On the recordJuly 24, 2013
I thank the gentleman from Florida. Madam Chair, this is a very important issue that we are taking up today because the number one duty of the Federal Government is the safety of the American people--of our constituents and of our own skins, the skins of each one of us in this Chamber today. As we know all too well, national security is a real and present danger, and it is something that we have to take quite seriously. We can't deal in false narratives. A false narrative has emerged that the Federal Government is taking in the content of Americans' phone calls. It's not true. It's not happening. A false narrative has emerged that the Federal Government is taking in the content of the American people's emails. It's not true. It's not happening. We need to deal in facts. The facts are real, and the facts are these: The only people who have benefited from the revelation of classified information by someone who worked for this government--who intentionally and without authorization declassified some of the most sensitive national security information that we have--are those who are engaged in Islamic jihad. They will have been benefited, and those whom we seek to protect will have not. Consider this: There is more information about each one of us contained in the phone book that sits at home on your kitchen counter than information that is in the National Security Database that we're talking about today. Your name, your address are in the phone book.…
