We do have to balance this issue of privacy and security. Those who pretend that there's no balance that has to be struck and think we can take a 100-percent absolutist approach to protecting privacy don't recognize that governments are going to be under an enormous burden to prevent the kinds of terrorist acts that not only harm individuals, but also can distort our society and our politics in very dangerous ways.

I always tell my staff, "Better is good." I'll take better every time, because better is hard.

In Texas, we hold very dear to intrusions against our personal liberty. We fight very hard against that.

Unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels... we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe

Rather than double-down on the top-down economics that let a fortunate few play by their own rules, let’s embrace an economic patriotism that says we rise or fall together, as one nation, and as one people.

we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities

For we have always understood that when times change, so must we, that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges, that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.