Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as we know from the briefings we have received from the Director of National Intelligence, the FISA law needs to be updated. But I underscore and certainly want to be made part of the statements made by my friend, the Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold. Our intelligence community professionals are currently lacking, we are told, critical information and tools they need to protect this Nation from terrorism. My goal, when I learned about the intelligence communities' concerns, was to pass the legislation that addresses DNI's legitimate concerns, asserts our oversight responsibility, protects the rights of American citizens, and is temporary in duration. I believe the legislation offered by Senators Rockefeller and Levin achieves each of these goals, gives the communities all the tools they need, but at the same time it makes the independent FISA Court, not the Attorney General, the overseer of the methods and procedures used for collecting foreign intelligence. Democrats and Republicans want to aggressively pursue al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations and other terrorists. This bill does that, but not at the cost of targeting American citizens without court authorization.”