When I was growing up, we used to play basketball in a park that was never shoveled when it snowed. The basketball rims were never fixed. And we understood then that there was a relationship between public policy and our quality of life.

The Election Assistance Commission represents a major, unprecedented commitment from the federal government to sustained freedom and vibrant democracy. I am humbled by the prospect of being one its charter members.

My sense was that most of the elected officials in Washington - in their heart of hearts - really believe that the system can't be too bad because it produced them.

We had to depend on other institutions to do research on our behalf. We had to use the information that already existed to craft the best practices to distribute throughout the country. And we had to do all of that in ten months.

We have no basis for having a recall of any particular type of voting equipment because there are no standards. And when we do have standards, even these standards are required to be voluntary.

When Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002, I was thrilled to learn that the federal government would offer resources to all states to assist them in enhancing the voting process in America.

I found that there is very little interest in Washington for true election reform. That neither the White House nor either house of the Congress seems to be as committed to guaranteeing democratic participation in this country as we seem to be in other countries.

It's an embarrassment that we don't have a broad enough consensus among political leaders that true reform should take place. I could count the members of Congress on one hand that took these issues seriously.

Beyond that, states had to also have electronic voting machines that made it possible for people who are physically handicapped to vote in private... and the computerized voting machine made it very easy for, particularly, the blind.

I was the Secretary of State of New Jersey in November 2000. I paid careful attention to the challenges that stemmed from inadequate voting systems in various places.

Voting is the foundational act that breathes life into the principle of the consent of the governed.

And when people in power can stay in power they do very little to tinker with the apparatus that put them in power.

I started out as a 16 year old registering people to vote.

What we say is that democracy means that you have the right to vote without intimidation and undue burdens. But if you stand in line for six hours, technically, today there is no document, no standard, no law that says that that's wrong.

When public access to voting is impaired or when public confidence in voting is diluted, democracy suffers and our freedom is less secure.

When I was growing up, we used to play basketball in a park that was never shoveled when it snowed. The basketball rims were never fixed. And we understood then that there was a relationship between public policy and our quality of life.

Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps.

I've done a lot of basketball drills, not a whole lot of competitive stuff. I have basically been in the gym everyday working on my game, working on the time off that I've had from the game, just getting myself prepared mentally and physically for the season.

Basketball is in my blood. It is my obligation to try.

As I've said, basketball has been, I think, a real cooperative venture. There have been a lot of people that have been involved in it: coaches, administrators - not recently - fans and nobody, nobody any more so than students over the years.

It's very warm there, so we were outdoors all the time. The local people had programs for us year-round, where as kids we had the opportunity to play football, basketball, baseball, track and field - we just went from one sport to the next, year-round.

A basketball team is like the five fingers on your hand. If you can get them all together, you have a fist. That's how I want you to play.

I've tried to handle winning well, so that maybe we'll win again, but I've also tried to handle failure well. If those serve as good examples for teachers and kids, then I hope that would be a contribution I have made to sport. Not just basketball, but to sport.

My father was a soccer player. All my friends played basketball though, so I stuck with basketball.

Someday I might have to put down a basketball and have a regular 9-to-5 like everybody else.

I think we have our sports within our own culture that are huge with baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Those are the sports in America that we grow up with and soccer isn't really there yet.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

Both of us played basketball, and I played tennis and my knees are done. Now if you ask us head-to-head who wins at golf, I'm asking for a couple of strokes.

In the original script, my character was a basketball player rather than a boxer. I didn't think I could pull that off. I'm a little short to be a basketball player!

I like basketball, and I've been to three games, which is so much more fun than seeing it on TV, I think.

As all of us with any involvement in sports knows, no two umpires or no two referees have the same strike zone or call the same kind of a basketball game.

I wanted a NBA basketball gym at my house and that's what I worked hard for and I was able to achieve that.

Basketball is like war in that offensive weapons are developed first, and it always takes a while for the defense to catch up.

I just want to try to ignore the scrutiny and all the distractions and just play hard basketball and let the best come... Improving game by game and trying to improve my game is what I want to do.

A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you're going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.

Handball, swimming, running, jumping, basketball, and boxing were as much a part of me as breathing.

I am sure that no man can derive more pleasure from money or power than I do from seeing a pair of basketball goals in some out of the way place.

Since I left basketball, and my wife, it's been a glorious feast of lovemaking.

I enjoy listening to classical music and heavy metal. I play basketball and try to go diving at least once a year. I don't really have hobbies in the traditional sense... I engage in too many activities already through the actions of my characters.

But the point of using the number was to show that sex was a great part of my life as basketball was a great part of my life. That's the reason why I was single.

When it gets down to it, basketball is basketball.

I always wanted to be a basketball player.

Every little kid that steps on the court or the field has aspirations to go pro. I think being a pro basketball player is the best job. The thing I had to realize was that I can't do every dream that I have.

Basketball was not my main sport in grade school, or even the first year of high school.

I think that basketball players should get the job done no matter how it looks on the screen.

I try to never lose sight of what a special time it is to be a women's basketball player.

It's not to hurt anyone, but basketball can be rough.

Yeah, I like cars and basketball. But you know what I like more? Bananas.

By analogy, if we were to develop a soccer team, then we would not invite basketball and volleyball players to the try outs. We would invite soccer players to apply.