Jim Risch: “First of all, let me say I think there has been an adequate compromise that has been reached, and we are to have a side…”

“First of all, let me say I think there has been an adequate compromise that has been reached, and we are to have a side- by-side to vote on which will give everybody the opportunity to express themselves. Let me say that every single one of us on this floor has a goal to protect the rights of U.S. citizens. This country was founded by people who had just gone through some very difficult times with a government that was very oppressive on them, and they wrote the Constitution specifically to protect themselves and to protect individuals from the government. Those constitutional provisions today are as good as they were then. Every single one of us wants to see that American citizens are protected; that is, protections that take place in the case of criminal cases. In the case of a war, in the case where a U.S. citizen joins enemy combatants and fights against the United States, there is a different standard--although a delicate division--that exists. If we look at the provisions of section 1031, where covered persons are defined, it is very clear it applies only to people who participated in the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States, and it applies to people who are part of it or who have substantially supported al-Qaida and the Taliban or its associated forces and have actually committed a belligerent act or have directly participated in the hostilities. This is drawn very carefully and very narrowly so a U.S.…”