Cord Byrd: “perhaps the greatest oration ever delivered was the Oration on the Crown, delivered by Demosthenes in the year 330 B.C.…”

“perhaps the greatest oration ever delivered was the Oration on the Crown, delivered by Demosthenes in the year 330 B.C. In that inimitable oration, it seems to me the question was posed: Who least serves the state? And the question was answered in that oration: He who does not speak his mind. In this day, we should remember that. And I shall attempt to honor that credo. Mr. President, Americans have been stunned at the recent news of the abuses of power by an overzealous President. It has become apparent that this administration has engaged in a consistent and unrelenting pattern of abuse against our country's law-abiding citizens and against our Constitution. We have been stunned to hear reports about the Pentagon gathering information and creating databases to spy on ordinary Americans whose only sin is to choose to exercise their first amendment right to peaceably assemble. Those Americans who choose to question the administration's flawed policy in Iraq are labeled by this administration as ``domestic terrorists.'' Shame! We now know that the FBI's use of national security letters on American citizens has increased exponentially, requiring tens of thousands of individuals to turn over personal information and records. These letters are issued without prior judicial review, and they provide no real means for an individual to challenge a permanent gag order.…”