Raul Labrador

I was actually born and raised in Puerto Rico. I was born to a single mom. She was a wonderful woman, and she taught me to believe in myself, to work hard, play by the rules. She wanted me to get a good education, and she just told me that the best thing I could do is just study hard.

I get along with Democrats really well, and I think that's something that's unreported. I think it's partly my libertarian tendencies.

The Democratic Party believes that health insurance is a social responsibility of the nation. I believe that health insurance is an individual responsibility. And that's a really hard philosophy to mesh.

I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud I grew up in Puerto Rico.

It would be a travesty, in my opinion, to treat those who violated our laws to get here much better than those who have patiently waited their turn to come to the United States the right way.

My mom worked at McDonald's, and she decided she wanted to make more money, so she got into the management program at McDonald's. And that's how you move up the chain. It's not by demanding that minimum wage is raised; it's by actually acquiring the skills. That's the way that people get ahead in life.

I'm 100 percent behind the Second Amendment. I believe it's not just a hunting right. It's a right for everyone to carry their weapons.

I always get a little bit frustrated with Republicans, because we always talk about job creators, and really who we should be talking to is their employees.

The Republicans are not anti-Latinos. You know, I tell the story all the time that the Tea Party is the one that has actually brought out the Latinos. Look at Idaho. I actually ran against a person in my primary who was born and raised in Idaho who happened to be Caucasian, and they elected the guy who was from Puerto Rico with an accent.

I think what they're looking for is for us to keep our promises and to do the simple things, like cutting spending and being responsible.

There has been evidence throughout history of cycles when the earth gets warmer and cycles when the earth gets colder. We should always be wise stewards of the earth and all of our natural resources. But as a policymaker, I won't be guided by the global warming propaganda machine. Al Gore - we need you to return your Nobel Peace Prize!

I agree with President Obama and Attorney General Holder that we need to reform our criminal sentencing laws.

I've always believed that immigration reform is important, but it won't decide the White House in 2016. The most important issue for Hispanics - just like with all Americans - is the economy. If Republicans can do a better job of articulating positive, conservative policies to grow our economy, we will do better with Hispanics.

It's disappointing that President Obama - who ran for office in 2008 saying he was going to be a fiscally responsible president - has caused the largest deficits and the largest debt in American history.

The left claims that Republicans hate Hispanics, which is just the most ludicrous thing I've ever heard, and the right just claims all we need to do is close the borders and do nothing else, which is also ridiculous.

The most biased people are the Democrats.

I was fortunate enough to be an American citizen by birth and I have the birth certificate to prove it.