Steve Buyer: “I have enjoyed being a conferee on this particular bill, moving matters of substance. Also, I think we have to be very…”

“I have enjoyed being a conferee on this particular bill, moving matters of substance. Also, I think we have to be very careful here when we are talking about family victims, of acts of terror or acts of violence, whether it is the ranking member that has his particular letter that gives, espouses one position, or I have a letter also from victims who espouse another position. Matters of statecraft have to be based on the intellect and not giving to the emotions of the moment, and that is what is important here. So let me say another comment I would like to make is that with regard to the acts of terrorists, especially international terror, the world and the dynamics of the world in which we live in have drastically changed. These international organizations have changed the lethality and increased the lethality of their actions. They used to rely upon their carjackings, and now what they have done are these bombings that are in public places, that are cowardly acts of terror that actually move the emotions of people because their actions are so outrageous. So what we must do in order to combat those outrageous forms of terror is, in fact, give law enforcement the necessary tools. Now, what is so difficult here is, in a free society, how we balance the protection of individual civil liberties with that of promoting public safety, and in this bill I believe that, in fact, has been achieved.”