The most valuable investment we can make is in our children's education. When we make education a priority, we give our children opportunity. Opportunity to learn at higher levels than their parents were able to learn; to earn at higher levels than we were able to earn.

Reversing deforestation is complicated; planting a tree is simple.

The death penalty is ineffective as a deterrent, and the appeals process is expensive and cruel to the surviving family members.

We make our own future; we govern ourselves, and to govern is to choose.

We are a people of many different religions and many different faiths. The only way forward in a pluralistic society of diverse faiths such as ours is to have laws that protect and respect the freedom of all, equally.

The Offshore Wind Energy Act could be not only a jobs creator, but also a history maker.

We do ourselves a disservice when some of us cave to the myth that Social Security somehow drives the deficit.

The march of progress must continue.

We live in a very different world than the one that we inherited from our parents and from our grandparents. Times are changing, and states must adapt to win.