Anyone who has ever asked for directions knows you need two crucial pieces of information to get good results: a starting point and a destination.

I learned that Chicago lunches are terrible. If I was a Chicago student, I would ask my mom to pack a lunch.

Since 1975, violence has been recognized as a public health problem, in large part to former Surgeon Generals Dr. Koop and Dr. Satcher's pioneering efforts to make the health approach a national priority. Since then, we've seen that violence can be curbed - and stopped - if we treat it as we would any other epidemic health concern.

In the end, the public has the right to know about any undertakings top public officials engage in that may influence how they conduct the people's business.

I've seen it with my own eyes: When government takes money from the poor and the middle class, everyone suffers.

Without Social Security benefits, more than 40 percent of Americans 65 years and older would live below the federal poverty line. Even more striking is that Social Security is the only source of retirement income for almost a quarter of elderly beneficiaries.

The fact that Turkey, the U.S., and Russia and other countries are really interested in Cyprus because of its strategic location... the fact that Russians launder their money there to avoid sanctions, and the fact that key U.S. and Russia players were there - all make it really important for the Russia investigation.

Scaling back the U.S. fleet of 14 nuclear-armed submarines to eight would maintain a robust deterrent at sea while generating billions in savings and easing pressure on the Navy's shipbuilding budget.

I was the last person to announce I was running for Congress in a big district, and I still won.

If I wanted to win all my fights, I would be a Yankee fan. I'm a Cub fan.

We defeated communism in part by showing the world that a commitment to democracy and expanding economic opportunity makes people's lives better and nations more secure, meaning our commitments overseas also makes us stronger and safer here at home.

President Trump's frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented. If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference.

It is the duty of Congress to ensure our lead regulations are up to date and consistent with modern detection methods so that we can better protect children from the harmful consequences of exposure.

As the leaders of this great country, I urge my fellow colleagues in the House, governors, and presidential candidates alike to hold ourselves up to a higher standard.

I have never been reimbursed at the federal level. Never want to be in a million years. To me, it's just not worth the red flag.

From bank accounts to financial systems, power grids to air traffic controls - our most critical infrastructure remain attractive cyber targets, and if they are ever compromised, the effects could be devastating.

We need to replace hyperbole with a reasonable, informed discussion about how to reinvent the federal budget with more transparency and better accountability.

Inhumane treatment of the undocumented cannot be rewarded with repeated budget increases. It goes against our country's most fundamental values and cannot continue. We must cut I.C.E.s budgets until these concerns are addressed.

In my home district, exports support more than 100,000 jobs. Imagine how many more jobs we can create by breaking down the barriers that prevent Chicago-made goods and services from entering new markets.

I get lobbied by governments, schools, nurses, charities. It's not all a bad thing.

We have over 100,000 bridges in this country old enough to qualify for Medicare.

While everyone is entitled to a little vacation now and then, America's top legal officers should adhere to basic measures to increase accountability and restore the public's trust in government.

I taught policy and politics for seven years at a university. I told my students lobbyists are not a bad thing; they're absolutely vital.

Violence of all forms is wreaking havoc in communities across the country, disproportionately impacting communities of color and shaving half a million years of life off our collective lifespan. But it doesn't have to be this way.

Wrigley Field was built and designed at a time when people got to the ballpark by trolley, train, and horse cart.

There's a world to save. Don't let anybody tell you you can't change the world. You can, and you have a moral responsibility to try.

Too often, advances in civil rights or women's rights are undermined by wrong-headed legislation or weak-kneed political leadership.

Unions have long championed measures to reduce social and economic inequality, and efforts to weaken the labor movement at both the state and federal level have successfully stalled any progress.

With more than half of the American workforce without private pension coverage, Social Security provides economic certainty within a system that is fair, equitable, and easy to understand. You work hard, pay into the system, and the federal government makes a promise to pay back your earned benefits when you retire. It's that simple.

Lincoln's address at Gettysburg - 272 words dedicating a cemetery at the site of one of the Civil War's bloodiest battles - has been called by scholars the source of all modern political prose.

The FDA first began prohibiting gay and bisexual men from donating blood in the early 1980s, at the height of the AIDS crisis, when the risk from blood transfusion was just beginning to be understood. In the decades to follow, the 'lifetime ban' was left largely unchanged.

I think it can be very safe to go to O'Hare and Wrigley and Sox park and Soldier Field, but you have to deal with some reality. Just because a threat is not specific and verifiable doesn't mean nearly what it used to mean, in terms of you being able to sleep well at night.

The policies we debate and enact in Congress have a real impact on people across the country. Climate change, immigration, economic inequality - each of these issues have become hot button, partisan topics, but support or opposition on these pressing issues shouldn't come down to party.

Americans donate blood every day - on high school and college campuses during blood drives, in workplaces after a coworker falls ill, and in hospitals as loved ones prepare for surgery.

Technology has aided in serious advancements so that HIV detection tests now have near-perfect results. And those tests can detect HIV in the blood an average of nine to 11 days post-infection.

We know that trade doesn't just help Wall Street or even just Main Street; it also helps businesses on the side streets, such as Elston Avenue in my home district.

Being on the Intelligence Committee made me more of a hawk.

In many cases, here we are, putting out reports that we're spending $100 million a year on, and we're telling the public, 'Oh, you don't have access to them.'

While the FAST Act is a significant bipartisan accomplishment that provides much-needed funding certainty, this modest increase in funding is hardly the bold, forward-thinking plan our country needs to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure and create a 21st-century transportation system.

Since 2001, I've done what every elected official should be doing in government right now. My staff and I took a look at the books, thought outside the box and proposed reforms.

The people of Chicago have made it very clear that they favor sensible restrictions on gun ownership.

My outspoken positions haven't always been popular in the halls of Congress, but they have been rooted in what I believed was right and necessary.

In Chicago, we have a century-old transit system that desperately needs updates to keep up with increased capacity.

What I would like to do... once I take care of all my kids' student loans, is buy a red 1965 Mustang and fully restore it.

I'm a longtime believer in the old adage that sunlight is the best disinfectant, particularly in politics.

Honest to goodness, Brian Campbell, he was holding the Cup, and there was no one around for a minute. He says, 'Hold this for a second.' So he hands it to me - one of the best moments of my life.

There is no doubt that blood must be screened in order to keep Americans safe and healthy and I am committed to working with the FDA to ensure a safe, secure blood supply, across the board. However, public policy must always be rooted in the facts, not fear.

It should not take award-winning investigators to find out how this government operates.

Denial of contraception to women without the financial means to afford it could cause substantial economic burdens, and even greater burdens if the lack of contraception results in an unintended pregnancy.

For decades, allies have counted on the U.S. to step up to the plate to work with them to protect the shared values we hold dear. As we face numerous international challenges, both old and new, we need to put more faith and investment in our international and diplomatic institutions, not weaken them.