Joe Lieberman: “I want to attempt at this moment to try to reassure them, which is to say there is nothing in this underlying bill…”

“I want to attempt at this moment to try to reassure them, which is to say there is nothing in this underlying bill intended to, or that I can see, restrict the capacity or the mobility of people working in our intelligence community to operate to protect us. The board that is created is intended to, as I see it, do a broad review of policies before policies are ordered or issued, to consult with the policymakers, and afterward to do a review. I don't think there is any basis for feeling that if somebody felt their liberties were violated by a particular action of a particular agency or intelligence person or officer, they could appeal to this board. So the intent is not to second-guess or create a place where there can be second-guessing of individual cases, individual decisions. Therefore, to avoid what the Senator from Alabama and the Senator from Arizona, I think quite understandably, worry about, a climate of risk aversion--you don't want that to happen--you want these people to be aggressive, fearless, and not risk averse.”