There are a lot of young kids serving in Washington, D.C.: kids that are smart, hard-working, but they've never farmed. They've never run a business. They've never been in the private sector. They went from high school into college and right into Washington, D.C.
— Ron Johnson
What we do not need are career politicians that simply run for office to be somebody with a big title. We don't need that.
I've been working like a dog as a United States senator.
In 2010, there were 57 lawyers, zero manufacturers, and way too many career politicians in the United States Senate.
I think it's extremely important that the citizens of Wisconsin know the positions I'm taking.
For nearly five years, I worked with Marquette University Law School and helped to administrate a community crime prevention initiative called Safe Streets. We used restorative justice practices to help reduce crime and violence in the Milwaukee community.
The outrages surrounding the Benghazi attack involve administration action - or lack of action - before, during, and after the attack.
When I joined the Senate in January 2011, I raised my right hand, placed my left hand on the Bible, and swore a solemn oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. Defending the constitutional domain of the branch of government in which I serve is an obligation of that oath.
You always want to help people out.
I am the epitome of a citizen legislator.
Many of us have felt that sense of desperation - of urgency - when we learn that we or someone we love is fighting for their life.
In the general economy, you get government involved in making market decisions - first of all, they're going to get it wrong. For a minimum wage, you will actually reduce the number of jobs available.
I believe the U.S. has been way too silent on the brutality, the lack of human rights in the Muslim world for women.
If you manage things properly - and, listen, I'm a business guy. I've got to prioritize spending in all my business career to prevent my business from going bankrupt. The federal government has got to start doing that eventually as well.
I'm an accountant. I'm a manufacturer from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, who stepped up to the plate, and now I'm a U.S. senator.
We do not have a secure border on our southern flank.
You could establish along the zones of the coast of the Caribbean in Honduras gorgeous resorts zones. If we could help them do that, they could start rebuilding their economy.
With honest discussion, free speech, let people's voices be heard.
I created jobs. Russ Feingold, during that same approximate 30 years, what did he do? He built government. He built it larger and more intrusive.
We are in perilous territory the stronger Iran gets. And they're getting stronger. We should make them weaker.
Career politicians manufacture hogwash.
All the time, you take a look at what government rules are, so you can minimize the impact of government regulations. That's just smart business.
Unlike Obama and the Senate Democrats, I respect the will of Wisconsin's voters.
The Obama administration's hostility to school choice programs is well known.
Successful ideas, they snowball.
You turn people around, one person at a time.
Any president is going to need extremely good advisers.
In an era of unprecedented medical innovation, we have to do more to ensure that patients facing terminal illnesses have access to potentially life-saving treatments.
I'd be 100 percent supportive of a minimum wage - kind of industry specific, maybe regionally specific - for guest workers, so that we're not creating incentives for employers to bring in immigrants to lower the price of labor.
Vladimir Putin is only going to respond to action, strength, and resolve. He's not going to respond to words.
If we weren't running deficits, if we weren't spending more than we were taking in, there would be no reason whatsoever to increase the debt ceiling.
I'm not a political pundit.
There is a real problem in terms of the refugee flow, the ability of ISIS to infiltrate those refugee flows, our inability to track them.
If you're an Islamic terrorist, probably the last program I'd use to try to get into this country is the refugee program.
We have demagogues on all sides of the political spectrum. It's not helpful. It's destructive. It's harmful. So, I don't like demagoguery whether it comes from the left, it comes from the right.
Russ Feingold is a career politician. He's addicted to it.
Fixing this broken system will take the perspective of someone who has actually solved problems. 31 years of manufacturing taught me how.
I've certainly honored the two promises I made: Always tell you the truth; never vote with my re-election in mind.
There is something that happens when victims and offenders meet. Offenders and victims are able to see each other as human beings, with names and families.
When it comes to judicial nominations, President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats are fond of reminding Republicans that elections have consequences.
The Obama administration has an undeniable pattern of using regulatory overreach and intimidation to further its political aims.
When I feel there's a door open, you always walk through it.
People oftentimes refer to me as 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' So, I'm Mr. Johnson. I'm a complete outsider.
We actually do need a federal government, but we need a limited one.
What you don't want to do - if you're concerned about poverty, if you're concerned about providing opportunity - you don't want to rip the bottom rung of the ladder of opportunity away from people.
The only area that I would agree with minimum wage is in immigration reform, the guest worker program.
What we should be doing is responsibly addressing the primary drivers of our debt and deficit issues.
Debt ceiling is something that, you know, any time the president asks for the authority to increase the debt ceiling, the debt burden on our children and grandchildren, I think that requires a pretty serious discussion, robust debate.
You can't call ISIS the JV team. You can't say that they're contained. Sure, we've had some success, but we have not defeated them.
Washington treats Social Security like a Ponzi scheme.
