Political Quotes

“I feel my speaking at this moment is appropriate because much of what I have to say follows logically from the last words of the Presiding Officer when he spoke recently on the USA FREEDOM Act because I agree with the Presiding Officer when he said we need a bill. We need to move forward and approve reforms and changes in the law that are contained in the USA FREEDOM Act. We may be in disagreement about some of the specifics. We may be in contention about the extent of the changes made. But there is a general consensus that this decade-and-a-half old law is in some need of revision. The USA FREEDOM Act contains many important and genuinely worthwhile changes in the rules that will apply as the United States helps to protect our security but also to safeguard and preserve essential rights and liberties. That is the balance which needs to be struck. It is a difficult balance in a democracy, one of the most difficult in an area where secrecy has to be maintained because surveillance is more useful if it is done in secret, but at the same time, rights need to be protected in an open society that prides itself on transparent and accessible courts. Changes in the rules are welcome, such as the end to the present system of bulk collection of phone data. We may disagree on that point. Changes in the rules that I support may not be supported by many of my colleagues.…”