Political Quotes

“both sides are working to pass the intelligence authorization bill for 2013. I voted against this legislation when it was marked up in committee. I objected to it here on the floor last month. But I am able to support it at this time. The bill has a number of valuable provisions in it, and I thank Chairwoman Feinstein and Vice Chairman Chambliss for making the changes in the bill to address my concerns. The changes Senators Feinstein and Chambliss have made would remove a number of provisions that were intended to reduce unauthorized disclosures of classified information, of course, known as leaks. I objected to these provisions because, in my view, they would have harmed first amendment rights, led to less informed public debate about national security issues, and undermined the due process rights of intelligence agency employees, without actually enhancing national security. I am going to take a few minutes to explain my views on this so that those who are not on the Intelligence Committee and who have not heard this issue addressed before will understand what the debate was about and what I believe has been accomplished. I certainly agree with Senators that unauthorized disclosure of national security information, known as leaks, is a serious problem. Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information can jeopardize legitimate military and intelligence operations, and even put lives at risk.…”