Political Quotes

“I thank my colleagues for their coming to the floor over the past 2 days for a good debate on the reauthorization of the FISA Amendments Act, which the Senate approved today by a vote of 73-23. As I described a number of times during this debate, this electronic surveillance tool is among the most important intelligence collection measures we have for identifying and thwarting terrorist plots, as well as stopping proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, cyber attacks against the United States, and for intelligence collection to advise policy decisions. Authorizing the statute for another 5 years will put the Nation's intelligence community on strong ground. I also would like to reiterate the offer I made during the debate to make sure that any Senator interested in getting additional, classified information on the FISA Amendments Act can get that information. In particular, I look forward to working with Senator Merkley to see that significant decisions of the FISA Court--or summaries of those decisions--are reviewed and made public in a way that does not compromise classified information. I also will work with Senator Leahy, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, to seek any additional reviews by the relevant inspectors general to complement the oversight that is already done every year on FISA programs. I will continue to work with Senators Wyden and Udall on the committee to help pursue their oversight requests and interests.…”