Political Quotes

“I thank the Chair. Most of all, I thank my chairman, Senator Rockefeller. I thank the chairman of the committee and all of the members of the committee to be able to pass this very important intelligence authorization bill. We have had a 3-year hiatus with no intelligence authorization bill. This came despite multiple attempts on the Senate floor. Today, we see, fortunately, the end of that cycle with the passage of the fiscal year 2008 intelligence authorization bill. Passing this bill is important and noteworthy because it is one of the committee's most important tools in providing strong congressional oversight of the intelligence activities the American people expect and deserve. This bill we have just passed contains important provisions that would improve the effectiveness of our intelligence agencies, most of which were requested by the intelligence community. It is not a perfect bill, and there are a few things in it that I may not totally agree with, but overall this bill will benefit the intelligence community and marks the important reassertion of congressional oversight over our intelligence agencies and operations. I commend Chairman Rockefeller for all of his hard work and the diplomacy, skill, and patience in putting together the managers' amendment that brought us to the floor today.”