Our soldiers deserve better. They need a plan for success. They need an administration that is honest about the costs of war, human and otherwise, and they need full accountability and oversight on Capitol Hill.

The fact is I tried for years to work with the financial industry on reasonable swipe fee reform, but the industry wouldn't have it.

You would think that, at this point, with records being kept and the vast amount of knowledge on these drugs, the pharmacists could wave off prescriptions that are dangerous to customers.

It simply isn't fair for senators to cut to the front of the line when seniors around the country have been forced to wait for hours to get a flu shot.

Unfortunately the Republican tax cut will deny important revenues to many states facing their own deficits. This will create greater pressure for higher state and local taxes.

It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.

Certain classes of weapons that are strictly military and have no useful purpose in sport, hunting, or self-defense should not be legally sold.

The for-profit college industry is clearly the single-heaviest subsidized business in America. More than any defense contractor or any farm operation... So many of them are a horrible waste of students' time and of taxpayer dollars.

We've had enough with loopholes in our gun laws that allow dangerous people to get their hands on guns.

Credit card companies and banks usually aren't shy when they're trying to sell you something. Heck, Wells Fargo didn't even bother to ask consumers before signing them up for as many as two million checking and credit card accounts.

Instead of incentivizing quick, short-term decisions, the federal government should be asking the tough questions when governments turn over publicly funded transportation assets to for-profit operators.

We can't do much about ensuring that the homeland is safe if our local police and sheriffs' departments don't have the personnel they need to keep our streets and neighborhoods secure.

There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees - not in a nation founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

If we do nothing, as the Republicans suggest, we're going to see health care costs reach a point where small businesses can't afford it and families can't afford it. We're going to see people turned down from pre-existing conditions. We're going to find the Medicare doughnut hole - a gap in coverage that's going to hurt a lot of seniors.

You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.

These are men and women who are willing to risk their lives in defense of their country. And the fact that their orientation - sexual orientation's been held against them is a blot on our nation's reputation.

Those of us who believe in God and those of us who have dedicated our lives to helping others in the name of God don't want to take a second seat to anyone who is suggesting that one word out of the platform means that the Democrats across America are godless.

We happen to believe that emissions going into the atmosphere are not good for us as humans or Mother Earth.

Everyone, regardless of the mode of expression, has a constitutionally protected right to free speech. But when it comes to freedom of the press, I believe we must define a journalist and the constitutional and statutory protections those journalists should receive.

A journalist gathers information for a media outlet that disseminates the information through a broadly defined 'medium' - including newspaper, nonfiction book, wire service, magazine, news Web site, television, radio or motion picture - for public use. This broad definition covers every form of legitimate journalism.

As a public official, when I take a position, I stand up to explain and defend it. I file annual financial disclosures, campaign finance reports, and have to face the scrutiny of public opinion.

We have to really appeal to that sensible center.

Chairing any Appropriations subcommittee is both a great honor and weighty responsibility.

American businesses and consumers deserve a debit card system with competition, transparency, and reasonable fees.

There is no question that President Barack Obama should be commended for the successful removal of Assad's ghastly chemical weapons stockpile. But it hasn't been enough.

Before I was elected to Congress, I worked in a courtroom. For years, I defended doctors and hospitals, and for years, I sued them on behalf of people who were victims of medical malpractice.

There is no question that the federal government sometimes overdoes it in issuing rules and regulations.

I stood respectfully as Ronald Reagan was sworn in to his second term though I disagreed with him on many issues. I stood as well for the inauguration of George W. Bush's second term though I thought his war in Iraq was a tragic mistake.

Since 2000, I have proposed changing the Constitution so that our popular vote decides the presidency.

We've had enough with the gun shows where you can buy from private sellers with no FBI background check.

Our laws must be fixed to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. We have to keep speaking out for common-sense reforms. If we do, we can beat the gun lobby and save lives.

We've had enough with the gun traffickers and straw purchasers who buy guns out of state and sell them out of the trunks of their cars in Chicago.

In the fast-changing, information-filled world of the Internet, you never know what you might find. Maybe you'll discover a great price on an airline ticket, or maybe you'll come across that quote you've been racking your brain for.

No one should be allowed to purchase more than two firearms a month.

Magazine clips with more than 10 rounds should be prohibited from civilian use.

We must institute reasonable, common-sense limits, such as barring those with a history of mental instability, those with a history of violent crime or adjudged dangerous and subject to restraining orders, and those whose names have been placed on a terrorist watch list from owning weapons.

Having billions of dollars immediately available to plug budget holes without raising taxes is very appealing. And to the delight of Wall Street investors, state and local governments often fail to ask the important questions or consider the long-term impact.

Whether you agree or disagree with privatization, two things are obvious. First, taxpayers need to be asking more and better questions before handing over control of critical public assets like a highway, an airport, or a parking meter concession. And second, Uncle Sam is being played for a sucker.

Taxpayers across the U.S. have invested hundreds of billions of dollars building our nation's infrastructure, and that investment should be protected.

When we engage in the critical decisions about our nation's future budgets, I want progressive voices at the table to argue that we must protect the most vulnerable in our society and demand fairness in budget cuts.

Every day seems to bring news about another for-profit college scam. Hundreds of thousands of students have been deceived, misled, and harassed into enrolling at these schools where they end up with a mountain of debt and a worthless degree.

I urge the Department of Education not to settle for half-measures when it comes to students.

I think we learned a lesson and paid a bitter price when we put troops on the ground on a long-term basis in Iraq and Afghanistan. Let us support a homegrown, indigenous, and locally inspired effort to bring stability to the region.

We don't give up on our values, but we better be sensitive, too, that there are people with more moderate views and people who may disagree with some parts of the Democratic platform as they are presented.

I've been out to Walter Reed on unannounced visits. I've seen these soldiers. I've met their families.

We all make mistakes. But I'm lucky. Being from Illinois and from the Midwest, we believe in pretty basic fairness. Once you've made a mistake, get up, dust yourself off, and go to work.

I prefer Raisin Bran. But I like the Mini-Wheats.

Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff.

When you're talking about long-term deficit reduction, $4 trillion worth, entitlement reform needs to be part of it.

Any reports of animal cruelty should be thoroughly investigated and those operators held accountable.