Rand Paul: “reserving the right to object, I agree that members of the judicial branch need better protection. In fact, I have been…”

“reserving the right to object, I agree that members of the judicial branch need better protection. In fact, I have been active in this issue for the last couple of years, and each time this has come forward, at the end of the year, with very little time to do the normal process, I have advocated that an amendment be added that would include protection of Members of Congress. I really think that it is important that we protect addresses for our judges, but it is also important that we do this for our elected officials. In recent years, what has happened has taught us that the legislative branch needs better protection as well. That was clear in 2011, when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was tragically shot while doing the most important part of the job--meeting with constituents. Words cannot express how happy and inspiring it was to see Congresswoman Giffords here in the Chamber as her husband, Senator Kelly, was recently sworn in as a Member of the body. But words also cannot express the pain felt by the family of the people who were killed and wounded that day. That should have been a wakeup call to better protect Members of Congress and, in doing so, better protect the people around them. But just a few years later, a shooter nearly killed Congressman Steve Scalise during baseball practice for the annual charity baseball game. I was there, and I said at the time that our lives were saved by the Capitol Hill police.…”