Well, I have great respect for Senator Hirono.
— John Kennedy
You're innocent until proven guilty.
I trust Russia and China and Iran and North Korea like I trust a Jussie Smollett police report.
Ninety-nine percent of the men and women of the FBI... are just professionals. I don't want Americans, if an FBI agent knocks on their door, to have to be worried about well, is he a Democrat or a Republican? He's an FBI agent.
Power does not change you, it unmasks you.
Due process should matter.
Our rights are not absolute. Our rights can be curtailed in the interest of public safety.
The Bill of Rights is not an a la carte menu.
Part of the problem is there are people in Washington, D.C. in positions of power to whom the border is just a nuisance, and I think some of them believe that illegal immigration is a moral good. It is not. It undermines legal immigration.
You know people talk about federal money as if it falls from heaven. You know we thank heaven for it, but it came out of people's pockets - and I've driven all over Washington, D.C., I cannot find the money tree.
The Iranians have shot down drones. They tried to destroy the Saudi oil fields. They tried to storm our embassy. So, when my Democratic friends say we need appeasement, well appeasement hasn't worked. And I think that we've learned, with respect to Iran, that weakness invites the wolves.
Louisiana's spicy, colorful politics have saddled our state with a reputation for tolerating lax ethical standards in government.
The problem with EMMA is that it is cost prohibitive for the small investors who were supposed to benefit from the new transparency.
We also cannot allow Wall Street banks to rewrite the Second Amendment just because they're too big to fail.
Taxpayers have long memories, especially when it comes to how their hard-earned money is spent.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'm concerned about the recklessness of public policy that endangers people's lives, especially in minority communities, where crime often is such a scourge.
Anyone who's looked into a newborn's innocent eyes should realize how incredible it is to be blessed with a new life.
What I think we need to do is pass a bill that says number one, you own your data. Number two, you can license it to Facebook but the licensing has to be knowing, it has to be willful.
You're morally tainted if you don't treat both the accuser and the accused with fairness and with respect, and with due process.
Beto's copy of the Bill of Rights goes from one to three. Mine includes the Second Amendment. But there are a whole host of people here in Washington... they would be happy to confiscate America's guns. And if you don't believe that, then you probably also still believe in Bigfoot.
The FBI should not be a political body.
Sometimes the majority just means all the fools are on the same side.
All impeachments, I guess, are political.
Some of my colleagues argue that by further curtailing our Second Amendment rights, they can enhance public safety. Fine, the burden of proof is on them.
This is America. You're entitled to believe what you want.
The Democratic position seems to be everything is going to be free. Free education. Free health care. Free housing. Free love. Free kittens, I don't know.
I try to speak plainly so that my constituents who don't follow the nuances of government like I do, because they're too busy earning a real living, can understand the issues before me. None of this stuff is brain surgery.
Perception often lags behind reality, and I can say from experience that the vast majority of public officials in Louisiana are much better than our reputation holds us to be.
American taxpayers have been generous to Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
I filed the MSRB Reform Act, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Doug Jones, because the board that oversees the muni-bond market is too secretive and too incestuous. Its membership shares the same DNA. That means the rulebook for municipal bonds is in the hands of a board that resembles a revolving door of longtime industry confederates.
Wall Street apparently takes and then forgets, and then comes after the guns of law-abiding American citizens and small businesses.
Jurisdictions across the U.S. are snapping up algorithms as tools to help judges make bail and bond decisions. They're being sold as race- and gender-neutral assessments that allow judges to use science in determining whether someone will behave if released from jail pending trial.
Too many people treat parenting like it's the 20th item on their to-do list.
Life is precious.
I mean Facebook is no longer a company, it's a country. 2 billion users. It can influence what we think, what we believe, how we vote, what we buy, even how we feel.
I think, under President Obama, who was a really bright guy - I didn't agree with a lot of his politics - but we got to the point internationally where our friends didn't trust us. They were confused. And our enemies didn't quite respect us.
There is a group of people that I think in good faith honestly believe that further curtailing our Second Amendment rights will enhance public safety. But there's another group that just hates the Second Amendment.
Do FBI Agents and FBI directors have political beliefs? Sure they do. But they're not supposed to act on them.
My Democratic friends just can't accept the fact that the American people chose Donald Trump to be president - it's called democracy. My advice to them, and I say this gently: Fill out a 'Hurt Feelings Report' and let's move on.
I think the FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in all of human history.
The Second Amendment is just as important as all the other Amendments.
Let me state the obvious. Illegal immigration is illegal, duh.
I don't know a country in the world that doesn't have borders and doesn't want to know who is coming into their country.
Our country was founded by geniuses, but it's being run by idiots.
If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.
Transparency at the MSRB is dubious with data downloads too costly for all but the Vanguards of the world.
In theory, the MSRB is supposed to protect the public interest, investors, and state and local governments. In practice, the MSRB membership structure is more shaded toward protecting the financial professionals who broker the deals.
I bet taxpayers remember providing more than $812 billion to Citigroup and Bank of America, two Wall Street banks, in 2009 to bail them out during the 2008 financial crisis. Taxpayers remember that generosity; big banks evidently don't.
Algorithms diminish public safety in this country. They ask us to pretend that lengthy arrest records and violent crimes don't matter. They ask police to scoop up the bad guys only for the courts to immediately release them. They turn us into a bad joke.
Treat your children like the blessings they are or don't have them at all.
