Al Franken: “I rise to talk about the transparency provisions in the USA FREEDOM Act. I am a proud cosponsor of Chairman Leahy's…”

“I rise to talk about the transparency provisions in the USA FREEDOM Act. I am a proud cosponsor of Chairman Leahy's bill, and I am particularly proud to have written the key transparency provisions with my friend Senator Dean Heller of Nevada. Senator Lee is right. This is not a Republican bill or a Democratic bill. This isn't a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. I thank Senator Lee for his leadership. Of course, we are all indebted to Senator Leahy for his leadership on this issue. Because of time constraints, I am not going to be able to give the speech I wanted to, so I will try to ask for time for tomorrow. I know today's floor is very busy. I wish to say it is very important that there is enough transparency in our NSA surveillance that Americans can judge for themselves if we are striking the right balance between national security and our civil liberties.”