The debt they ran up in the first year of the Obama administration is bigger than the last four years of the Bush combined.

It seems with every new day, we have a new veto threat from the president.

The classic example I've used - I'm sure you've heard me say it before - was Mark Begich in Alaska who was here for a full six years and never had a roll call vote on an amendment on the floor of the Senate, which Dan Sullivan tells me he used on virtually a daily basis. So the notion that protecting all of your members from votes is a good idea politically, I think, has been pretty much disproved by the recent [Barack Obama] election.

We [Democrats] are looking for things that we think would make a difference, improve the country, and enjoy some bipartisan support.

On the issue of Iraq, it is my hope, and my challenge to my colleagues, that our debate will be based on what is best for the future of our nation and for Iraq, not what's best for a political party or presidential campaign.

I know how it feels when you're coming into a new situation, that the other guys won the election.

It's a shame that we have to use whatever leverage we have in Congress to get the president to deal with the biggest problem confronting our future. And that's our excessive spending.