The idea that two political parties can't come together to get a mission done is foreign to me - and unacceptable.

I've seen the human condition under the most trying of circumstances.

I had four combat tours, and I never saw death on a scale like I saw in Haiti. A quarter-million people lost their lives.

Any attempt to single out Islam would be a violation of the Constitution.

NED is talking about through-putting this energy out to the vicinity of Boston then taking a northern route up to Nova Scotia and then exporting it, so they're not talking about giving us any local benefits at all.

Escalating in Syria is not the best approach.

Churches, synagogues, and mosques should be treated the same.

In the effort to save America, we should never violate her.

I believe that the strength in America is individual families and communities.

I believe in a core set of fundamental Republican values.

If I don't believe I'm the guy that's going to help defeat Cuomo, then I won't go forward.

For working-class families and small businesses... we have got to find ways to lower energy costs.

My district has been hit with three 500-year floods in the last several years, so either you believe that we had a one-in-over-100-million probability that occurred, or you believe as I do that there's a new normal, and we have changing weather patterns, and we have climate change. This is the science.

We need to put our priority on protecting this exceptional way of life.

We've got to have a functioning government.

I have two basic votes before I vote: is it constitutional, and is it in the interests of my people. If the answer is yes to both of them, then I vote for it, and I don't care who authored it.

Among the chartered responsibilities of the federal government were, in those areas where appropriate - such as facilitating interstate commerce - to provide for justice and domestic tranquility, the common defense, and to secure the blessings of liberty.

The consensus of the founders was, we don't want no government: we want limited but effective government.

Ultimately, for our family, the opportunity to spend increased time together, balanced with a return to academia, was one we could not pass up.

Intervening militarily would exacerbate - not resolve - the matter and, in the process, will Americanize the Syrian civil war.

Importantly, rather than being solely concerned with U.N. approval, the president must come first to our own Congress for authorization, and I urge him to do so. Finally, I understand the impulse to take action in Syria; however, I hope the president carefully considers this matter and resists the call from some to use military force in Syria.

The decision to use military force should always be one made with the utmost caution, with U.S. interests at stake, and with the consent of Congress.

I thank the voters of Upstate N.Y. for this privilege to serve and pledge to continue to work tirelessly on their behalf in this final term.

As I stated shortly after retiring from the U.S. Army and first pursuing a seat in Congress in 2010, I planned to self-impose term limits.