Claire McCaskill

“We shouldn't deny the right of the minority to filibuster, but we need to do a much better job of making them own it. That way, the American people could figure out who is being obstructionist and who is willing to compromise.”

“No commander in chief would ever say, 'I'm not going to listen to the guys on the ground.'”

“The political system loves the extremes, it doesn't so much show a lot love for the moderates.”

“It seems to me that before we give federal funds to police departments, we ought to mandate that they have body cams.”

“It's very American, making a lot of money.”

“My first obligation is my job. It's very hard to really get into campaign mode when you've got to focus on doing the work.”

“We still have not been able to move into those positions in our country that are really directing traffic among that 1 percent, and that's where women have to break through.”

“What we have done with No Child Left Behind is squeeze the creativity out of the classroom because teachers have begun to just teaching to the test.”

“Clearly, a large number of African-Americans don't have faith that the laws are being executed fairly in Ferguson, and that's a problem... We need to ensure Africans-Americans feel confident in the rule of law.”

“I'm a moderate. I hang out in the middle. I vote against my party with some regularity and try to compromise. It doesn't appear right now that the Republican Party is welcoming moderates any more.”

“The Missourians I hear from just don't buy the idea that the only way to tackle the national debt is to drastically alter Medicare and Social Security.”

“You know I think the president has to really focus on getting elected to a second term in 2012. And I need to focus on making sure I'm accountable to the people of Missouri.”

“Frankly, earmarking is not the problem. It is a symptom of the problem.”

“I think there are certain folks in Missouri that don't trust government. And they haven't trusted government for a long time.”

“I was in the room with, you know, more than a dozen Republicans trying to negotiate the stimulus. Most of them decided the politics of the situation meant they should walk away, even if it wasn't responsible in terms of what our country needed right then.”

“Many countries struggle and never get to the point where people have faith that laws are executed fairly.”

“Many civil rights came about, not when they were passed into law, but because the federal government did what it should and saw them enforced.”

“You have to be willing to offend in order to make progress.”

“I have been very independent from day I arrived in Washington.”

“There's nothing that irritates Americans more than the fact that some members of Congress think they are entitled to their own set of rules. And it's true - too many people in Washington live in an alternate reality.”