Dianne Feinstein

“Congressional overseers and the public must be given appropriate insight into government activities as well as their legal rationale to ensure America's values are being upheld and our interests advanced.”

“We cannot expect to keep our nation's secrets secure - or provide meaningful oversight for our intelligence agencies - if proper classification of our country's secrets is as likely as a coin flip.”

“Supreme Court justices should not be an extension of the Republican Party.”

“Global warming is real. It is happening today. It is being charted by our satellites. It is being charted by our scientists. It is being charted by those of us in this body, and I think the real key is if we are ready to admit that fact and take the action to make the necessary conversion.”

“College costs continue to rise, and student loan debt threatens to price many Americans out of a college education and out of the middle class.”

“The criteria for serving one's country should be competence, courage and willingness to serve. When we deny people the chance to serve because of their sexual orientation, we deprive them of their rights of citizenship, and we deprive our armed forces the service of willing and capable Americans.”

“Our system of checks and balances requires policymakers to have accurate information about government actions.”

“We have a chance to wind down and expedite the removal of 96 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. What an achievement it would be, if at the end of the next administration, we could say that the nuclear arsenals of both Russia and the United States had been reduced to the barest minimums.”

“As a former nine-year member of the Board of Supervisors and nine-year mayor, I know firsthand the merits of strong zoning laws. They protect residential areas so they can support families and be free of commercial activities that are not related to neighborhood needs.”

“Well, that day is gone, and it will not occur again.”

“My mother emigrated from Russia as a young child. She couldn't speak English and had no education. Her father died at age 32, leaving the family destitute. An uncle, who worked as a carpenter, supported the family.”

“Yes, I support the death penalty. It is an issue that cannot be fudged or hedged.”

“America is big enough to admit when it's wrong and confident enough to learn from its mistakes.”

“Women have begun to see that if I go through that doorway, I take everybody through it.”

“In addition to being a terrorist recruiting tool, Guantanamo is a huge drain on taxpayer dollars.”

“It is my belief that tax credits only go to people who are making money, and they generally keep it.”

“In the wake of 9/11, we were desperate to bring those responsible for the brutal attacks to justice. But even that urgency did not justify torture. The United States must be held to a higher standard than our enemies, yet some of our actions did not clear that bar.”

“Rogue internet pharmacies continue to pose a serious threat to the health and safety of Americans. Simply put, a few unethical physicians and pharmacists have become drug suppliers to a nation.”

“Survival is nothing more than recovery.”

“Nuclear weapons present us with a paradox: We spend billions of dollars building and maintaining them in the hope that we never have to use them.”