Quotes by Charles Schumer

"I believe the war on terror is the vital discussion of this decade and of our generation, probably. To win the war on terror, you need a good offense and a good defense. On defense, I regret to say, basically, this administration has not come close to doing what is necessary."

"A devastating commentary on the war in Iraq is that we have been unable to spend money on infrastructure."

"Arafat was a barrier to peace."

"Voters did say 'repeal health care,' they did say 'reduce the size of government.' But not a single one of them from the tea party or anywhere said 'give tax breaks to the wealthiest.'"

"I respect people who feel things passionately. I do. But when someone is a judge, that is not what they should bring to the bench. It is not really passion, except in rare instances, that serves the bench well. It is, rather, an ability to understand the law and follow it."

"You can set up whatever negotiations or structure you want, but until the Palestinians are willing to accept the fact, as the majority of Israelis do, that there should be two states between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, we won't have peace."

"I told the President, I told Rahm Emanuel and others in the administration that I thought the policy they took to try to bring about negotiations is counter-productive, because when you give the Palestinians hope that the United States will do its negotiating for them, they are not going to sit down and talk."

"There are many reasons why Mitt Romney should not become president, but perhaps the most important of all is the narrowness of his experience, perspective and vision."

"We certainly want those at the top to do well, but if you base your entire presidency and your entire economic platform on helping them do even better, you're missing what makes the economy tick. Because not everyone has been as fortunate as Mitt Romney, you cannot base your whole approach on a life experience as rarified as his."

"I think teaching should be an exalted profession, not a picked-on profession."

"I made education the highest priority of my campaign - actually education and jobs - and the reason is a simple one: I think the future of America depends on it."

"You do have to change things as warfare changes."

"Barack Obama knows that to create an economy built to last, we need to focus on middle-class families. Families who stay up on Sunday nights pacing the floor, like my dad did, while their children, tucked in bed, dream big dreams. Families who aren't sure what Monday morning will bring, but who believe our nation's best days are still ahead."

"So I want my kids to go to public schools because I think it's a better education overall."

"Well, I think it's too early to call Fallujah a failure."

"Giving up even an ounce of precious freedom is a very serious thing to do."

"I'd like to see the health care professionals making decisions, not some bureaucrat in Indianapolis working for an insurance company."

"If we are going to stay a great power and I hope and pray we will we need the truth. We need to know what is going right and we need to know what is going wrong. There is no greater time than now."

"When one has success, the answer is not to undo that success. It is to continue what has been done."

"We are on the precipice of a crisis, a Constitutional crisis. The checks and balances, which have been at the core of this Republic, are about to be evaporated by the nuclear option. The checks and balances that say if you get 51% of the vote, you don't get your way 100% of the time. It is amazing, it's almost a temper tantrum."

"I'm strongly for a patient Bill of Rights. Decisions ought to be made by doctors, not accountants."