Sometimes I think the environment in which we operate is entirely too secular. The fact that we have freedom of religion doesn't mean we need to try to have freedom from religion

We live in an interdependent world. Every time you cut off somebody else's opportunities, you shrink your own horizons.

And I have a plan to do even better, to end welfare as we know it

...the fact [is] that our borders leak like a sieve: those things cannot be permitted to continue in good conscience.

The future is not an inheritance, it is an opportunity and an obligation.

The seven principles of Kwanzaa - unity, self-determinat ion, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith -- teach us that when we come together to strengthen our families and communities and honor the lesson of the past, we can face the future with joy and optimism.

It was Mario Cuomo's great gift and our good fortune that he was both a sterling orator and a passionate public servant. His life was a blessing.