Chellie Pingree

“I think we've found a better solution on North Haven and Vinalhaven: Instead of paying increasing expensive electric bills every month, with the money going out of our community, out of state, and even out of the country, the wind turbines bring the promise of decades of steady rates with the money staying right here.”

“I am especially proud of taking on issues most central to the health of our American democracy.”

“One of the reasons I wanted to leave my position at Common Cause and return to politics was to regain the freedom to speak out politically - to not be constrained by a non-partisan organization.”

“With Net Neutrality, the level playing field that gave us Google, YouTube and eBay when they were start-ups would suddenly start to tilt in favor of the big, established players.”

“As more and more people reach the Internet by mobile phone, we should make sure users are getting the open access they believe they're paying for.”

“I work in a world of words - words that inspire, words that persuade and, increasingly, words that can send the message that it is acceptable to hate.”

“The FCC can and indeed should do more to protect the Internet as the free and open environment people have come to expect and depend on - which is why we need to stand up to attacks on the FCC's authority.”

“When you're elected to Congress, you take a vow to uphold the Constitution and its system of checks and balances. That vow doesn't say, 'Unless it's politically uncomfortable.'”

“Net Neutrality - a guiding principle of the Internet since its beginning - means that content is all treated equally.”

“Corporations serve an important purpose, but telling people how to vote isn't one of them.”

“I'm always amazed how many politicians have a very unlikely story, and when I talk to groups of students, I remind them that not everybody who gets into politics is a lawyer or went to school to study it. We all come to it for different reasons.”

“No one branch of the U.S. government should have supremacy over the other two.”

“Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has been one of my good friends in the House of Representatives. When she was brutally shot, Gabby was out doing what she loved to do - meeting with her constituents in a local setting, allowing people to speak to her directly about the issues that concerned them.”

“We need to make Net Neutrality the law. We need to elect a Congress that will make it a priority to keep this important principal intact - and insure equal and open access to the Internet for all.”

“As president of Common Cause, I joined a coalition of groups ranging from the Christian Coalition to Consumers Union, and we went to Congress with over a million signatures asking that Net Neutrality be made law.”

“I live on an island, and my community is served by a ferry that goes three times a day.”

“I never thought I'd see the day when the U.S. government could listen in on phone conversations or read private mail without first obtaining a warrant from a court. That sounds more like something that happened in the Soviet Union.”

“For too long, the system has been biased in favor of oil and gas developers: sweetheart lease deals, generous subsidies and a regulatory process so slanted in favor of Big Oil that often permit reviews are simply waived.”

“Having started and owned two small businesses, I know what a challenge it is to keep up with the rising costs of your employees' healthcare premiums.”

“When I stood up to oppose an invasion of Iraq in 2002, it wasn't a popular thing to do.”