Political Quotes

“I believe it is our duty to provide all the tools necessary to fight terrorism. We also have another duty--I would say a simultaneous duty, a sworn duty--to protect the constitutional rights of our citizens. So we have two duties. One is to protect the American people and give the Government the tools it needs to do that; two, to protect the constitutional rights of Americans. If we lose those rights, then the basic freedoms of our people are at risk. I believe we have fallen far short. We have fallen far short of the balance that we always need to look for, ever since the beginning of our Republic-- the balance between security and freedom. I think we missed it here. It is not the Government's job to scare our people; it is the Government's job to protect our people. It is not the Government's job to endanger the privacy of law-abiding Americans, but to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans. Sadly, we had a number of amendments to this bill which would have brought that balance I talked about into being, the balance between security and freedom.”