From a policy point of view, I don't think it's the right approach. I don't like the idea of having millions of people here for their entire life without being able to assimilate into America...From a political point of view, we've got 55 Democrats sent and a 72 percent support for a path to citizenship. It's just not practical to think we'll be able to pass any bill in the United States Senate without a path to citizenship.
Lindsey GrahamNobody in the Senate on a bipartisan fashion trusts the Iranians. They lie. They cheat. They're a murderous regime. They've been trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
Lindsey GrahamWhen it comes to immigration reform, now is the time ... I've never seen a better political environment ... I'm not doing immigration reform to solve the Republican Party's political problem. I'm trying to save our nation from, I think, a shortage of labor and a catastrophic broken system.
Lindsey GrahamWhat we're trying to look for is a process that is not responding to political pressures, but one that is responding to economic reality, because I do believe ... that it's in the best interest of the Chinese people to allow a market-based currency.
Lindsey GrahamI think the worst thing in the world is to have the courts decide who to target in the war on terrorism. And courts are not military commanders.
Lindsey GrahamIn my view, Democrats and Republicans work together too little, and I would try to change that if I got to be president. And when it came to radical Islam, I would go after them before they come back here again.
Lindsey GrahamThe ultimate check against government tyranny is an informed electorate who will elect people who believe in limited government. I don't want to embrace the idea we want people to take to the streets with guns. I want people to go to the voting booth and check an out of control government by electing conservatives.
Lindsey GrahamThe healthcare bill not only is a monstrosity in terms of growing the government and cutting out the private sector, the way it was passed was sleazy. Every old Washington trick was used to pass the healthcare bill.
Lindsey GrahamIf Barack Obama cannot appreciate that our troops are winning in Iraq, he should not be their Commander in Chief.
Lindsey GrahamIran is part of the problem, not the solution. And the Russian government is ignoring reality.
Lindsey GrahamI don`t think most people would want me to have a business relationship as a senator where my business partners can reap the benefit of my position and I one day get the share the profits.
Lindsey GrahamIf [President Obama] does not go on the offensive against ISIS...they are coming here. This is just not about Baghdad, this is just not about Syria, this is about our homeland. And if we get attacked because he has no strategy to protect us, then he will have committed a blunder for the ages.
Lindsey GrahamI would love to have a good deal to end the nuclear ambitions of the Iranians, but I don't trust the Iranians. They've been lying and cheating.
Lindsey GrahamPresident Obama chose politics over leadership. 'Hope' and 'Change' have become bait-and-switch.
Lindsey GrahamI've been a military lawyer for 33 years. A member of al Qaeda or their affiliate group can be detained under a law of war as long as their threat to our nation without a trial.
Lindsey GrahamI think that is the fight that we have to wage if we're to save the middle class. And I do have doubts about whether Hillary Clinton or whether any Republican candidate out there is prepared to take on the big money interests who control so much of our economy and as a result of Citizens United, our political process as well.
Lindsey GrahamWhat is the environmental policy of the Republican Party? When I ask that question, I get a blank stare, if I'm president of the United States, we're going to address climate change and CO2 emissions in a business-friendly way.
Lindsey GrahamOur government has a responsibility to defend our borders, but we must do so in a way that makes us safer and upholds all that is decent and exceptional about our nation.
Lindsey GrahamWe've got fifty people at Gitmo that are too dangerous to be let go that will never go through a normal criminal trial. Let's create a new legal system, so they'll have their day in court.
Lindsey GrahamThe Constitution is a living, breathing document that can speak to you and nobody else.
Lindsey GrahamSome people say I'm too blunt and I'm too direct, too straightforward. I think we could use some of that in Washington, D.C.
Lindsey GrahamWe can talk about corporations all day long but my goal is to help the middle class, somebody who makes too much to be on government assistance but still lives paycheck to paycheck.
Lindsey GrahamDo not give the terrorists, the enemy combatants, the people who blow up folks at weddings, who fly airplanes into the twin towers, the ability to sue our own troops all over the country for any and everything.
Lindsey GrahamSocial Security must be preserved and strengthened. But we need to be candid about the costs and willing to make the tough choices that real reform will require.
Lindsey GrahamIn the eyes of the Iranians, they don't respect or fear Barack Obama. He drew a line against Assad when he used chemical weapons and did nothing about it. And our friends, the Arabs and the Israelis, don't trust President Obama.
Lindsey GrahamWhat I want to do is protect the religious liberties of those who believe that opposing same-sex marriage is part of their faith.
Lindsey GrahamThe Lindsey Graham via foreign policy is going to beat Rand Paul's libertarian view of foreign policy. It will beat Barack Obama's view of foreign policy. It will beat Hillary Clinton's view of foreign policy.
Lindsey GrahamThe courtroom is a quiet place, Judge Roberts, where you park your political ideology, and you call the balls and you call the strikes.
Lindsey GrahamThe best deal that Barack Obama can get will not be the best deal to be had because he's weak and indecisive.
Lindsey GrahamAs to freedom, it is cherished, it is hard to come by, it is hard to hang on to. But freedom without responsibility is chaos, so to those who push the idea that freedom would allow an individual to do anything, anywhere, at any time, I reject, your freedom ends where my ability to raise my family safely begins. So I would urge every American to vaccinate their children and I would reject any effort to stop vaccinations until someone can show me a scientific reason to do so.
Lindsey GrahamMy advice is if we can't replace Obamacare by ourselves, to go to the Democrats and say this. 10% of the sick people in this country drive 90 percent of the cost for all of us. Let's take those 10 percent of really sick people, put them in a federal managed care system so they'll get better outcomes, and save the private sector market if we can't do this by ourselves. That's a good place to start.
Lindsey GrahamIs any blogger out there saying anything—do they deserve First Amendment protection? These are the issues of our times.
Lindsey GrahamWell, the big elephant in the whole system is the baby boomer generation that marches through like a herd of elephants. And we begin to retire in 2008.
Lindsey GrahamI would love to end the nuclear ambition of the Iranians without firing a shot, but you have to know who you're talking to and what they actually want, this is North Korea in the making.
Lindsey GrahamWe have to adjust the age retirement for younger people. People of my income level are going to have to have their benefits means-tested. Democrats are going to want a simpler tax code.
Lindsey GrahamFor 40 years, the American middle class has been disappearing. Millions of people are working longer hours for lower wages despite a huge increase in technology and productivity. And what we have seen during that period is a massive transfer of trillions of dollars from the middle class to the top one-tenth of 1 percent of America
Lindsey GrahamI am confident - very confident - that if I help solve this problem in a way that we won't have 20 million illegal immigrants 20 years from now, not only will I get re-elected, I can look back and say I was involved in something that was important.
Lindsey GrahamTea Party to establishment from social conservative to libertarian, we all - what people want more than anything is they don't just want a fighter. They want someone who fights and wins.
Lindsey GrahamThe only sin I think a commander in chief can make is exaggerating successes and not understanding the challenges.
Lindsey Graham