If we want unity, we must all be unifiers. If we want accountability, each of us must be accountable for all we do.

We all leave personal legacies for the people we know and love.

There is just no reason why the richest nation in the world can't provide health care to all its people.

We can leave our legacy only if we are willing to change - to go beyond partisan labels, and to solve the problems facing Washingtonians.

Surely no issue unites us more than our appreciation for our military personnel who are bringing aid to devastated countries, defending us against terrorism, and fighting to make a free election possible in Iraq.

It's our responsibility to pass on what we inherited, not to squander it, but to build on it.

Vernon Reis opened the world to me through books. He taught me that while I was physically firmly planted in blue-collar Auburn, Washington in the 50s and early 60s, intellectually I could go anywhere, explore anything, and sample exciting new ideas simply by opening a book.