Communication & Rhetoric

¦Ray [Rice] understands that violent behavior like this - even one time - is never acceptable. Ray told the truth and has fully accepted responsibility for his actions, which allowed us to work together at improving ourselves and get to the better place we are [at] today.

I hate white people who come to me with all their race-related questions. Like, go read a book. I am not your literal Encyclopedia Brown.

We want our country to go in a conservative direction, where the patients have the power; where we have no shame in using American natural resources to create better jobs for working families; where we, the people, have the power and not the federal government.

The time for remorse would have been when my husband was screaming to breath.

The science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers may say. Sea levels are rising, ice caps are melting, storms, droughts and wildfires are wreaking havoc.

Whatever your views are on EITs (Enhanced Interrogation Techniques), our nation and in particular this agency did a lot of things right during this difficult time to keep this country strong and secure.

I hear a lot of people say, 'Hey, it's been two years, things should be getting better.' But experts tell us from a recovery standpoint, [Newtown is] in its infancy.

I think we may need to call [Obamacare] something in the future different, but it is working…Obamacare, no question, has a very bad brand that has been driven intentionally by a lot of misinformation and a lot of paid advertising.

Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black, Republican, LDS (Mormon) woman to Congress. Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it.

In South Carolina - in America - it takes a generation to go from having a grandfather who is picking cotton, to a grandson in Congress. We are thankful for those trailblazers who came before us and said the status quo was not enough…Our values and our issues are central. The most important things we have to offer are on the inside. This is the testament to progress made.

If the ways that we’re approaching the Republicans in Congress [aren’t] working, I’m going to try different things -- whether it’s having a drink with Mitch McConnell or letting John Boehner beat me again at golf, or weekly press conferences - I don’t know if that would be effective…Whatever I think might make a difference in this, I’m going to be trying out up until my last day in office.

Sandy Hook turned out to be not a call to action, but a gruesome standard from which all inaction can be judged.