If we truly want an innovative and creative renewable fuel industry, then it needs to be challenged. And if we create a set of protections that allow it to not be as creative and innovative as possible, then we aren't doing a service to the industry or to the people of this country.

I think we have not done a good job of explaining to people in rural America what is actually happening, number one. And, number two, we're not expressing appreciation and acknowledging the contribution that rural America makes. Where does your food come from? Where does the water come from? Where does the energy feedstock come from? It all comes from rural areas. Where does your military come from? Nearly 35 to 40 percent of the military is from 15 percent of America's population living in rural America. It makes a tremendous contribution to this country. It just isn't recognized.

The rise of childhood obesity has placed the health of an entire generation at risk.

The lack of access to proper nutrition is not only fueling obesity, it is leading to food insecurity and hunger among our children.

What Republicans have done in my view is that they are systematically dismantling a sense of community in America.

In his first year in office, President Obama pulled us back from the brink of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression and worked to lay a new foundation for economic growth. The president identified three key strategies to build that lasting prosperity: innovation, investment, and education.

There are a lot of farmers and ranchers who are struggling. I get on my knees every day. If I had a rain prayer or a rain dance I could do, I would do it.