I stand before you today because this vision of government as the engine of opportunity is what I believe in.

I want the government to provide the military so we don't get invaded by somebody and destroyed. I want the government to provide the roads so I can get from point A to B. In terms of taking care of my day to day needs I want to do that myself. I want my community to do that.

The Establishment Clause prohibits government from making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community.

At a time of such hope and optimism in the Middle East we cannot let the Libyan government violate every principle of international law and human rights with impunity.

Whatever you may think of the proposed mosque and community center lost in the heat of the debate has been a basic question: Should government attempt to deny private citizens the right to build a house of worship on private property based on their particular religion?

Every government must consider the security of the country. That is just part of the responsibilities of any government. But true security can only come out of unity within a country where there are so many ethnic nationalities.

The office of government is not to confer happiness but to give men the opportunity to work out happiness for themselves.

I pinch myself because of the understanding that I've been blessed with a real rare opportunity that few Americans ever get - to serve their government and their people at this level.

And I can tell you that history will back up what I'm about to say and that is that there is no government run by conservatives Republicans put whoever you want there if you give government the opportunity to spend more money than it has it will do it. It will do it every time.

We got rid of a terrible dictator. We gave the Iraqi people an opportunity for a new life under a representative form of government.