Before I even came into office, I said that preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon was a priority.

So, let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look over not only ourselves, but each other.

I've been very good for gun manufacturers.

I like my quiet time. There is a writer's sensibility in me sometimes, where I step back.

If the people cannot trust their government to do the job for which it exists - to protect them and to promote their common welfare - all else is lost.

I don't expect that the president-elect [Donald Trump] will follow exactly our blueprint or our approach, but my hope is that he does not simply take a real-politic approach and suggest that, you know, if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms, or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever is convenient at the time.

To sustain a governing majority, that requires an ability for Republicans and Democrats to find some common ground. And right now, the structure of the system is such where it makes it really hard for people to work together.