Political Quotes

“I rise to speak about S. 2271, Senator Sununu's bill to amend the PATRIOT Act. I commend Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire for his extraordinary efforts on this bill. For over 2 years he has been part of a bipartisan coalition, which I have been happy to join him in, working to reform the PATRIOT Act. We support the PATRIOT Act. We want it to include checks and balances to protect the constitutional rights of Americans. In other words, we want to improve the PATRIOT Act, not abandon it. We came together across party lines for this effort because our national security and constitutional rights are important to every American. The PATRIOT Act should not be a political football. When we launched this effort 2 years ago, the administration said changing even one word in the PATRIOT Act was unacceptable. I have said that when it comes to writing laws, with the exception of the Ten Commandments which were handed down on stone tablets, there are no perfect laws; we should always try to improve them. Now, with Senator Sununu's bill and the PATRIOT Act conference report, we will reauthorize the PATRIOT Act with significant reforms, reforms we proposed as long as 2 years ago. Let me say up front this outcome is far from perfect. There is still a lot of work to be done. But the administration was willing to let the PATRIOT Act expire rather than accept some of the reforms we proposed. We will not let that happen. The PATRIOT Act will not expire on our watch.…”