Today I am pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office.

As we look forward to the New Year, let's resolve to recommit ourselves to the values we share.

The day I'm inaugurated, this country looks at itself differently and the world looks at America differently. If you believe that we've got to heal America and we've got to repair our standing in the world, then I think my supporters believe that I am a messenger who can deliver that message around the world in a way that no other candidate can do.

The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure... It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government's reckless fiscal policies.

It still puts burden on some troops of ours who are there [in Afghanistan and Iraq] as advisors and facilitators.

Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger. We were strangers once, too.

And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it.