This deficit that we have threatens our very way of life, and everything needs to be on the table.

I hope the EPA will listen to the many votes over the years in Congress opposing cap-and-trade and rescind that proposed rule.

Cap-and-trade is a dangerous policy fraught with the potential for significant corruption, and it would hurt my constituents and our economy by raising energy costs.

While I have strongly and consistently supported the Clean Power Plan, and continue to do so, I cannot and will not support a proposal for a cap-and-trade system.

Part of being conservative is judicious conservation of resources, both man-made and natural.

It is in the best interests of my constituents and the country to repeal and replace the ACA, and defunding/delaying implementation is consistent with that approach.

Jesus's first commandment was to love one another.

This is what my calling is now. I'm here to try to help our party.

I don't recommend this, but my dad - to help us get through the winter, he bought a kerosene heater, and he had it in the kitchen so that the furnace wouldn't have to kick off.

I look at the corruption in Albany and we cannot accept that.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the paratroopers I served with who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms.

I don't believe in amnesty... What I have proposed is that we would come forth with a program that allows individuals to come forward and to plead guilty... They would have to pay a fine; they would have to go through a background check - some say learn English - and they would get learned legal status.

All too often, the conversation about appropriate and balanced environmental stewardship gets caught up in partisan politics. Yet, this conversation is key to the preservation of our great country for generations to come, as important as ensuring we have fiscally responsible policies to secure our future.

In the five years from 2007 to 2012, we only gained a little over 1,200 farmers. Since we aren't going to stop eating, we have to reverse that trend, or we'll see even more consolidation, more corporate farms, or increasing food imports; none of that is in our interest.

I will always remember the fear in the faces of the executed. That's the first day I felt the devil's presence.

If conservation isn't conservative, then words have no meaning at all.

My eyes are wide open... you serve in Iraq, your eyes are wide open.

I think people should be authentic and who they are. If that calls people to same-sex attraction and same-sex marriage, then they should be true to who they are, and I think that the world could benefit by more love.

We understand that we're going to be outspent. But we still think we can win decisively because there's some things money can't buy. Among these are votes.

Even with the approach that I take in Congress, which is to bring people together to get things done - many people describe that as 'reasonable' - I couldn't vote for John Boehner's re-elect.

New York has been embarrassed by corruption and lags behind in too many important categories. We can do better.

For too long, Gov. Cuomo has led with fear, intimidation, and bullying.

What we need to do is have empathy and that ultimately, at the end of the day, it's a woman's private choice... I don't support federal funding for abortions, nor do I support late-term abortions.

Mary Jo and I have three teenagers who are in their last years at home. In addition, I was just offered and accepted a position with Williams College as a visiting lecturer on leadership beginning in February 2017, and anticipate accepting other academic positions shortly.