Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to address the 4-year extension of the PATRIOT Act and to oppose that extension if the bill is not modified. I want to take us back to the principles on which our Nation was founded and, indeed, before our Declaration of Independence and before our Constitution when there was a deep tradition of the right of privacy. Let's take William Pitt's declaration in 1763. He said: The poorest may, in his cottage, bid his defiance to all the forces of the Crown . . . the storm may enter; the rain may enter. . . . But the King of England may not enter. It is the philosophy embedded in William Pitt's declaration of the sanctity of a man's home that underwrote the principle of the fourth amendment. That reads as follows: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. The fourth amendment is powerful protection of personal privacy from the overreach of government. How does that compare in contrast to the PATRIOT Act that is before us? Let me tell you the standard that is in the PATRIOT Act for the government to seize your papers, to search your papers, and that standard is simply ``relevant'' to an ``investigation.'' Relevant to an investigation?…”