My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive. We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there'll be more legislation to follow.

As we move forward to debate our economic and fiscal challenges in the weeks and months ahead, one thing is clear: Our economic agenda, choices and decisions, will be viewed through the perspective and the eyes of our nation's women and their needs and those of their families.

I have newspapers coming to me and saying, 'Can we get in on the TARP?'.

Students will want to address the issues that they have a passion for, but I think that the challenge to this generation is the challenge of the climate crisis. Young people bring more enthusiasm, knowledge and sense of urgency on that issue. This is as planet they will inherit, they have a responsibility for it as well, and part of that responsibility is to urge people in power to make the right decisions about how we go forward.

My favourite dish is my chocolate mousse. It's like heaven on earth. It's the best chocolate mousse that you could ever imagine. You have to start with the highest-quality chocolate.

When Americans are worried about losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their chance at the American Dream, Congress and the president must work together to lift our economy and restore hope. That is the course the New Direction Congress will continue in the days and weeks ahead.

I have always said, in my own rise in the leadership, please don't ever ask anybody to vote for me because I'm a woman.