Political Quotes

“Members of the Intelligence Committee, on which few of us have an opportunity to serve, lead very odd lives. Every single day, we descend in the bowels of this Capitol, four floors down. We surrender our iPhones, we surrender our BlackBerrys, and we go into windowless rooms where, on a daily basis, we hear about some of the most grotesque threats to American safety and interests that you can imagine: threats to American lives, threats to American interests, and threats to our very way of life. We see, every day, how essential 702 authorities are. The intelligence that we gather under this authority is critical to our safety, our security, and our lives. It saves lives. This program cannot be interrupted, and, if it is, God forbid, we will have much to answer for. Even if this motion fails, the base bill, to those of you with substantial civil liberties concerns--and I count myself amongst you-- the base bill makes important and meaningful civil liberties improvements over the status quo. I deeply appreciate the efforts of many in this Chamber that oppose this bill, the efforts that they have made. Each and every one of us swears an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, and no one should ever be criticized for working hard to make sure that that process is served; not Mr. Nadler, not Ms. Lofgren, not Mr. Amash, not Mr. Poe. Mr. Speaker, I have spent much of the last several days trying to improve this bill with respect to civil liberties.…”