Immigration specifically was laid out in the Congress, giving the power of Congress to create a uniform system of naturalization.

I took an oath to protect the Constitution, and protecting the Constitution means not letting the president bypass the separation of powers.

I think that we're so generous in some of our social problems that people are unwilling to get a job outside in the heat. Rather than get 15 dollars to go get roofing, they'd rather get 9 or 10 dollars in benefits.

I think anybody who's had an alcoholic in their life, or somebody with a drug problem, realizes that until things get bad enough, there's no incentive to change.

Everybody wants to help folks out. But we've got a system where you can stay on unemployment for an awfully long time. And I think we need to create a system of decreasing benefits over time to encourage you to get a job.

Drug testing for recipients of various welfare programs - I really think that's something that needs to be considered.

'Those people' is a bad word.

I think there are several departments we could completely get rid of, and we wouldn't miss it.

I'm a Texan - my idea of gun control is hitting what you aim at and nothing else.

My deal is you start as far to the right as you can get, and go to the conference committee with the Senate, and hopefully end up with something you can live with.

You turn on the TV, and you hear all these guys: 'Republican Party in disarray. Turmoil in Washington.' I don't think that's the case.

We have testimony saying, and I think common sense also dictates, that in a failed state like Syria, you don't have any government information, police reports to rely on to vet somebody. So there's no way to do a background check from somebody coming out of Syria. There's no way we can find out whether they're safe or not.

Congress has the constitutional authority to investigate the other agencies of government. We are the watchdogs of the taxpayer's money, and we have the right to know how that money is being spent and to conduct oversight over the government.

I'm doing a good job in Washington.

I am running on the fact that I am doing a good job listening to people.

It's about going to where your voters are.

I cannot ignore this reality, and I encourage my all colleagues to join me in this fight to end modern day slavery in our own backyard.

Human trafficking robs victims of their basic human rights, and it occurs right under our noses. Many efforts have been focused in other regions of the world, but this is a major problem here at home.

It's said that you can tell a lot about someone by who opposes them. In the case of liberal pundit Bill Maher - a man who called America's actions cowardly in the wake of 9/11 and who mocked WWII veterans who wanted to visit the monument built in their honor - I wear his disapproval of me as a badge of honor.

I serve and answer to the Texans I represent - not the Hollywood elite.

What message do we send to America if we impeach Obama and he gets away?

I will support a path to citizenship if it does not fall within the definition of amnesty, and we've got to define what amnesty is in this country.

In cutting government, we cut a huge variety of programs, a lot of which I would have liked to see increase, and a lot of which I'd like to see decreased more.

I understand that, for some, everything is political.