My father died the year I was elected to Congress: 1987.

My father was in Congress when I was born. He was mayor my whole life from when I was in grade school - first grade - to when I went away to college.

Tom Foley was a statesman, and it was a privilege to serve under him when he was the Speaker of the House. He loved our country. He was a gentleman. I had the privilege of seeing him a couple days before he passed away.

What the Republicans have said is rather than touch one hair on the heads of the wealthiest people in our country, people who make over $1 million a year, they're saying, 'Seniors should pay $6,000 more dollars a year. But please don't let us ask the wealthiest to do their fair share.'

Raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, but it's a popular thing to do as well.

We haven't really gotten the credit for what we have done.

When taxpayers are subsidizing low wages, people should be aware of that. We're subsidizing an economy. We're not subsidizing people. They are doing a hard day's work. When we're not rewarding work actively, there's something wrong with the system.

Democrats embrace The Affordable Care Act. We're very proud of it.

The president led us into the Iraq war on the basis of unproven assertions without evidence; he embraced a radical doctrine of pre-emptive war unprecedented in our history; and he failed to build a true international coalition.

In our recovery package we put new standards of accountability and transparency, which we hope will now apply.

With Americans worried about losing their jobs, their savings, their homes and their chance at the American Dream, the New Direction Congress will work in a bipartisan way to lift our economy and help America's middle class.

Social Security has never failed to pay promised benefits, and Democrats will fight to make sure that Republicans do not turn a guaranteed benefit into a guaranteed gamble.

My biggest fight has been between those who wanted to do something incremental and those who wanted to do something comprehensive. We won that fight, and once we kick through this door, there'll be more legislation to follow.

I have deep emotions about the American people. If I were to cry for anything, I would cry for them and the policies that they're about to face.

I have newspapers coming to me and saying, 'Can we get in on the TARP?'.

We are not going back to the failed policies of the past. We are fighting for the middle class!

If you make - not have - $1 million a year, should you not participate in the sense of community of our country? I'm willing to put that on the table.

I think about my parents all the time, especially on Sunday when I'm at Mass. My mother always said, 'We do not pray to win elections. We pray for people's health, we pray that God's will be done, we pray that we do our best. But we do not pray to win elections.'

Republicans support opening the floodgates to special interest money and suppressing the right to vote. It's just plain wrong.

I never dread going back to Congress.

I read that my lifelong dream is to serve as speaker with Hillary Clinton as president. So what?

They're anti-government ideologues who dominate the Republican Party.

I love having the support of my caucus. We have a good working relationship.

My vision for the future always centers around our children - it always centers around our children. So anytime anybody asks me what are the three most important issues facing the Congress, I always say the same thing: 'Our children, our children, our children.'

Washington and Congress are steeped in history and tradition, and that's been very male-oriented.

I call Washington 'the city of the perishable.'

I had a friend who was getting married. I said, 'You're getting married - I didn't know about all this!' She said, 'I need health benefits.'

I think that much of the truth has been withheld from the American people.

I don't know that anybody has walked up to me in the street or in a store or in the grocery and said to me, 'I hope you bomb Assad.' Certainly plenty have said, 'No; thumbs down, thumbs down, thumbs down.'

My brother is the former mayor of Baltimore.

Putin is going to do what Putin is going to do.

Politicians are trying to attract people to issues.

A successful marriage is a decision. You decide it's going to work. You can't always be there, but you have to be there enough. And you have to make sure you are where you're needed most.

I don't know any member of Congress who ever said, 'I'm satisfied with the communication that we have from the White House.'

If people don't have a job, they're not too interested in how you intend for them to have a job. They want to see results.

The country needs more than one-party dominance, as much as I believe the Democratic Party is the party for the middle class... We need to have a marketplace of ideas.

Nothing surprises me. One thing I don't ever have in my world is surprise.

I don't care how popular I am. I'm not putting myself out there to run for higher office.

Stephen Colbert used to be my friend. I even signed the poor baby's cast when he hurt his hand.

The high road and positivity is never the easy way but always the best way.

I feel like I've had a lot of painful situations that I intentionally delete from my memory.

Ever since I could remember, women's issues have been pretty urgent.

The Seattle explosion was what saved rock from becoming too pompous! A great moment in music!

Ann and I were the main writers in Heart. We had the leadership role, and the guys in the band sometimes had a hard time with that.

In many ways, we might compare to The Pretenders more than others, but still, we created our own category.

One of the things I've heard musicians say that's true is, 'I would play for free. I would play music forever, but you have to pay me to travel.' I know we're always going to make music. The traveling part - that is the most wear and tear on any human.

We came from an era when women normally did not rock.

I have endless admiration for people like Chrissie Hynde who've been out as the only girl in a band. I'm not sure that, even as a little Marine Corps brat, I would've been able to deal with that.

Prince, I think, trained amazing musicians to bring more to any musical table they come to.

'Heartless' is something Ann and I wrote together.