[J]ust because you have an individual right does not mean that the state or local government can't constrain the exercise of that right.

The framers, in their wisdom, designed the [political] system so that power's pretty disbursed.

I am who I am. You sort of get what you see with me.

We Americans are not an inherently more violent people than folks in other countries. We're not inherently more prone to mental health problems. The main difference that sets our nation apart is what makes us so susceptible to so many mass shootings is that we don't do enough, we don't take the basic commonsense actions to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people. What's different in America is it's easy to get your hands on a gun.

On Easter or Christmas Day, my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites.

I think that today, faith drives so much of our politics, that I thought, "If you don't talk about it, you are missing a whole big part of what is going on politically."

That window is closing. . . . Now, the clock is ticking. . . . We're not going to have these talks just drag out in a stalling process. . . . We haven't given away anything - other than the opportunity for us to negotiate