“A company's best advantage should be a quality product offered at the right price. That fair competition is what drives innovation.”

“Access to quality, affordable health care is particularly important here in Maine, where many of us own small businesses or are self-employed.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“During the summer of 2009, the debate on health care reform was emotional and intense. At its best, it represented the free exchange of ideas that makes this country great. At its worst, it generated death threats and acts of violence.”

“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.”

“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 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.”

“In Maine, we are fortunate to have a Clean Elections system that allows legislators to turn down corporate special interest money. At the national level, Congress should follow Maine's example by empowering the voices of small donors.”

“In my home state of Maine, we've seen out-of-state groups with anonymous donors spend millions of dollars to campaign against issues that don't fit their agenda.”

“Incredibly, oil and gas companies don't have to pay certain environmental costs that amount to small change to them, while an offshore wind project start-up is faced with fees that could mean the difference between building a wind farm and packing up and going home.”

“It's crazy that the Constitution has to be amended to clarify what for the majority of Americans is a clear and true statement: corporations are not people.”

“Maine people have a live-and-let-live philosophy, and tend to be fair and open-minded.”

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

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

“One of the first members of Congress I met when I was first elected in 2008 was Barney Frank.”

“Our businesses can't create jobs when they're losing revenue, and the unemployed can't apply for jobs when they can't pay their phone bill.”

“People's mouse clicks decide what businesses, services, and content succeed. Users have equal access to tiny businesses with viral ideas and blue-chip companies, allowing these enterprises to compete on their own merits. It's how so many small start-ups have been able to become Internet success stories.”

“Renewable energy has economic advantages that extend beyond steady, predictable electric rates - and Maine is in a good position to capitalize on those opportunities.”

“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.”

“The founding leaders of our country believed in a three-part sharing of governmental power, with each branch jealously watching the actions of the other two.”

“There is an incredible renewable energy resource off both coasts of this country - wind and tidal energy that can power our economy, create good paying jobs and reduce greenhouse gas pollution.”

“When I was in the Maine Senate and proposed Maine RX - a plan to lower prescription drug costs by forcing the pharmaceutical companies to negotiate - I was told by many people that it was too big an idea, and we couldn't overcome opposition from the drug companies.”

“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.'”