Political Quotes

“I rise to talk about a related area of security. The Defense appropriations bill is extremely important, but I believe that there is another matter we should be considering. I appreciate the courtesy of the managers of the bill for allowing me to present this. This is legislation that was passed by the Intelligence Committees in 2000. It had been adopted by unanimous vote, but it was vetoed at the time. This bill very simply provides, for the first time, a simple, clear statement of penalties for Government employees and contractors with access to classified information, who have signed agreements to keep it classified, who knowingly and willfully leak America's most important secrets. Over the past few years, we have seen unauthorized disclosures of classified information at an alarming rate. Each one of the leaks gravely increases the threat to our national security and makes it easier for our enemies to achieve their murderous and destructive plans. Each leak is a window of opportunity for terrorists to discover our sources and methods. Each violation of trust guarantees chaos and violence in the world. Time and time again, we have witnessed leaks that told our enemies not only that we were watching them and listening to them but how and whom we are cooperating with and how we are getting the information.…”