Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chair, I rise today in support of this bill that includes an absolutely essential national security program. However, I will support this bill only if the amendment that would impose a warrant requirement on queries regarding American citizens fails. First, a warrant is simply not needed because the query in question is not a new search. It simply identifies any contacts or communications with Americans within the universe of information that was already lawfully obtained from the original search, and that original search can only be of foreign nationals on foreign soil. I spent 10 years as a Federal prosecutor and obtained hundreds of search warrants. Based on that experience, I can say with confidence that requiring a warrant would render this program unusable and entirely worthless. Based on the information available to law enforcement, it would be impossible to get probable cause to obtain a search warrant from a judge in a timely manner. Additionally, even if it were possible, the time required to obtain a search warrant from a judge would frequently fail to meet the urgency posed by a terrorist or other national security threat. {time} 1015 A warrant requirement is unnecessary and unworkable and I, therefore, urge my colleagues to oppose the Biggs amendment. The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Turner) has expired.”