I think it's important to realize that I was actually black before the election.

If we don’t uphold our Constitution and our values, that over time, that will make us less safe and that will be a recruitment tool for organizations like Al Qaeda. That’s what I have to keep my eye on.

So just to be clear, I'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rate from going up for folks at the top 2 percent.

We [USA] don't have diplomatic leverage to eliminate every vestige of a peaceful nuclear program in Iran. What we do have the leverage to do is to make sure that they don't have a weapon.

To try to blackmail a president into giving them some concessions on issues that have nothing to do with the budget.

We are not going to be able to rebuild Afghanistan into a Jeffersonian democracy.

The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.