Political Quotes

“I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Under the previous order, the time from 11:30 a.m. until 12:50 p.m. will be equally divided, with the majority controlling the first half and the Democrats controlling the second half. NSA Counterterrorism Program Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, since the unlawful leaks of NSA programs, opponents of our counterterrorism program have painted a distorted picture of how these programs are conducted and overseen by exploiting the fact that our intelligence community cannot discuss classified activities. So what you have is an effort to characterize our NSA programs, and the officials who conduct them cannot discuss the classified activities. So they are clearly at a disadvantage. Since September 11, 2001, FISA has been critically important in keeping us safe here in America. According to the CIA, had these authorities been in place more than a decade ago, they would likely-- likely--have prevented 9/11. Not only have these tools kept us safe, there has not been a single incident--not one--of an intentional abuse of them. The NSA is overseen by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of our government. They are not running rogue out there.…”