Now, there's nothing more pathetic, in my view, than a politician who announces they're only leaving public life to spend more time with their family.

This bill is long overdue and critically important.

We will never do this out of the normal appropriation process.

I talked to my Governor the other today, spoke to the Speaker of the House last night on matters in Connecticut.

But a first priority, obviously, is security of our transit systems.

I often describe this issue as a win-win-win-win-win, and basically what that means is it cuts down traffic congestion.

I have great concern about the prospect of sending more young Americans into Afghanistan, because simply escalating our presence, in my view, won't achieve our objectives.

Whatever differences are about policy questions, I think the unbounded respect we have for the men and women in uniform, who represent our country every single day all over the world, needs to be conveyed as often as we possibly can.

I remain skeptical about the likelihood that this new mission will meet our goals.

Our strategic imperatives in Afghanistan and Pakistan--crippling al-Qaeda, safeguarding Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, and combating violent extremism--are of the utmost importance to our national security.

If they had scored the Lewis and Clark expedition or the Louisiana Purchase, we would still be 13 colonies running around.

Had Thomas Jefferson had the Congressional Budget Office around, he wouldn't have gone.

And let me underscore the comment made by Chairman Kerry.

the Pakistan part of this equation is most troubling to me in the short term, because obviously if we don't secure the nuclear arsenals in Pakistan, and you end up with a fundamental change of order, political order in that country, all of…

Certainly I believe very strongly the best social program, I have often said, that anyone ever imagined or came up with is a decent-paying job.

basic research is great, but if we are not creating jobs from that research, we are not getting the bang for the buck

I strongly support your confirmation. And as I said at the outset, I believe you are the right person at the right time to do this job.

Well, thank you, but this is an issue we want to stay in close contact with you and others on this matter to see if this thing emerges as a growing problem as this economist and others are warning us.

I think that is a bad idea and we don't include that.

It is not our intention to take it out, at all, but rather expand the number of eyes that are looking at these situations.

we are not talking about death panels here now in living wills.

The decision regarding how to move forward in Afghanistan represents an incredibly difficult moment--for the President, for this panel, and for our Nation.

I say respectfully, if we looked over in the G20, more than half of our colleagues in the G20 separate supervisory and monetary policy.

Should there be accountability? Absolutely. Do we need to maintain a sense of urgency to change those things that led to those mistakes? You bet.

I urge my colleagues to support quick passage of the Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission Act of 2009.