Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I come to the floor as the chair of the Intelligence Committee of the Senate and also as a member of the Judiciary Committee, so I have been part of the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Act discussions. Let me clear up one thing for the distinguished Senator from Kentucky: Nothing in what is before us today affects national security letter sections of the act. Let me repeat that because I have heard this presented on the floor, I have seen it in editorials in the newspapers, and nothing in what is on the floor today affects the NSL sections--of which there are several in various statutes--of the PATRIOT Act. There are three specific sections that are affected, and I will get to them in a moment. Let me begin by saying I support the Reid-McConnell amendment to H.R. 514. Let me point out that last Wednesday the Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, testified before the House Homeland Security Committee, and here is what she said: In some ways, the threat today may be at its most heightened state since the attacks nearly 10 years ago. In testimony to the House Intelligence Committee last week, the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, wrote that: . . . it is impossible to rank--in terms of long-term importance--the numerous, potential threats to the U.S. national security. The United States no longer faces--as in the Cold War--one dominant threat.…”