Jerry Nadler: “For purposes of debate only, I yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), and I yield myself such time as…”

“For purposes of debate only, I yield 30 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Jordan), and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, bills like the USA Freedom Reauthorization Act touch deeply held beliefs on all sides. The bill we intended to consider last night strengthened privacy protections and made substantial improvements to the law. The bill, as amended by the Senate, is a good and important package of reforms. Now, you may disagree with that assessment, you may genuinely believe that the bill doesn't go far enough to reform the FISA system or perhaps that it goes too far with those reforms. If you disagree with me on the merits of the bill, I respect that disagreement. What I cannot accept, and what I suspect many Americans will not accept, is a transparent, inexplicable, totally unjustified flip-flop on this bill, a bill important both to the security and the privacy of the United States. Just a few weeks ago, 126 Republicans joined 152 Democrats in support of a nearly identical measure, different only in that the Senate has added one amendment, a good amendment with almost universal support. Virtually all of those 126 Republicans changed their position in the past 24 hours. Madam Speaker, the American people see through those excuses. Nobody believes that this sudden reversal has anything to do with complaints about proxy voting.…”