"Congress should be forward thinking in the policies we set, instead of waiting until catastrophe looms."

"Voluntary personal savings accounts would enable future retirees to harness the power of the marketplace when saving for their retirements."

"Personal savings accounts to me are one of the most powerful things, not necessarily in saving, solvency, or bankruptcy of the program, but in guaranteeing, the words I used a few minutes ago, a safe and secure retirement for our seniors."

"The enemies of freedom will not prevail."

"Education is the cornerstone of our communities and our country."

"Every child should have the opportunity to receive a quality education."

"America enjoys the best health care in the world, but the best is no good if folks can't afford it, access it and doctor's can't provide it."

"The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world."

"Space offers extraordinary potential for commerce and adventure, for new innovations and new tests of will. As Americans, we can't help but reach for the stars. It's our nature. It's our destiny."

"When we talk about safety and security of the American people, politics falls aside pretty quickly."

"The African-American experience is one of the most important threads in the American tapestry."

"The American people expect and deserve a government that works and leaders who work together."

"The valor and courage of our young women and men in the armed services are a shining example to all of the world, and we owe them and their families our deepest respect."

"Education brings about opportunity, and in turn inspiration."

"September 11 impressed upon us that life is a precious gift. Every life has a purpose. And I think we all have a duty to devote at least a small portion of our daily lives to ensuring that neither America nor the world ever forgets September 11."

"It is our duty and our privilege to keep America moving forward."

"From slavery to segregation, we remember that America did not always live up to its ideals. In fact, we often fell far short of them. But we also learned that fundamental to our national character is the drive to live out the true meaning of our creed."

"America has the best doctors, the best nurses, the best hospitals, the best medical technology, the best medical breakthrough medicines in the world. There is absolutely no reason we should not have in this country the best health care in the world."

"America is moving forward and gaining strength. We have been tested, and we have proven ourselves to be a tough, resilient and resourceful nation."

"Sound science must be a basis to governing our trade relations around the globe."

"This legislation confronts the human truth that the need for clean water knows no borders, and proper management and intervention can be a currency for peace and international cooperation."

"I very much feel that marriage is a sacrament and that sacrament should extend... to that legal entity of a union between what traditionally in our Western values has been defined as between a man and a woman."

"From blood banking to the modern subway, from jazz to social justice, the contributions of African Americans have shaped and molded and influenced our national culture and our national character."