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We also cannot allow Wall Street banks to rewrite the Second Amendment just because they're too big to fail.
Do FBI Agents and FBI directors have political beliefs? Sure they do. But they're not supposed to act on them.
I looked the people of Louisiana in the eye and told them exactly what I thought in terms that normal people use.
If you believe that tax policy has nothing to do with the economy, then you're pretty much like a rock, only dumber.
If people lose faith in their government, the result is the same whether or not the loss of confidence is justified.
Anyone who's looked into a newborn's innocent eyes should realize how incredible it is to be blessed with a new life.
As a country, we can't teach kids how to read and write when we got 18 years to do it. And that's - that's a disgrace.
I don't know a country in the world that doesn't have borders and doesn't want to know who is coming into their country.
There's some jerks. There's some big egos. There are a few that think they're one of the Founding Fathers... in both parties.
You're morally tainted if you don't treat both the accuser and the accused with fairness and with respect, and with due process.
Louisiana's spicy, colorful politics have saddled our state with a reputation for tolerating lax ethical standards in government.
Wall Street apparently takes and then forgets, and then comes after the guns of law-abiding American citizens and small businesses.
The problem with EMMA is that it is cost prohibitive for the small investors who were supposed to benefit from the new transparency.
Teachers are expected to be teachers, psychiatrists, nurses, sociologists, psychologists, surrogate moms or dads, as the case may be.
I don't want to impugn the motives of my colleagues, but my attitude is, speaking just for me, you either believe in border security or you don't.
Some of my colleagues argue that by further curtailing our Second Amendment rights, they can enhance public safety. Fine, the burden of proof is on them.
The Democratic position seems to be everything is going to be free. Free education. Free health care. Free housing. Free love. Free kittens, I don't know.
Here's what I believe, I think the FBI is the premier law enforcement agency in the history of the world but i think there was some bad apples over there.
I believe that the primary role of the government is to protect people and not run their lives. You used to be able to believe that in the Democratic Party.
People see things differently and remember things differently. It's why if somebody robs a liquor store and there are four witnesses they'll often disagree.
I don't like traffic cameras. In fact, I hate them. But that doesn't mean I can break the speed limit and run red lights to get to a New Orleans Saints game.
I mean Facebook is no longer a company, it's a country. 2 billion users. It can influence what we think, what we believe, how we vote, what we buy, even how we feel.
Perception often lags behind reality, and I can say from experience that the vast majority of public officials in Louisiana are much better than our reputation holds us to be.
The federal election statutes are primarily meant to be civil. That doesn't mean that you can't have a criminal violation of the FEC provisions, but that's just my personal opinion.
What I think we need to do is pass a bill that says number one, you own your data. Number two, you can license it to Facebook but the licensing has to be knowing, it has to be willful.
When you meet with someone and you try to assess whether they're telling you the truth or not, there's several things you can do. You judge demeanor and credibility. You look at corroboration.
I like policy. It's why I decided to enter government. The other thing I like about government - you have good days, you have bad days, but you never have a boring day, and that's important to me.
As a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'm concerned about the recklessness of public policy that endangers people's lives, especially in minority communities, where crime often is such a scourge.
Everybody who makes any kind of policy needs to substitute teach. But you've got to be a real teacher. You can't just go to a couple of classes with the regular teacher there. It is an incredibly hard job.
You know people talk about federal money as if it falls from heaven. You know we thank heaven for it, but it came out of people's pockets - and I've driven all over Washington, D.C., I cannot find the money tree.
There is a group of people that I think in good faith honestly believe that further curtailing our Second Amendment rights will enhance public safety. But there's another group that just hates the Second Amendment.
It's been my experience in politics that you can try and plan it out: 'I'm going to hit the three ball which will hit the eight ball.' You've just got to go run and try to do everything right. And then have a little luck.
I try to speak plainly so that my constituents who don't follow the nuances of government like I do, because they're too busy earning a real living, can understand the issues before me. None of this stuff is brain surgery.
Ninety-nine percent of the men and women of the FBI... are just professionals. I don't want Americans, if an FBI agent knocks on their door, to have to be worried about well, is he a Democrat or a Republican? He's an FBI agent.
My Democratic friends just can't accept the fact that the American people chose Donald Trump to be president - it's called democracy. My advice to them, and I say this gently: Fill out a 'Hurt Feelings Report' and let's move on.
In theory, the MSRB is supposed to protect the public interest, investors, and state and local governments. In practice, the MSRB membership structure is more shaded toward protecting the financial professionals who broker the deals.
I bet taxpayers remember providing more than $812 billion to Citigroup and Bank of America, two Wall Street banks, in 2009 to bail them out during the 2008 financial crisis. Taxpayers remember that generosity; big banks evidently don't.
Part of the problem is there are people in Washington, D.C. in positions of power to whom the border is just a nuisance, and I think some of them believe that illegal immigration is a moral good. It is not. It undermines legal immigration.
I think, under President Obama, who was a really bright guy - I didn't agree with a lot of his politics - but we got to the point internationally where our friends didn't trust us. They were confused. And our enemies didn't quite respect us.
Most of us believe, or should believe, that every child can learn, given the opportunity, but try substitute teaching just once and you will see firsthand the socioeconomic issues that distract our kids from taking advantage of that opportunity.
Algorithms diminish public safety in this country. They ask us to pretend that lengthy arrest records and violent crimes don't matter. They ask police to scoop up the bad guys only for the courts to immediately release them. They turn us into a bad joke.
Beto's copy of the Bill of Rights goes from one to three. Mine includes the Second Amendment. But there are a whole host of people here in Washington... they would be happy to confiscate America's guns. And if you don't believe that, then you probably also still believe in Bigfoot.
Jurisdictions across the U.S. are snapping up algorithms as tools to help judges make bail and bond decisions. They're being sold as race- and gender-neutral assessments that allow judges to use science in determining whether someone will behave if released from jail pending trial.
When you look at how much we spend on social programs in our country, it separates us from a lot of countries. In our country, if you're hungry, we'll feed you. If you're homeless, we'll house you. If you're too poor to be sick, we'll pay for your doctor. But all of that comes at a cost.
The Iranians have shot down drones. They tried to destroy the Saudi oil fields. They tried to storm our embassy. So, when my Democratic friends say we need appeasement, well appeasement hasn't worked. And I think that we've learned, with respect to Iran, that weakness invites the wolves.
My mind doesn't work, my memories don't work like a computer file where I can just retrieve them and, boy, there it is. My mind is selective in terms of memories. When I try to think back to college or high school, there are gaps. I try to fill them in. But I can't tell you it's always the truth.
I filed the MSRB Reform Act, along with Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Doug Jones, because the board that oversees the muni-bond market is too secretive and too incestuous. Its membership shares the same DNA. That means the rulebook for municipal bonds is in the hands of a board that resembles a revolving door of longtime industry confederates.