It was a very meaningful weekend for all of us.

Communities will continue to worry about their cement plants shutting down, as is the case in my district, just to clear the way for cement imports from dirtier plants in Mexico or China.

I want to express my appreciation to you, before your 5 minutes starts, for being a part of the civil rights pilgrimage this weekend to Alabama.

The Administration has made plain that if it cannot persuade the people's representatives to adopt its legislative agenda, it intends to force that agenda on the people through regulation.

I think this has been a trend for 30 and 40 years going across both parties and presidents of both parties.

Addressing fee-for-services in our medical system was driving up costs.

Government has a role, but government's role is not at the expense of business.

Let me be clear. Congress cannot sit silent while America's economic growth is imperiled.

We get offended every day, so don't worry about that. That is not a problem.

I think every regulation that requires a private sector entity to undertake a certain action and expend funds can rightly be called a tax.

I think that overburdening regulations, along with higher taxes, as well as other costs being passed along to employers, such as through the Affordable Care Act, are strangling our economy.

We could actually raise the retirement age for Social Security in the future by 2 months and save more money than this sequester will save.