Mike DeWine Quotations

One of the most important things that I have learned in my 57 years is that life is all about choices. On every journey you take, you face choices. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. And it is those decisions that shape our lives.

The entertainment industry is encouraging young people to defy and deceive their parents.

Judges need to restrict themselves to the proper resolution of the case before them. They need to avoid the temptation to set broad policy.

It is my mission to ensure that HIV-positive children and children with AIDS are no longer overlooked and that they begin receiving the treatment and care they deserve.

This is a time for a national conversation. A conversation about the document that binds us as a nation and a people. That document, of course, is the Constitution.

Since its inception, our Nation has stood on the foundations of compassion and justice.

In his brief 21 years on this earth, Michael Smith Jr. touched countless lives.

We're not going to talk about campaign tactics,

Usually I can get a feel for how something's going to go, but I can't figure this one out. It's not clear to me at all what this bill is going to look like.

We are here to honor David for his unrelenting service and for his willingness to fight for us ... and all the ideals we all hold so dear,

There are very few times you can go to the Senate floor and save lives, ... We have it within our power to spare the loss of a child. It is something we ought to do.

When you put on that black robe and assume your spot on the Supreme Court, you will surely bring with you your heart and your soul, the values you learned from your parents and others that you learned as you grew up in the wide open fields of your youth, ... I must say, sir, they must never leave you.

I have always been pro-life, and I have felt very strongly about this from the first day I went to Washington, D.C., as a congressman in 1983.

I expect these hearings will show that you have the appropriate philosophy to lead our nation into the future.

What I saw with my kids was consistent with what I had been hearing, ... I looked around at local (Washington, D.C., driving) schools ... and could not find one that anyone would tell me was a great school.

we look forward to presenting that record to the voters next year.

He was real upbeat and very, very positive. He was trying to pump everyone up.

It is a unique and exciting project that certainly lives up to the billing.

President Bush has nominated John Roberts the man, and America has got to know John Roberts the man, and I'm quite sure the United States Senate is going to confirm John Roberts the man, ... Please don't check any of that at the door when you walk into the United States Supreme Court.

Many fear that our court is making policy, when it repeatedly strikes down laws passed by Congress and the state legislatures,

We now have what, for the general public, would appear at least to be a rather ludicrous situation. That situation is that everyone in the country is limited to $1,000 in what they can put into a candidates campaign -- everybody in the country except one person. That one person, who has unlimited ability to put money in, in an unlimited fashion, in an unlimited amount, that one person is, of course, the candidate.

That's the way life is. If you don't measure it, it is easier for it to be forgotten,

Michael was also a volunteer firefighter for the Bethany Pike Fire Department in West Virginia, which he formally joined when he was 18 years old,

We need you to bring to the court your compassion and your understanding for the lives of others who haven't been as successful as you have been.

We got the money because we thought it was an exciting idea that would really help the handicapped, the elderly and anyone else wanting to come fish,

walk into a room, and no one was a stranger to him.

When you first look at it, you think, 'It's not such a big deal,' ... But when you realize the possible implications, somebody using one of these to go 80 miles an hour through rapidly changing lights, you realize it could be life-threatening.

We moved the president's agenda and have a Supreme Court nominee whom people are happy with,

We already have seen the serious congestion and frustrating delays that passengers face when one of the major airlines has labor difficulties. I shudder -- I shudder to think of the impact on the flying public if a merged United-US Airways would face a work stoppage.

There's no easy way to do it, ... Frankly, it's worked out the best for us because that way I get to see the kids every night when I come home for dinner.

After high school, Michael wanted to take the next step and help his country. When he was 17, he urged his mother to support his decision to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. Though she was hesitant, Marianne knew her son would follow his own path.

One day before he died, Michael was able to talk to Alicia via satellite phone. Alicia said that 'he just called to tell me he loved me with all his heart and soul,'

That tells the story better than we've been able to tell the story,

This is a time for a national conversation ? a conversation about the document that binds us as a nation and a people. That document, of course, is the Constitution.

This is not someone who is out on the fringes at all,

This is really what we anticipated when we wrote the law,

This individual will ultimately be judged not by any one particular decision he will make, but by a perception about what type of person the attorney general was, ... How did they conduct their office? What kind of respect did they have? Did they bring honesty, integrity and courage to the job?

There's a lot of scenarios. You could have three confirmation hearings at the same time if the president picks someone on the current court to become the next chief justice.

It's hard for me to envision that anyone would think about filibustering this nominee,

I know Michael's fellow Marines and his family will forever cherish the memory of their comrade, son, brother, husband and father. His tremendous capacity for love shaped their lives. We will never forget him.

I put a lot of emphasis on children's issues. Children are many times ignored because they don't vote, and they don't have lobby groups.

He basically stabbed pro-life people in the back by joining the Gang of 14,

Judges are not members of Congress, they're not state legislators, governors, nor presidents. Their job is not to pass laws, implement regulations, nor to make policy.

After all, our Constitution was intended as a popular document. It was drafted and ratified by the people. It established democratic institutions. It entrusts the people with the power to make the tough decisions. And, in most cases, it prefers the will of the people to the unchecked rule of judges.

When it comes to our Constitution, judges perform, certainly, an important role. But the people, acting through their elected representatives, should play an even more important role.

When it comes to the Supreme Court, the American people have only two times when they have any input into how our Constitution is interpreted and who will have the privilege to do so.First, we elect a president who has the power to nominate justices to the Supreme Court.Second, the people, acting through their representatives in the Senate, have their say on whether the president's nominee should in fact be confirmed.

While the president is to nominate that individual [to Supreme Court], we in the Senate must provide our advice and consent. This function is not well-defined. The Constitution does not set down a road map. It does not require hearings. In fact, it does not even require questioning on your understanding of the Constitution nor the role of the Supreme Court.

There's no typical person [addicted to heroin]. It just has permeated every segment of society in Ohio.

There's no psychological barrier anymore that stops a young person or an older person from taking heroin.

There is no place in Ohio where you couldn't have drugs delivered to you in 15, 20 minutes.

It's in every single county. It's in our cities but it's also in our wealthier suburbs. It's in our small towns. There is no place in Ohio where you can hide from drug epidemic .

In my opinion, Chief Justice Roberts put it best during his recent confirmation hearings. And he said, and I quote, "The framers were not the sort of people, having fought a revolution to get the right of self-government to sit down and say, 'Well, let's take all the difficult issues before us and let's have the judges decide them.' That would have been the farthest thing from their mind," however, I fear that the Supreme Court forgets this advice.

Without question, the court does play a vital role in our constitutional system.

Sometimes local, state and federal laws so clearly run afoul of the Constitution that the court must step in and strike them down. In most cases, the court performs this admirably and with great restraint.

The Constitution empowers the people to resolve our day's most contentious issues. When judges forget this basic truth, they do a disservice to our democracy and to our constitution.

Some have even suggested that this recent trend has transformed our democracy from one founded on, "We the people," to one ruled by, "We the court."

I'm not the first to have raised these democratic concerns. Many have faulted the court for its lack of clarity in certain cases and many have criticized its recent lack of deference to decisions made by state legislatures and Congress.

Our constitutional system is founded on democracy: the will of the people, not the unchecked rule of judges.

Im for the fracking. I think its an opportunity for Ohio to really get a lot of jobs. But we have to do it right. We have to really take a deep breath, do it right, make sure the public is protected, make sure our land is protected.

I have seen the cycle of a non-violent, mentally ill offender who is arrested repeatedly and put into the system repeatedly-never being treated for his illness and, as a result, becoming more and more ill.

That very document [Constitution] does little to serve people when Supreme Court decisions are written so that even high-priced lawyers can't figure them out.

I put a lot of emphasis on childrens issues. Children are many times ignored because they dont vote, and they dont have lobby groups.

In 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt reminded us that the Constitution is, and I quote, "a layman's document, not a lawyer's contract."

On every journey you take, you are met with options. At every fork in the road, you make a choice. These are the decisions that shape your life.

To add to the confusion, some of the court's decisions involved multiple concurrences and dissents, making it hard even for lawyers and judges to figure out what the law is and why.

I find it personally distracting when kids are constantly texting, but they can be texting something that is just benign and just fine.

The court's recent decisions have made life more difficult for the democratic institutions that perform the day- to-day work of our nation.

Well, you know, my wife and I have eight children. We have now 19 grandchildren.

You know, kids text a lot today. It's phenomenal.

Yeah, look, I think what we have with the social media and the digital media, and all the telecommunications we have today is a big megaphone, amplification.

This is the worst drug epidemic I've seen in my lifetime.

If Congress were to censure, fine or otherwise try to punish a president, it would dramatically alter the balance of power between the branches..

To be elected president, you have to do more than tear down your opponents. You have to give the American people a reason to vote for you - a reason to hope - a reason to believe that under your leadership, America will be better.