Chris Coons: “I am wondering whether the Senator from Kentucky would be good enough to confirm for me where I think the issue is that…”

“I am wondering whether the Senator from Kentucky would be good enough to confirm for me where I think the issue is that is before the Senate today. So if I might, I will speak for a few minutes about what I think is the core issue before us on the floor and then ask the Senator whether he would confirm that this is his understanding as well. At the outset, I will say it is relatively rare for my colleague from Kentucky and I to come to the floor in agreement on an issue, but it has happened before on exactly this issue. I think it is important that it be clear to folks that there are concerns on both sides of the aisle on the critical underlying issues about how we balance privacy and liberty, security and our civil liberties. For nearly a decade, our government has operated a program that collects massive amounts of information from innocent Americans without any specific suspicion they have done anything wrong. Let me put that another way. For years, any American's communication data could have been tracked and collected by the government, whether or not they were suspected of a crime. That program has been carried out under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act based on flimsy or mistaken interpretations of the original law, all in the name of our national security. Yet the bulk collection program has had disputed and not arguably clear benefit to our national security.…”