* “Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities. By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries.”–President Barack Obama, in announcing the repeal of America’s “wet foot, dry foot” policy.
* “Russia challenged the integrity of our democratic system, and Europe’s 2017 electoral landscape is the next battlefield.”–William J. Burns, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former ambassador to Russia (2005-08).
* “Everything is under negotiation including One China.”–Donald Trump.
* “Laws alone won’t be enough. Hearts must change.”–President Barack Obama, reflecting on racial tensions during his farewell address in Chicago.
* “Should a president hold himself to a lower standard than his own appointees? I don’t think divestiture too high a price to pay to be the president of the United States of America.”–Office of Government Ethics chief Walter Shaub.
* “As far as hacking, I think it was Russia. Hacking’s bad and it shouldn’t be done. But look at the things that were hacked, look at what was learned from that hacking.”–Donald Trump.
* “I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president.”–Congressman John Lewis, D-Ga.
* “All talk, talk, talk–no action or results. Sad!”–Donald Trump’s response to John Lewis.
* “It’s telling, I’m afraid, that Donald Trump treats Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis.”–Bill Kristol, founder of the Weekly Standard.
* “(Trump) said he is going to represent Americans–he’s said that over and over again. We will continue to evaluate that.”–Martin Luther King III.
* “If you try to go tweet-to-tweet with (Trump), more often than not you’re not going to succeed.” It’s like going to “a knife fight with a spoon.”–Outgoing Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez.
* “To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”–President Theodore Roosevelt.
* “For the first time in years, Republicans must shed their obstructionist mission and actually pass a few laws. The pressure is huge; only Charlie Manson has lower public approval ratings than Congress.”–Carl Hiaasen, Miami Herald.
* “If we go down this path, we won’t have (Affordable Care Act) repeal and replace. What we’ll have is repeal and repent, because we’re going to owe a huge apology to the American people for the damage that we cause.”–Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky, the senior Democrat on the House Budget Committee.
* “Our job today is to defend the ACA. Our job tomorrow is to bring about a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system.”–Sen. Bernie Sanders.
* “It’s a cruel jest to say a bootless man ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”–Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
* “The conditions of this election weren’t tailor-made for me and I lost. But I’m not in therapy. I’m not in the fetal position. Life goes on.”–Jeb Bush.
* “Brick-and-mortar is not necessarily dead, but you need fewer stores to achieve the same amount of sales volume.”–Liz Dunn, CEO of Talmage Advisors, a retail consulting firm.
* “Contractors have relatively high expectations for 2017 as they predict the economy and demands for all types of construction will grow.”–Stephen E. Sandherr, CEO of Associated General Contractors of America.
* “The competitor in many ways is time. … It’s a different model that we can’t see how it works in today’s world… .”–Kenneth Feld, Chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, in announcing that after 146 years the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus would be closing in May.
* “Maybe we’ve taken a good thing too far, and now it is time to bring some common sense to it.”–Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, a member of the Florida Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee, on the need to rein in the number and impact of school exams.
* “What I saw was a highly organized event that managed traffic flow well. … I saw terrific customer service. And then I saw very strong branding without it being overwhelming.”–Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, commenting on how Tampa handled the college football championship game.
* “This move gives us access to Florida’s strong talent pool and allows us to continue the strategic expansion of our business.”–Rocky Silvestri, president of BlueLine Associates, a staffing and consulting agency that is moving its global headquarters to Tampa.
* “You can’t put a price on history.”–Richard Gonzmart.
* “The cruise business is a big part of what we do here, and it will play a major role in what we do going forward.”–Edward Miyagishima, vice president of communications and external affairs at Port Tampa Bay, commenting on the port’s plan to develop a niche market that doesn’t put it into direct competition with megaship ports.
* “I’ll always be a Bolt.”–Marty St. Louis.
* “But you also don’t need a performing arts center. You don’t need a waterfront parks system. These to me are amenities that really differentiate cities. It separates what are good cities from what are great cities.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, defending his support of an enhanced Pier project.