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I am proud to be in the Senate. I have always been proud to be a part of our political system. It is a remarkable privilege to participate in this system of ours.

My tenure in the Senate was really as an independent and whichever, regardless of party label.

I belong to the Democratic Party.

I can honestly say that being a United States Senator has been the honor of my life.

I'm a results-oriented person and my Senate record shows that.

We have a lot of thoughtful people in the U.S. Senate.

I'm not serving in office because I desperately needed 99 new friends in the U.S. Senate.

I'm also politically independent so I'm not a fan of either the Democrats in Congress or the Republicans in Congress.

I've come to realize that an unencumbered U.S. senator is a profound threat to the whole system. It's somebody that they can't put in a box and say, 'Oh, well, we know how this guy is going to vote.'