Barbara Mikulski: “we have a great country. Here we are, we are debating essentially what is going to be the Federal statute on electronic…”

“we have a great country. Here we are, we are debating essentially what is going to be the Federal statute on electronic surveillance on the American people and on those who might have predatory intent toward us. We are doing it in an open, public session, with the world to watch on C-SPAN and talking about what are the right parameters to be able to protect the American people and yet protect the American Constitution. I think this shows the strength of our democracy and also calls upon us, as we deliberate, to come up with the widest and most prudent choice. For those who are following this debate, I would encourage them to turn to the report that has been put out by the committee, called the Foreign--note it said ``Foreign''--Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the amendments of 2007 to the act of 1978. This report will go into detail about the deliberations of the committee, the amendments that were offered, the debate we had, and additional views offered by colleagues. I commend it to their attention because it goes through the background in more detail. We are talking about law, which can be quite technical, but we are also talking about the consequences of the law which are quite important. I sit on the Intelligence Committee. In that job, I have two responsibilities: No. 1, to protect the American people and, No. 2, to protect the Constitution of the United States.…”