Political Quotes

“Mr. President, when I first entered this body in the winter of 2013, I was appointed to the Intelligence Committee. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we would meet for several hours talking about very difficult, very complex, and sometimes very scary issues. After sitting through those meetings for several months, it suddenly came to me what our mission in that committee is. It really comes down to balancing two provisions of the Constitution. The Preamble to the Constitution, which establishes the basic premise for why we have a government and why the Constitution was established, uses two important phrases in conjunction with each other. The first is ``to ensure domestic Tranquility'' and the second is ``to provide for the common defence.'' There are other elements listed, but that is part of the essence of any government: to ensure domestic tranquility and provide for the common defense; in other words, to keep us safe. That is what government is all about. But on the other hand, the Bill of Rights, and particularly the Fourth Amendment, makes it clear that there are limitations on government's power in whatever area. The Fourth Amendment says that ``the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects shall not be violated'' and also: no unreasonable searches and seizures. Those two provisions are intentional, and they have been since the founding of the Republic.…”