Political Quotes

“As a member of the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees, we have had a number of requests from the administration for new authority to collect information to fight terrorism. You will find that the vast majority of requests by the administration will be honored in the bill we will consider this week or next. We will say to FBI and the CIA, other law enforcement agencies: Here are new tools for you to fight terrorism. We should give to it them because we need to provide them what is necessary to protect our Nation. Certainly we need to keep our laws up to pace with the changes in technology so that when communications are moving by e-mail or through the use of cell telephones, we give to law enforcement the authority and the opportunity to make certain they have access to them. I am concerned, as are many on the Judiciary Committee, that it isn't just a question of the new authority to collect information but a more fundamental question: Do these agencies of law enforcement have the infrastructure and the capacity to collect, process, evaluate, and distribute this information? It was only a few weeks ago that the Senate Judiciary Committee had its first oversight hearing in 20 years on the FBI. The information that came to us suggests that FBI computer capabilities are archaic, that no successful business in America could operate with the computers we have given to the premier law enforcement agency in America.”