I don't reject the concept of preemptive war. I'm a mother of five. I have five grandchildren. And I always say: Think of a lioness. Think of a mother bear. You come anywhere near our cubs, you're dead. And so, in terms of any threat to our country, people have to know we'll be there to preemptively strike. But what the president [Bush] did was, on the basis of no real intelligence for an imminent threat to our country, chose to go into a war for reasons that are still unknown to us.

We have a responsibility to control our borders. Building a wall is not an answer, not here in America or any place.

I believe in natural gas as a clean, cheap alternative to fossil fuels.

I will not be making appointments to a committee that is not bipartisan.

We are not going back to the failed policies of the past. We are fighting for the middle class!

My statements are just a statement of fact.

I was raised in an Italian catholic family in Baltimore, Maryland. Our faith is very important to us, our patriotism, love of faith, love of family, love of country. I took pride in our Italian American heritage and to be the first woman speaker of the House and the first Italian American speaker of the House, it's quite thrilling for me.