As the nation watches, Democrats and Republicans should reflect the interspersed character of America itself. Perhaps, by sitting with each other for one night, we will begin to rekindle that common spark that brought us here from 50 different states and widely diverging backgrounds to serve the public good.

The new Congress needs to move quickly to strengthen the Army and Marines - not to send more troops to Iraq - but to rebuild our capacity to meet national security threats globally.

Genuine dialogue, not rhetorical bomb-throwing, leads to progress.

There is no question that we must do more to secure our borders - but how we go about securing them is also important.

Climbing has worked for me in a number of ways on Capitol Hill. I'm much more inclined to look at what people do, as opposed to what they say. Also, it's about working together - we're all on the rope together, and you don't get to cut the rope if you're not getting along with someone.

It's tough to know the value of water until it's gone.

We really don't have a policy [on climate change]. There's a lot of rhetoric and not a lot of action.