Kevin McCarthy
The best thing for the American public is that we do our job. That Washington changes. That the Senate and the House get together and fix their differences and find common ground.
I will tell you that the special relationship that America has with the Israeli people transcends any of the politics.
I started my first business when I was 19. I learned a valuable lesson as a small business owner. You are the first one to work, last one to leave, and last one to be paid.
Politically correct speech will not defeat the enemy.
I like to be around people, so I ended up being roommates, right? I had a house. I lived with four guys.
The whip's office is almost more educational - educating members on the bill itself, listening to members ahead of time.
I think there's an ability to make an immigration system that works.
I started a deli when I was 19 years old. Kevin O's. The sandwiches at Kevin O's were a little like Subway before Subway - fresh baked bread. My best seller was turkey with cream cheese and artichoke hearts. I just made it up.
If you're in the minority, every advantage is against you, right? So the only advantage you have against the majority is they're too lazy to know their own rules, right? So it's like a game of poker.
The only way that I can do better than someone else, maybe they're better at something else, but they'll never beat me at work.
It's the old Washington fiscal game of Jenga. You try to build as much debt as you can take, as much tax as you can take, until you topple the entire economy.
We are committed to doing trade, tax reform, infrastructure. All we need is someone that wants to work with us.
Being whip is working with members, educating them, and trying to move legislation forward.
Everybody has a say, everybody has a voice, because everyone that comes to the House had about 750,000 people they're representing . And you want those voices heard.
You can't serve on every committee. But you can know what happened, what the debate was, who said what.
I'm willing to fight, but I want to fight to win.
If we engage in a conflict that we know this is a threat to America, we should make it so one-sided that it gets over very quickly.
Too many people in Washington care about power institutions, not caring about changing the lives of everyday Americans.
Budgets are blueprints and priorities.
We have the best-trained military in the world.
I try to drive my office more as a start-up of ideas.
The thing that we tell - that I tell - members is, 'Vote your district. Vote your conscience; just don't surprise us.'
You have to reform the visa program. The chain migration system doesn't work. You need a guest workers program.
The first priority of the Republican majority is the security of Americans.
I met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, visited our allies in the Arab Gulf, traveled to Tunisia and Iraq, met with President Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine, and visited our allies in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
America is nation of people striving to make life better for themselves and for their families.
Outside of the family, education is the greatest determinant of social mobility.
I believe you can work with anybody.
The edge of a black hole, the event horizon, is a boundary that marks the point of no return. Once an object crosses the event horizon, it cannot escape and will be ripped to pieces, atom by atom.
When gross public debt exceeds 90 percent of GDP, economic growth tends to decline considerably.
You cannot be the leader of the free world and sit on the sidelines and tweet and think you're going to get the job done.
When I think of the future, I think of my 15 year old son Connor and my 12 year old daughter Meghan. I worry about their future because your kids are as important to you as mine are to me. And I am unwilling to leave our children with so much debt.
I want a leader that sets out a path. I want one that doesn't just talk about cuts, but talks about the shining city on the hill. We're only going to get out of this problem if we grow this economy.
I don't live in D.C. I keep an air mattress in my office.
I'm a conservative. I believe in the idea of freedom and liberty, but more importantly, look at my voting background. I voted against bailing out Wall Street. I voted against, never voted for, a tax increase.
My family was not Republicans. I'm the youngest. I came to this party based upon choice.
I believe the Constitution matters: that it's not just a few pieces of paper.
Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.
What you really want to do is sit down and find a place that you can control government spending and raise more revenue.
Most accountants will tell you the majority of small businesses run as an S Corporation.
Small business creates more jobs than large corporations.
We're going to have to control the spending of government.
There's a staircase on the first floor of the Capitol that I walk every day. It's made of marble, and as you walk those steps, you think of those who've walked before you. You think of the challenges that the country's faced.
My wife Judy and I have two kids: Connor, 17, and Meghan, who is 14. My wife and I no longer worry about what we become - we are worried about what our children become.
Energy is the issue I care most about.
I think there are changes in the environment. There are a lot of items to contribute to it.
I do believe in the free market.
We know the Constitution gives the purse strings to the House.
Many times, the Senate talks of things and never gets anything through.