On the recordDecember 27, 2012
I thank my colleague. He is making an important point. I have sat next to Senator Feinstein in the Intelligence Committee now for 12 years, and I think all of us--and we have had chairs on both sides of the aisle--understand how important the work of the intelligence community is. This is what prevents so many threats to our country from actually becoming realities--tragic realities. What my friend and colleague from Oregon has hammered home this afternoon is that if a law is secret and there is a big gap between the secret interpretation of a law and what the public thinks the law means--my friend and I represent people who, for example, could be using their laptop at home in Coos Bay. If they look up a law and they see what the public interpretation is and they later find out that the public interpretation is real different than what the government secretly says it is, when people learn that, they are going to be very unhappy. I see my colleague would like some additional time to address this issue. I am happy to yield to him.
