One of my heroes growing up was Jackie Robinson. My mom, an ardent baseball fan from whom I got my love of the game, had an old baseball card of his from the 1950s and told us his amazing story of courage in integrating baseball.

Democratic, Republican members of Congress get along fine. But what you have is this institutional Hatfield and McCoy sentiment coming from our constituents, where the base of both sides doesn't want people to get along. But the majority of Americans, I feel, the majority, they are in the middle. They actually do want both sides to get together.

No American should have to live in constant fear that their employer can fire them just because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

It's critical to show that we can meet our commitment to students with disabilities without raising taxes and without increasing the deficit. In the past, there's been strong support for full funding and I'm still hearing that from many of my colleagues.

Our job as leaders is to find those innovators and release their mojo - lean startup-style - to serve the American people better.

I think that women are often underestimated - our suggestions, our advice, our leadership style. I think one of the reasons that that happens is women are much less likely to blow their own horn and brag about everything that they've done.

In many ways, Mitt Romney and I are very different. Different starts in life. Different paths to leadership. Different cultures.

Leadership and management are not synonymous.