectarian genocide to take over. I personally give this three to six months to find out."

"There's no reason that patients can't have electronic access to their complete medical history... Just as people can check their bank account information online or using their ATM card, patients who want to should have electronic access to their medical records..."

"This law, by and large, extends the same kind of crime-fighting tools we apply to gangs and mobsters to terrorists. That's not something that is an infringement of our civil liberties."

"Josh Smith: But specifically where you stand when it comes to rape, and should it be legal for a woman to get an abortion if she's — Paul Ryan: Yeah, well, so I'm very proud of my pro-life record, and I've always adopted the idea — the position that the method of conception doesn't change the definition of life."

"Mr. Chairman, delegates, and fellow citizens: I am honored by the support of this convention for vice president of the United States. I accept the duty to help lead our nation out of a jobs crisis and back to prosperity — and I know we can do this. I accept the calling of my generation to give our children the America that was given to us, with opportunity for the young and security for the old — and I know that we are ready. Our nominee is sure ready. His whole life has prepared him for this moment — to meet serious challenges in a serious way, without excuses and idle words. After four years of getting the run-around, America needs a turnaround, and the man for the job is Governor Mitt Romney."

"Now it's a war on women; tomorrow it's going to be a war on left-handed Irishmen or something like that."

"Ideas, passionately promoted and put to the test—that’s what politics can be.That’s what our country can be...It can be a confident America, where we have a basic faith in politics and leaders. It can be a place where we’ve earned that faith. All of us as leaders can hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity and decency. Instead of playing to your anxieties, we can appeal to your aspirations. Instead of playing the identity politics of “our base” and “their base,” we unite people around ideas and principles. And instead of being timid, we go bold."

"Politics can be a battle of ideas, not insults. It can be about solutions. It can be about making a difference. It can be about always striving to do better. That’s what it can be and what it should be. This is the system our Founders envisioned. It’s messy. It’s complicated. It’s infuriating at times. And it’s a beautiful thing too."

"This is an off the record. No leaks. All right? This is how we know we’re a real family here."

"America's greatness is built on the principles of liberty and preserved by the men and women who wear the uniform to defend it. As I have said on numerous occasions, a religious test for entering our country is not reflective of these fundamental values. I reject it. Many Muslim Americans have served valiantly in our military, and made the ultimate sacrifice. Captain Khan was one such brave example. His sacrifice—and that of Khizr and Ghazala Khan—should always be honored. Period."

"It was pretty clear to me that people were pretty, pretty hurting in this country and pretty anxious. So no, I wasn't surprised. It just — it just became [that] the volume and the noise level got much higher."

"But I also see a problem where a lot of people don't believe in the American idea anymore. The condition of your birth doesn't determine the outcome of your life. This is America, you can make it. You work hard, play by the rules, you can rise, you can do well. That's what we're taught, that's what we believe, that's what we think of as America. Problem is, there are just generations of people in this country who do not think that."

"I find what happens is both parties speak to their party bases to win their primary elections, but what I think is necessary to have a national election worthy of being a majority party, we have to sell converts to conservatism. We have to go out and explain why our principles apply equally and universally to everybody and why our ideas are better than the alternatives."

"First of all, I can see that you love your daughter and you are a nice person who has a great future ahead of you and I hope your future is here.... This is not the focus.... And so, what we have to do is find a way to make sure that you can get right with the law and we've got to do this in a good way, so that the rug doesn't get pulled out from under you and your family gets separated...but if you're worried about, you know, some deportation force coming, knocking on your door this year, don't worry about that.... Secure the border and the people who are violent criminals, repeat offenders who keep coming back in, we've got to focus on that."

"“The fatal conceit of Obamacare is that we’re just gonna make everybody buy our health insurance at the federal-government level, young and healthy people are going to go into the market and pay for the older, sicker people. So, the young healthy person is going to be made to buy health care, and they’re going to pay for the person, you know, gets breast cancer in her 40s or who gets heart disease in his 50s. […] The whole idea of Obamacare is … the people who are healthy pay for the people who are sick. It’s not working, and that’s why it’s in a death spiral.”"

"They shocked the American people. They shocked us. They certainly shocked me. I wasn't sure what kind of president Obama was going to be. I thought, maybe this guy is going to be a centrist-his rhetoric was centrist. His upbringing and history didn't suggest he was centrist but his rhetoric did. So I was thinking, well, we'll see. And then-bam!-out of the gates, these people had a hardcore-left agenda. We, along with the American people, were spectators while they took this government very far left, very fast. But what became so unnerving to us and the American people is that they used our rhetoric. They used the rhetoric of freedom and choice and opportunity to sell an inherently statist agenda; to sell an agenda that was completely the opposite of its rhetoric. And people started to realize that they were trying to transform the country using the rhetoric of the Right to push the substance of the Left."

"It's a fundamental misunderstanding of human nature and of the concepts of liberty, freedom, and self-determination. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of economics. He (Obama) believes that the pie is fixed and that he needs to more equitably divide up the slices."

"We have to give the American people a referendum. We will win this referendum if we have it now. If we wait and delay five or six years we will lose this referendum. The public is way ahead of the political class. They get that things are broken. They get that we're spending their kids' inheritance and mortgaging their future. They are ready to be talked to like adults and not like children. So when they see the demagoguery that is directed toward people or ideas that are sincere and are real, it doesn't work anymore. The Democrats are going to come at us with their old playbook. They're going to tap into the emotions of fear, anger, and envy. But that's not aspirational. That's not hope and change, and I don't think it's going to work anymore."

"Americans today are being asked to subscribe to an ideology that is against the American idea. It's an ideology that says that government creates rights-and government takes them away. This ideology rejects the goal of government as securing equal opportunity, it demands that government create equal results. It is an ideology that treats citizens like children and politicians like divinities. It is not an ideology that need prevail in American life. Not on our watch."

"The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. That's freshly minted GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan talking—statements he would eventually recant—at a party celebrating what would have been the prolific author's 100th birthday,"

"Paul Ryan represents Obama's most horrifying nightmare: Math."

"The extreme cuts proposed by his new running mate, Paul Ryan, are far more hard-edged, making Mr. Romney's mathematically impossible promises look vague and shopworn by comparison."

"On the other hand, to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to facts, Ryan's speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech. On this measure, while it was Romney who ran the Olympics, Ryan earned the gold."

"I think Paul [Ryan], for example, the head of the Budget Committee, has looked at the budget and has made a serious proposal. I've read it. I can tell you what's in it. And there's some ideas in there that I would agree with but there's some ideas we should have a healthy debate about because I don't agree with them. The major driver of our long-term liabilities, everybody here knows, is Medicare and Medicaid and our healthcare spending. Nothing comes close. That's going to be what our children have to worry about. Now, Paul's approach, and I want to be careful not to simplify this, I know you've got a lot of detail in your plan, but, if I understand it correctly, would say, we're going to provide vouchers of some sort for current Medicare recipients at the current level. No?"

"GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: I may be allowed this occasion to say that, in undertaking to discharge the duties of the Chair, I relied for success rather upon your forbearance and kindly aid than upon any poor abilities of my own. That reliance, I am happy to say, has not failed me. On the contrary, the untiring efforts I feel I have made to perform the task in a becoming manner, have been met and sustained with a degree of liberality seldom equaled in any deliberative body. A striking illustration of this is seen in the fact, that notwithstanding the multiplied questions of parliamentary law and usage which have arisen, and in despite of errors into which I may have fallen, each and all the decisions of the Chair, with a single exception, (and that upon a question of minor importance,) have been generously sustained by this body. And as a further mark of respect and kindness, you have been pleased to adopt a resolution approving of my general conduct as the Presiding Officer of this body. In all this, I feel that I have been peculiarly fortunate; and for it all I beg you will accept my most sincere thanks.Allow me to congratulate you, gentlemen, upon the harmony and personal kindness which have so generally prevailed throughout this Hall. It must remain a source of unmixed pleasure to us all, that our conflicts of opinion here, however fierce they may occasionally have been, were not allowed materially to disturb our social relations; and that now, having finished our work, we part in peace. This House stands adjourned sine die."

"All politics is local."

"Today I promise you that I will speak gavel fairly, firmly, and with responsibility. Always respecting the rules and the presidents of this house."

"I would rather quit public life at seventy, and quit it forever, than to retain public life at a sacrifice to my own self-respect. I will not vote for any law which will make fair for me and foul for another. The blacklist is the most cruel form of oppression ever devised by man for the infliction of suffering upon his weaker fellows."

"Nearly all legislation is the result of compromise."

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and you can't change human nature from intelligent self-interest into pure idealism—not in this life; and if you could, what would be left for paradise?"

"In the last analysis sound judgment will prevail."

"The House of Representatives, in some respects, I think, is the most peculiar assemblage in the world, and only a man who has had long experience there can fully know its idiosyncrasies. It is true we engage in fierce combat, we are often intense partisans, sometimes we are unfair, not infrequently unjust, brutal at times, and yet I venture to say that, taken as a whole, the House is sound at heart; nowhere else will you find such a ready appreciation of merit and character, in few gatherings of equal size is there so little jealousy and envy. The House must be considerate of the feelings of its Members; there is a certain courtesy that has to be observed; a man may be voted a bore or shunned as a pest, and yet he must be accorded the rights to which he is entitled by virtue of being a representative of the people. On the other hand, a man may be universally popular, a good fellow, amusing and yet with these engaging qualities never get far. The men who have led the House, whose names have become a splendid tradition to their successors, have gained prominence not through luck or by mere accident. They have had ability, at least in some degree; but more than that, they have had character."

"Not one cent for scenery."

"In legislation we all do a lot of swapping tobacco across the lines."

"Mr. Cannon has told how he put through an appropriation for the entertainment of Prince Henry of Prussia when that foreign visitor came over years ago. He prearranged with Oscar W. Underwood, then in the House, that he would propose the appropriation late in the afternoon, when the House attendance was slim. Mr. Underwood, representing objecting Democrats, was to kick strenuously for a time about the cost of entertaining the prince; then Underwood was reluctantly to withdraw his opposition, the chances being no other Democrat would take it up. The 'Swapping of tobacco' across the aisles worked and the appropriation went through."

"Stop men! Don't you love you're country?"

"'Yes, by God, and I'm trying to get back to it just as fast as I can!' (Response to Nathaniel Banks)"

"There are two different types of leader. A person can either be like a thermometer or a thermostat. A thermometer will tell you what the temperature is. A thermostat will not only tell you what the temperature is, but it'll move you to the temperature you need to get to."

"I had it with this guy. What he did is unacceptable. Nobody can defend that, and nobody should defend it."

"Let me be very clear to you and I have been very clear to the President. He bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if, ands or buts … I asked him personally today, does he hold responsibility for what happened? Does he feel bad about what happened? He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that."

"We cannot just sweep this under the rug. We need to know why it happened, who did it, and people need to be held accountable for it. And I'm committed to make sure that happens."

"The President bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding. These facts require immediate action by President Trump, accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest and ensure President elect Biden is able to successfully begin his term. The President’s immediate action also deserves congressional action, which is why I think a fact finding commission and a censure resolution would be prudent. Unfortunately, that is not where we are today. Truly, this past week was one of the most difficult for Congress and our nation. Of all the days here, last Wednesday was the worst day I’ve ever seen in Congress. Our country is deeply hurt. So where do we go from here? After all the violence and chaos of the last week, it is important to remember that we’re still here to deliver a better future for all Americans. It does not matter if you are liberal, moderate, or conservative. All of us must resist the temptation of further polarization. Instead, we must unite once again as Americans. I understand for some this call for unity may ring hollow, but times like these are when we must remember who we are as Americans and what we as a nation stand for. And as history shows, unity is not an option. It’s a necessity. It is as necessary today as it was at the start of our country."

"Yesterday’s unprecedented leak is an attempt to severely damage the Supreme Court. This clearly coordinated campaign to intimidate and obstruct the Justices of the United States Supreme Court, and its independence in our political system, from upholding the Constitution must immediately be investigated by the court."

"House Republicans are committed to upholding the sanctity of life, and we will continue to fight to be a voice for the truly voiceless. There is nothing more special, extraordinary, and worth fighting for than the miracle of life"

"When you wake up tomorrow, we will be in the majority and Nancy Pelosi will be in the minority"

"I've earned this Goddamn job!"

"That was easy huh?"

"Yesterday, a man sharing that member’s rhetoric tried to assassinate the Speaker and her spouse. What has @GOPLeader said? Nothing. This is who he is"

"Do you think he’s actually running his caucus or do you think someone else is?” Jen Psaki asked. “He’s not. I think you’ve got Marjorie Taylor Greene running the caucus, and she makes very common public statements to that effect. Every time something irks her, she communicates that McCarthy is doing her bidding. And I think that this is something that is quite clear...I think that speaker McCarthy is stuck between having to please the most racist and heinous elements of his party with having to maintain a majority, and he is choosing to side with the extremists,”"

"McCarthy doesn’t have the votes"

"I've been told by Kevin McCarthy ... of course I'll get committee assignments back"

"At that moment, I was the point person for this contract, and I could see him thinking, 'What is this woman doing in my office?'"

"But in that moment of self-doubt, I saw my opportunity to be bold and seize control of the situation,"

"That manager and I became great friends at that moment, and I negotiated many contracts with him going forward,"

"We all have those times of self-doubt, but in those very moments we have an opportunity to change our mindset into clarity and be bold," Fletcher continued, adding that such moments need not be as momentous as her exchange with the Braves manager. "It's not always about achievement. It's about who we become along the way. Complacency is the enemy of boldness. We don't have to accept it when our power is being dismissed."

"Energy is integral to performance. You can't show up in the tough moments if you don't have it," Fletcher said. "There's so much we can't control, but also so much that we can."

"The greatest boldness is not only when we help ourselves, but when we help others, the people we serve in our lives. Everyone here has that spark of boldness in them. Now go out and ignite it."

"Those who stay at the top have an internal drive and desire to get better every day,”"

"Those who get a little complacent and rely solely on their talent lose their jobs,” she continues. “I’ve seen that model repeated with athletes, coaches, newscasters, and others. Drive is a mindset successful athletes embrace every day.”"

"Change is constant today—and it’s not slowing down,” Fletcher says. “The best athletes step right into change. They view obstacles as an opportunity. We’ve got to believe in our ability to evolve and grow.”"

"“Leaders need to be intentional about getting in the heads and hearts of the people we serve and those we lead,” she says. “We need to behave in a way that demonstrates the relationship really matters. When we anticipate the gaps in the relationships that matter most to us, we can do amazing things. It’s a powerful way to lead, sell, and grow.”"

"“the blood would leave my body,” she says. “I wouldn’t want to answer. She was compromising how I showed up to other clients.”"

"“You’d better be better than your problems—so good that you’re worth all of the drama off the court.”"

"“Good business leaders ask themselves where they spend their time,” she says. “But the best of the best ask, where do I spend my energy? Athletes are great at this, so they have energy in the moments that matter the most. But too many business leaders run their lives by the calendar. Managing our energy might be more important than managing our time.”"

"linchpin to becoming a better version of yourself,”"

"“Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson miss cuts and make bogeys—but not two in a row. They recover quickly.”"

"We all have tough meetings, employees, and members. We need to reset ASAP. It’s about being present, controlling what we can in the moment, and picking up the rest later.”"

"That’s a metaphor for life: Step up, lean in, and evolve,” she says. “When I started as a sports agent, there were no women like me trying to sign players. Step in and continue to go for it.”"

"The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver."

"Homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and, the studies clearly show, are ultimately harmful and costly for everyone. Society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle. If we change marriage for this tiny, modern minority, we will have to do it for every deviant group. Polygamists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection. They already are. There will be no legal basis to deny a bisexual the right to marry a partner of each sex, or a person to marry his pet."

"There is no right to abortion in the Constitution."

"Pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it—that is my world view."