Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding me the time, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. First, let me say thank you to Chairman Goodlatte and Ranking Member Conyers as well as to my colleague, Chairman Nunes. We have worked this issue together for a long time, and I am very proud of the bipartisan legislation that we have produced. I also want to thank the administration that worked with us so long and hard, and the work done in the last Congress by former HPSCI Chairman Mike Rogers and former HPSCI Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2048. This Nation was founded on the revolutionary principle that liberty need not be sacrificed to security, that public safety can and must coexist with individual liberty. Our Founders set out to create a lasting Union and a great Nation, one in which the people would be free to govern themselves, to express themselves, to worship for themselves, while also being secure in their homes, their papers, and their persons. Nearly two-and-a-half centuries later, it is easy to forget that these freedoms were enshrined in the Constitution amidst great peril. Americans had only recently fought a war for independence and would be confronted by powerful and often hostile forces in the future, including the powerful empires of Britain, France, and Spain. Here were truly existential threats, and still the Founders said, We can be secure and we can be free. They were right; we can and we must.…”