Mark Kirk Quotes

The tough thing about these senatorial jobs is you get 'yes' or 'no' votes. Your whole job is to either say 'yes' or 'no' and explain why.

Secretary Rumsfeld used to represent parts of our district in the 1960s. I think that he and his team have done a masterful job in defeating Iraqi forces quickly and decisively.

To go through the agonizing process of learning how to walk again and write again and speak again makes you much more empathetic to people.

Alexi Giannoulias' top aide was a longtime BP lobbyist.

When you look at the state of the economy right now, you have to set a priority. And my top priority is the deficit of jobs and economic growth, and especially this perception that the United States could be falling behind especially Asian economies.

For Tammy Duckworth to blame the junior senator from Illinois for Islamic terror shows that she is a naive fool not fit for office in the Senate.

And taking more money out of the private economy and having the government perform as it has poorly done with the stimulus I don't think is the right way to go.

I want to make sure we have elected people constantly looking at helping the African-American community.

The biggest challenge I have with Washingtonians is they think Illinois is exclusively a Democratic state.

I would say that I definitely became much more religious. They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and this stroke put me into a very deep foxhole. Yet that feeling of faith sustained me, so I have no feelings of anger or regret.

I've always backed energy independence policies, but I've heard from people on this issue like no other. The energy interests of Illinois are far broader and deeper than my North Shore district.

The key lesson of the 1930s is that appeasement leads directly to war.

Over time, the federal government should move the nation to a single standard, clean-burning gasoline.

With all this rehab, for me just to walk was a huge effort. I had to re-learn how to walk again after the stroke. And all the rehab and all the effort shows the mental determination times 10 to keep serving.

The Constitution is a total living document that can change quite a bit.

I'm still a reservist. We have three drilling reservists in the Senate. Senator Graham serves in the Air Force, Senator Brown serves in the Army, and I serve in the Navy.

Donald Trump is kind of a riverboat gamble. He won the Illinois primary; in this case, we have seen the Republican vote up and the Democratic vote down, so it looks like it's a net benefit.

Every American born today owes $43,000 to the federal government the day she or he is born. And we are transferring a tremendous amount of debt to the new generation, much of it owed to overseas creditors who expect to be repaid by our children with interest.

I would say the difference between 'old Mark' and post-stroke Mark ... is that pre-stroke Mark was a major micromanager. I just don't have the time or inclination to micromanage as much as I used to.

I've got a chart here that shows our debt-to-GDP ratio. And while we did run deficits in the past, we now number our debt in trillions rather than in billions. And I think that represents a long-term danger, especially to the, the American dream.

We need to focus on issues where we all agree, which is spending discipline and control and making sure that government, both in Springfield and in Washington, doesn't take more from your family budget.

Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back- government has no place in the middle.