Political Quotes

“I thank the chairman for yielding. I am pleased to support this en bloc amendment which includes important language to put a stop to the practice of using drones to kill Americans and prevent any administration in the future from doing so as well. The only exception would be if a citizen is actively engaged in combat against the United States. Not plotting, not suspected, but currently engaging in combat. Attorney General Eric Holder made it perfectly clear in a recent white paper that the administration believes that they have the right to be judge, jury and executioner of any and all American citizens. My amendment would correct this dangerous overreach and defend Americans' God-given constitutionally protected rights. However, while this will curtail the threat of drones, I'm disappointed that another of my amendments was not made in order to address another overarching issue. Along with my colleague from California, Congresswoman Lee, I sponsored an amendment to sunset the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Afghanistan, a provision that has outrageously expanded the powers of the Federal Government. This law has allowed our government to engage in indefinite detention, extrajudicial targeted killing, warrantless surveillance and wiretapping activities, and the open-ended expansion of military operations abroad. It's time for this provision to go. And if we need additional war authorizations, they should be narrow and clear, as our Founders intended.…”