Political Quotes

“When I have completed my remarks, I will be happy to take a question. And so my colleague comes to the floor and says that there is no secret law. But the fundamental understanding of law is that there is the plain language of the law and there is the interpretation of that by the court. It is only through the combination of those two things that you can know what a law means. So if you have the plain language but you don't have the interpretation that has been assigned by the courts and used to adjudicate cases, then in fact you have secret law because none of us know what the words mean. If you look at the plain language of section 215, it doesn't say: Here are restrictions on how the government examines a body of information, interrogates that body of information, and analyzes that body of information. No. The language is completely about how the government collects that information and whether they can collect that information. It sets a series of clear standards for collecting that information. It says that information cannot be collected unless there is stated analysis, a set of facts that show there is evidence that the information being sought is relevant to an authorized investigation. Now, any common citizen knows, therefore, that the government has to do a statement of facts. They have to state what is the specific investigation, has that investigation been authorized, and is the assorted information relevant that is being requested?…”