Political Quotes

“I thank the Senator from Kentucky, and I apologize to my friend from Wisconsin. I know he has been waiting. But the question asked by the Senator from Pennsylvania prompted me to recall a specific set of circumstances which I think address his concerns, our mutual concerns, about the use of lethal force. I know we are talking about this in the context of drones, but a drone is a weapon, and there are other weapons by which our government can use lethal force to kill people. So I think, going to the question the Senator asked Mr. Brennan, in a more generic sense, the question is, When can our government use lethal force in the United States against perhaps U.S. citizens? I think it is a legitimate question. I was not misleading the Senator earlier when I said there is a scheduled hearing--the only scheduled hearing--on this question coming up before the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, which I chair. And the ranking member is Senator Cruz of Texas who was here earlier. So I think it is important, and it is an important constitutional question, but, while my colleague from Pennsylvania is here, I wish to recount a set of circumstances for him, and then pose a question to the Senator. The circumstances were September 11, 2001. Some of us were in this Capitol Building, in fact, just outside this door. As we came to work, we heard that some plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.…”