Rob Andrews: “I want again say that each one of us involved in this effort is devoted to the idea of our constitutional principles…”

“I want again say that each one of us involved in this effort is devoted to the idea of our constitutional principles, devoted to the idea of the separation of civilian and military; of the fact that in this country, the military responds to decisions by the civilian sector. Each one of us is firmly committed to the sanctity of the constitutional rights of privacy, the protection against search and seizure, the rights of legitimate people in our country to be protected from the abuse of State power. We need not choose between forfeiting our Fourth Amendment rights and defending our country. These are consistent goals. But in order to pursue these goals, we need to rethink the way we pursue them. I think that is so very, very important. We are really fortunate that we put our children to bed tonight in a country that is safe and strong. It is not safe and strong everywhere, there are children who are going to sleep tonight in horribly violent neighborhoods and areas and horribly violent homes, ruined by alcohol and drug abuse and by all kinds of pernicious behavior.”