Political Quotes

“I would just say to my colleague that we always have to be vigilant about secret law. And we have, in effect, found our way into this ominous cul-de-sac that the Senator from Kentucky and I have been describing here this afternoon really because of secret law. As I wrap up with this question and hearing the concern of my colleague--because I think that is what is at the heart of his question, that ``secret law'' is what the interpretation is in the intelligence community of the laws written by the Congress. Very often those secret interpretations are very different from what an American will read if they use their iPad or their laptop. For example, on section 215, bulk phone records collection, I don't think very many people in Kentucky or Oregon took out their laptop, read the PATRIOT Act, and said: Oh, that authorizes collecting all the phone records on millions of law-abiding Americans. There is nothing that even suggests something like that, but that was a secret interpretation. So I am very glad the Senator from Kentucky has chosen to have us wrap up at least this part of our discussion with the questions that we have directed to each other on this question of secret law because, as my colleague from Kentucky and I have talked about, we both feel that operations of the intelligence community--what are called sources and methods--they absolutely have to be secret and classified because if they are not, Americans could die.…”