Kendrick Meek: “I can tell you right now, this goes far, once again, beyond politics. This is serious business. We have Members here who…”

“I can tell you right now, this goes far, once again, beyond politics. This is serious business. We have Members here who have traveled abroad. I have. I am on the Armed Services Committee. I am on the Homeland Security Committee. If you know how it was to go down to a hotel lobby and go to a restaurant where you are staying there at a hotel, you come back to a hotel after official meetings with the government and you do not understand what people are saying, need it be French, need it be Arabic, need it be Spanish or what have you, now, just think for a minute. If I were a CIA agent in a foreign land, or someone in a friendly country that works with the United States as it relates to sharing sensitive information, how do they feel right now? How do they feel about America right now? How do they feel about our executive branch right now? And how do they feel about the Congress? This is going to hurt us. The gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) put it just as clear as it can be. It is weakening a country when it comes down to getting the intelligence to protect all of us here in the United States and our allies. And I think it is important, I think it is important, and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee) hit the nail straight on the head. Like we say down in Florida, he hit the nail straight on the head just like a good carpenter.…”