Anthony Weiner: “I wanted to conclude the way I began, by offering my thanks to Chairman Sensenbrenner. He has made this Committee on the…”

“I wanted to conclude the way I began, by offering my thanks to Chairman Sensenbrenner. He has made this Committee on the Judiciary one that functions in a no-nonsense fashion. We legislate. We very often disagree on issues, but they are all heard. And I think he has also done an excellent job in protecting the prerogatives of the committee, making sure that important things like the funding of the Judiciary, of the Justice Department, is not left entirely to the appropriators and that we have an opportunity to craft a bill. I would now encourage our colleagues in the other body to get going. They have many of these provisions they are also looking at. I understand they are going to take up this bill. I would urge them to do so quickly. And I think that we should, as the chairman said, get in the habit of treating this agency like others. There are sticky issues, but I think we have shown in the Committee on the Judiciary that we can navigate them. I do want to make reference to one point, because many of my colleagues have mentioned it in passing. There is a great deal of controversy, I think much of it overblown, about the PATRIOT Act. I think supporters of the PATRIOT Act have wildly overstated its impact, and detractors have wildly overstated the impositions put on Americans.”