I am very proud of my public record and the many accomplishments of my office. It has been a tremendous honor to represent the 6th District of Texas for over three decades, but now it is time to step aside and let there be a new voice.

The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice. It is fitting that the House act to protect it as we approach our nation's birthday, and as our men and women in uniform rally behind it in Iraq's battlefields.

If we start - premise that the information is mine, and we give the individual's rights, we worry about what happens during a breach. If you try to protect access to it, as opposed to not even making it available, you have less to worry about who will break the wall.

There's no way you should try to send somebody back who came here as a child with their parents and who's grown up here in the United States. They're Americans.

When times are tough and people are frustrated and angry and hurting and uncertain, the politics of constant conflict may be good, but what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world. What works in the real world is cooperation.

I had a job to take care of my parents, to take care of some bills at the house, because my daddy wasn't working. I had to figure out how to make that all work at one time. I was working at Boston Market... I told my coach, 'I can't play football because I have to make money to help my mom.'

Freedom and democracy are dreams you never give up.

My goal was to build a meaningful sports business that operates at the highest levels in the areas of business that we compete in. I have an intense desire to be successful, and I'm extremely competitive.