Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday we passed the USA FREEDOM Act, and it was quickly signed by our President because it was so important to put it into place. It contained two items that I want to draw particular attention to. One is that there should be no secret spying on U.S. citizens here in the United States of America. The second is that there should be no secret laws here in the United States of America. These two items are very closely connected together. Our Nation was founded upon the principles of liberty and freedom. Fundamental to the exercise of those principles is the right to privacy, to be free from unreasonable intrusions. This right is central to all other rights protected in the Constitution, especially to the freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, and the freedom to petition our Government. Our sense of privacy and to be secure in our homes and secure with our records goes back to common law in England. It was in 1767 that the Earl of Chatham, when he was debating the cider tax, said: The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. [His cottage] may be frail, its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rain may enter, but the King of England cannot enter. Certainly, that is the spirit that infused the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution.…”