Political Quotes

“Let me begin by thanking the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on the Judiciary, as well as Chairman Nunes and Ranking Member Schiff of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, for their good, bipartisan work on a bill that I think is long overdue. The good work on this bill, Mr. Speaker, goes back to the fact that the PATRIOT Act, a piece of legislation crafted in haste and in fear after the tragic events of 9/11, in my opinion, pushed the boundaries too far on the government's ability to surveil and gather information on people, including American citizens. The USA FREEDOM Act, which I stand today to support, goes a very long way to restoring an appropriate balance between the imperative of national security and the civil liberties which we hold so dear. This bill makes important reforms to the FISA court, but, importantly, it prohibits--I will say again, prohibits--the bulk collection, under section 215, under the pen register authorities, and under National Security Letter statutes, of data on American citizens. Americans will now rest easy knowing that their calls or other records will not be warehoused by the government, no matter how careful that government is in the procedures it uses to access those files. Mr.…”