But I can tell you what I believe: When tens of thousands of innocent souls have perished in Darfur-when 11 million children are without health insurance-when our colossal debt subjects our economic future to the whims of Asian bankers-no one can tell me that faith demands this Senate spend its time arguing over a handful of judges. No one with those priorities can use my faith to intimidate me.

If we can't have a serious conversation without politicizing it on cable TV and making it a scoring point for one day, we're in trouble.

Values spoken without actions taken are merely slogans.

That is what Americans do. We face a challenge - no matter how great - because we know that on the other side there is always hope.

If the choice is one-state, Israel can either be Jewish or Democratic. It cannot be both.

Remember the hours after Sept. 11 when we came together as one...It was the worst day we have ever seen, but it brought out the best in all of us.

I saw how different life was on different sides of the same city. I saw the fear in the eyes of people who were not free. I saw the gratitude of people toward the United States for all that we had done. I felt goosebumps as I got off a military train and heard the Army band strike up 'Stars and Stripes Forever.'