My mother implanted in me as a young girl...you can either be an actor in your own life, or a reactor in somebody else's.

I know from my own experience that you've got to be ready on day one. There is just too much unpredictable threat and danger in the world today to try to just say wait, I'll get to that when I can. That is just not an acceptable approach.

So many state Republican governors and legislators are defunding Planned Parenthood and shutting down clinics that not only provide a safe abortion but HIV testing, cancer screenings, and so much else that women have every right to access, which is harder if you are unemployed or you are a low-income woman that's part of the real service that Planned Parenthood provides.

[On the Chicago Cubs:] Being a Cubs fan prepares you for life - and Washington.

The kinds of cases that fall at the end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make.

The only way that American troops could have stayed in Iraq is to get an agreement from the then-Iraqi government that would have protected our troops, and the Iraqi government would not give that.

Every day, no matter what is happening around me, I consciously try to discipline my own feelings and my mind about what I have to be grateful for, because by any stretch of the imagination - even during the worst times when people are accusing me of things and doing all that they do - I'm a very lucky person.