To put that into some perspective, when Bill Clinton and Al Gore had first taken the idea of the Kyoto Protocol up to the Congress, the United States Senate voted it down 95 to nothing.

Voting is the only way to make change in a democracy.

To forget that the EPA was borne out of public demand is to invite a real backlash.

Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference has never tried to fall asleep with a mosquito in the room.

While I support making improvements in the Affordable Care Act, trying to enact them while holding the government and our economic recovery hostage is reckless and irresponsible.

For me, Barack Obama's election was a milestone of the most extraordinary kind. On the day he was elected I felt such hope in my heart. I thought we were seeing the beginning of a new era of equal opportunity across race and gender such as America had never known before.

Our political system has been bankrupted by the failures of Congress to act in ways that give meaning to the struggles our constituents endure.

Here is the most important thing for us all to remember, for the sake of our common sanity and safety: In America, the right to vote and democratically elect a president is just as precious and valued as the right to protest and express yourself against that president.