Jon L. Christensen: “I know this may sound unduly strong, but today we will react to one day of infamy with another if we pass H.R. 3108. I…”

“I know this may sound unduly strong, but today we will react to one day of infamy with another if we pass H.R. 3108. I remember hearing someone say shortly after September 11th in response to something I cannot remember now, that the first casualty of this war must not be the U.S. Constitution. Well it wasn't the first, but if this bill is passed, it will perhaps be the most devastating one, certainly the most far-reaching one, one that will not honor those whose lives were lost in the terrorist attack, and one that all of us in this body--those who voted for it and those who did not--will rue to our dying day. This will be the crowning glory and the golden key of all of the most extreme radical conservatives in this country. With the right to wiretap, with the right to hold without due process, with the right to even punish dissent, the very worst of infringements on the civil liberties that we have worked so hard to extend to all and protect and preserve, will reign, and threaten not just the terrorists, but all Americans.”